Willamette Valley Chardonnay

Chardonnay conjures a lot of strong feelings in people. People tend to hate it or love it, and those people are usually talking about the same type of Chardonnay: the type that came out of California in the 1990s-2000s, overripe and drenched in oak and butter. While there are plenty of those bottles still available, many winemakers in the past decade have swung hard in the other direction, picking early and fermenting in stainless steel, striving to make the anti-Chardonnay Chardonnay. The resulting wines are taut and mineral, but bordering on the austere.

We humbly offer a middle ground. We source from two Chardonnay vineyards— some of the oldest and youngest vines we work with— that produce the best combination of ripeness and acidity, so we can make wines with juicy fruit without sacrificing refreshing brightness. All our Chardonnay is fermented in oak barrels (which may cause some to recoil), but we focus on using older barrels that lend a broader, softer texture to the wine but don’t impart any flavor. The only newer barrels we include are made from Oregon oak, from the same trees that grow in the Willamette Valley among the vineyards. Oregon oak imparts just a touch of dry spice and toasted marshmallow, free of sweetness or vanilla or butter.