Winemaker Notes
Fresh and complex, the 2023 Roserock Chardonnay reflects the vibrant character of Drouhin's Eola-Amity Hills vineyard. Bursting with aromas of crisp green apple, honeysuckle, gardenia, and lemon zest, the wine unfolds on the palate with a generous roundness and refreshing citrus, ginger, and wisps of nutty crème. Its precise acidity and stony minerality provide a delightful balance, mixing energy with elegance.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Chardonnay has slowly opening aromas of orchard fruit, beeswax and hazelnut and well-integrated oak spice. The medium-bodied palate offers crisp flavors, and vibrant acidity adds a shimmery feel. It opens dramatically with air and will benefit from time in a decanter.
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Wine Spectator
Dynamic and fresh, with brisk apple, lemon blossom and kiwi flavors that speed along the sleek finish. Drink now. 2,312 cases made.
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.
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.