Winemaker Notes
A harmonious wine that offers up freshness in spades, backed by mouthwatering acidity and richness that begs for another sip.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A rare wine that is not Pinot Noir from Siduri, the Willamette Valley Chardonnay is classically Oregon in its style. Fresh lemon cream and cardamom aromas announce this wine. The palate is a study in what makes Oregon the new hotspot for Chardonnay: freshness delivered with complexity and depth: Lemongrass and beeswax, white pepper and crushed chalk minerality.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The only white wine Siduri produces, the 2021 Chardonnay Willamette Valley is a youthful pale yellow color and reveals fresh aromas of peach, white flowers, and lemon-lime citrus. This medium-bodied white is rounded out on the palate with great, fresh notes of crunchy green apple as well as some tropical fruit of papaya and rounded citrus. Drink 2023-2028.
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Wine Spectator
Plush yet snappy, with pear, tropical fruit and spice flavors that finish on a succulent accent.
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James Suckling
Easygoing, fruity and refreshing, with stone fruit, ripe lemons and mixed spices on the nose following through to a medium body with crisp acidity. Mellow and creamy with a mouthwatering finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Lemons. Lots and lots of lemons. Take your pick from aromas and flavors like lemongrass, lemon curd and lemon verbena. Then there's the additional white tea, toasted filberts and cinnamon toast flavors. This is a creamy-dreamy textured Chardonnay, with restrained acidity and medium body.
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.