Pike Road Chardonnay 2020
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Winemaker Notes
In the 2020 Pike Road Chardonnay, you'll find delicate tropical notes of pineapple and guava mixed with pear, lemon curd, vanilla bean, lemongrass, and a long, seamless finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Smear a little lemon curd on a warm brioche straight from the oven to get an idea of the aromas this Chardonnay gives off. There’s also a small herbal note on the nose that’s like crushing chamomile between your fingers. The wine’s crisp, clean mouthfeel and brisk acidity make a nice foil for flavors like lemon and iced black tea with a dab of honey.
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Tasting Panel
The nose is clean thanks to reinedin scents of toasty lemon bar and butterscotch, while the palate intensifies with a rush of caramel and cantaloupe. Mandarin orange peeks through cookie batter on the finish. A lot going on!
Other Vintages
2019-
Enthusiast
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Suckling
James
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Suckling
James
We named this wine project Pike Road after the winding road that runs adjacent to our vineyards at the foothills of Oregon's Coast Range Mountains.
Pike Road is made from estate grown grapes and a smaller amount of fruit we purchase. We are committed to preserving small family farms here in the Willamette Valley through our relationships with partner growers, some of whom we have worked with for decades. This is the best place in the New World to grow Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, and we are so pleased to be here at Pike Road.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
One of Pinot Noir's most successful New World outposts, the Willamette Valley is the largest and most important AVA in Oregon. With a continental climate moderated by the influence of the Pacific Ocean, it is perfect for cool-climate viticulture and the production of elegant wines.
Mountain ranges bordering three sides of the valley, particularly the Chehalem Mountains, provide the option for higher-elevation vineyard sites.
The valley's three prominent soil types (volcanic, sedimentary and silty, loess) make it unique and create significant differences in wine styles among its vineyards and sub-AVAs. The iron-rich, basalt-based, Jory volcanic soils found commonly in the Dundee Hills are rich in clay and hold water well; the chalky, sedimentary soils of Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill-Carlton and McMinnville encourage complex root systems as vines struggle to search for water and minerals. In the most southern stretch of the Willamette, the Eola-Amity Hills sub-AVA soils are mixed, shallow and well-drained. The Hills' close proximity to the Van Duzer Corridor (which became its own appellation as of 2019) also creates grapes with great concentration and firm acidity, leading to wines that perfectly express both power and grace.
Though Pinot noir enjoys the limelight here, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay also thrive in the Willamette. Increasing curiosity has risen recently in the potential of others like Grüner Veltliner, Chenin Blanc and Gamay.