Wine & Spirits - October 2020 - 55

YEAR'S BEST WILLAMETTE VALLEY CHARDONNAYS
Sandberg Vineyard is planted on a rocky outcrop in the northern edge of the Eola-Amity
Hills, and you can almost taste the shallowsoiled grip of its terrain in this well-priced
chardonnay. It feels as pale as lemonade, with
scents of citrus, apple and salt, along with a
fruit-blossom bitterness. Its flavors are more
substantial, the mineral notes contributing
finesse to the texture, and pleasing grip on
the finish. Chill it for halibut. (101 cases) §
521194

92 | Lavinea

$60

2017 Eola-Amity Hills Elton Vineyard
Chardonnay ^ Elton Vineyard is an Eola stalwart, planted in 1983 to pinot noir and chardonnay. It's got an old-vine composure in its
scents of lemon curd and almond butter. The
flavors are warm and balanced, citrusy, with
an oceanic freshness framed by judicious
oak. Taut and on point for grilled chicken.
(300 cases) §
521137

91 | 00 Wines

$175

2017 Eola-Amity Hills Freya Hermann
Cuvée Chardonnay ^ Chris Hermann's têtede-cuvée chardonnay, named for his mother,
is a single barrel of chardonnay fruit from a
location the owner has asked to keep anonymous. That is the only thing understated
about it: It is a statement wine, with powerful matchstick and gunflint aromas and
opulent golden-ripe fruit. Florid, baroque
and weighty, this is probably years from
peak expression. Cellar it to see if it'll knit.
(50 cases) §
521158

91 | Bryn Mawr

$40

2017 Eola-Amity Hills Estate Chardonnay ^
Wheaty and savory, with scents of roasted
nuts and flavors of pineapple and golden
apple, the wine has bright acidity that projects like a beacon through all the ripe fruit;
it retains its freshness for a poached chicken
breast. (325 cases) §
521159

91 | Bryn Mawr

$40

91 | Cristom

$35

2018 Eola-Amity Hills Estate Chardonnay ^ Stalwart and firm, this wine filters its
taut construction through scents of lemon
blossom and a savory paperwhite note. It's
rippling and tart, the flavors edged with
a transparent minerality. Impressive, this
needs cellar time to gather itself. (270 cases) §
521348
2018 Eola-Amity Hills Chardonnay (Best
Buy) ^ Restrained and delicate, this cool chardonnay leads with dry lemon-lime scents.
With its tart green-apple flavor, lemon-rind
lift and talc-like mineral tang, it's a Chablislike chardonnay for oysters. (956 cases) §
521472

91 | Evening Land

$100

2017 Eola-Amity Hills Summum Seven
Springs Estate Chardonnay ^ Of the three
Evening Land chardonnays tasted for this
issue, Summum is the smokiest and most
reductive, needing time to come out of its
shell. After two days open, the wine remained
reticent but became graceful and elegant,
the nutty lees and gunflint notes adorning
smoky pear flavors. It's a wine to let evolve
in the cellar. (338 cases) §
521160

88 | Bryn Mawr

$25

2018 Eola-Amity Hills Chardonnay (Best
Buy) ^ Citrusy scents of lemon and lime give
way to an austere mineral core in this youthful chardonnay. It needs time in the bottle to
knit; then serve with something bright, like
ceviche or fish tacos. (325 cases) §

VA N DUZER C ORRIDOR
521263

93 | Johan

$36

2017 Van Duzer Corridor Johan Vineyards Chardonnay (Best Buy) ^ For this
bracing, complex chardonnay, winemaker
Morgan Beck selects fruit from old clones,
and ages the wine in a mix of used barrels for
18 months. The result offers rich, attractive
scents of caramel and honeycomb overlaying
brisk, tense, salty citrus fruit. The interplay is
fascinating, and should continue to develop
complexity in the cellar. (97 cases) §
521166

91 | Division

$36

2018 Van Duzer Corridor Trois Johan
Vineyards Chardonnay (Best Buy) ^ From
one of Willamette's newest AVAs, this wine
captures the cool, windy feel of the place, with
its bright green-apple scents and smoky lees
notes. After a day open, the fruit becomes
broader, like smoked pineapple chunks and
nutty lees. Despite its lean contours, it has
the savor for braised pork. (85 cases) §

YA M HILL-C ARLTON

521178

93 | Fairsing

It's cidery and lean, with a green scent of fresh
almonds and almond skin, and it maintains
its precision even as it rolls out apple-pie flavors that are generous and irresistible. The
finish is all nut skin and woodsmoke, detailed
and complex, for pork loin. (560 cases) §

$42

2018 Yamhill-Carlton Chardonnay ^ Once
past its early reductive state, this wine sings.

521203

93 | Nicolas-Jay

$70

93 | Origin

$45

92 | Lavinea

$45

91 | Big Table Farm

$48

2018 Yamhill-Carlton Bishop Creek
Vineyard Chardonnay ^ An older planting
of mostly pinot noir in the rain shadow of
the Coast Range, Bishop Creek has 2.5 acres
of chardonnay, farmed organically, on sedimentary soils. It's a generous wine, with hightoned lemon-lime scents deepening with air
to something more wheaty and substantial,
like pineapple. But the flavors remain tart
and lively, with a kind of baked-lime rim
of flavor suggesting richness and raciness
at once. Energetic and lively, this is built to
age. (120 cases) §
521206
2014 Yamhill-Carlton Stein Vineyard
Chardonnay ^ This posh chardonnay shows
a bit of age in its golden, honeyed aromas,
limned with sandalwood and sea salt. Dry,
reserved and elegant, it's savory and refined,
for duck confit. (40 cases) §
521195
2017 Yamhill-Carlton Lazy River Vineyard Chardonnay ^ Lazy River lies on the
cool western edge of Yamhill-Carlton, near
the Coast Range. It's an anomaly in YamhillCarlton, an outcropping of volcanic Jory soils
in the midst of mostly sedimentary terrain.
Planted in 2000 with three clones of chardonnay, the site grew a tightly constructed
wine in 2017: It's a wine that waves at you
from a distance, a still pool of nectarine fruit
beneath mildly reductive tones and nutty
lees scents. The texture is a wonder, tender
and composed, with a give and breadth for
something substantial, like duck. (265 cases) §
519570
2017 Yamhill-Carlton Chardonnay ^ Warm
and generous, this chardonnay opens up with
sumptuous oak and lees notes, broadened by
gentle, lemony fruit. It has a sesame-oil richness, and enough mineral notes to rein in the
finish. (W&S 4/20) §
WINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2020

https://www.nicolas-jay.com/wine https://fairsingvineyard.orderport.net/product-details/0313/2018-Chardonnay?_ga=2.259487112.385412623.1597265584-724728644.1597265584

Wine & Spirits - October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2020