Wine & Spirits - Fall 2018 - 63

GAME CHANGERS

Willamette
Chardonnay

Pinot noir gets all the attention in Oregon's Willamette Valley, yet, as vineyard
developments have spread south and west, pockets of chardonnay land have
emerged, growing wines that may someday challenge the pinot noir status quo.
Elaine Chukan Brown reported on the trend in our October 2017 issue, tracing the
upswing to a wine Dominique Lafon made at Evening Land Vineyards in 2007.
(Summum, the current incarnation of ELV's top chardonnay, earned 95 points from
W&S critic Patrick J. Comiskey in its latest release.) That wine, from Seven Springs Vineyard, has inspired new plantings, like X-Novo and
Kindred from Craig Williams, and Hope Well from Mimi Casteel, as well as renewed interest in older parcels, like Bunker Hill in the South
Salem Hills. Walter Scott, Chapter 24 and Lingua Franca, all run by Evening Land alums, have made exceptional chardonnay from Bunker
Hill. Here are some examples of new releases from south-central Willamette, with tasting notes from Comiskey. If you haven't tasted any
Willamette chardonnay recently, you owe it to yourself to check these out. -J.G.

Bergström 2015
Willamette Valley
Old Stones Chardonnay

Bryn Mawr 2016
Eola-Amity Hills
Chardonnay

The old stones in question are
found on Temperance Hill in
the Eola-Amity Hills, where
Bergström sources this chardonnay. This wine never
lacks for minerality, but it's
also bold and stylish, with
golden fruit and a nutty
caramel accent to its yeasty,
tarte-tatin flavors. (94
points, $35; 1,000 cases)

With delicate, high-toned
apple-and-lees scents and
a firm acidity that ripples through the fruit,
this has a crunchiness,
focus and a compelling sense of seashell
minerality. Pour with
lobster thermidor. (93
points, $35; 220 cases)

Cristom 2016 Eola-Amity Hills
Chardonnay
Cristom has made small amounts of chardonnay since the early 1990s. This one is
at once lean and generous, chewy caramel
notes and wheaty accents supporting pear
and pineapple flavors. It's quiet, balanced
and comfortable in its middle weight and
modest acids. (93 points, $40; 63 cases)

Evening Land Vineyards
2015 Eola-Amity Hills
Summum Seven Springs
Estate Chardonnay
A volcanic spine runs
through the center of Seven
Springs Vineyard. The rows
in that block regularly contribute to the Summum
chardonnay, and no matter how warm the vintage,
its structure stands as if
tethered to that spine.
This 2015 is ample, smelling of golden apples and
lees, and while the flavors
are no less substantial, the
wine remains texturally lean and focused,
with vibrant acidity and a stony grip. This
will reward patient cellaring. (95 points,
$100; 201 cases)

Walter Scott 2015
Willamette Valley Cuvée Anne Chardonnay
This savory, smoky white includes fruit from X Novo,
Freedom Hill and Gibson. It's crisp and terse, broadening with air, until the flavors come together with juicy
breadth, reverting to a leesy savor on the finish. Pair
it with almost anything, from chicken salad to chilled
prawns. (90 points, $40; 490 cases)

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