2016 Oregon Chardonnay Symposium

Did anyone make it? Any highlights?

I really enjoyed the usual suspects - Goodfellow '13 Durant & Richard’s Cuvée, '14 Walter Scott X-Novo, '13 Crowley Four Winds and '13 Drouhin Arthur.

Some others I had in the past, but liked better at this tasting - Phelps Creek Estate & Lynette, '12 Belle Pente Estate, Bethel Heights, Brittan and Westrey (was too warm when served so probably even better).

New to me and enjoyable were Ayoub (Preferred the '13 to the '14 at this stage) and '13 Brickhouse Cascadia.

I did not attend the seminar, which focused on Durant Vineyards - Marcus was on the panel so can provide more detail. I’ve always enjoyed his Durant Chardonnay and on his recommendation I tried the Durant Chards from Durant Vineyards, Dobbes and Bachelder. The Durant Vineyards did not do anything for me, the Bachelder seemed nice but was served a bit warm and the Dobbes was really nice.

Also tasted the new Drouhin Roserock, which I think is the first vintage from a property they bought from CALPERS a few years ago. Not my cup of tea - definitely not as lean or precise as Arthur. If you like fruitier Chards it may be worth trying.

Perhaps Rick and Marcus will chime in with their impressions. My second time in attendance and I plan to come back next year.

Scott, Don’t give away all the goodies!

RT

With only 158 page views, I don’t think you need to worry about this thread causing a rush on the “goodies.” Although I’d love to see more Beserkers take up OR Chardonnay and support Marcus, Ken, Tyson and the other great OR Chard producers.

John Paul was a no show? I like that you added Bethel Heights, they’re incredibly underappreciated (not to say the others aren’t) despite the long history. Mimi and Ben are doing good work.

Do you know if Alexandrine Roy had a hand in the Phelps Chard?

RT

Recruit some chard producers to participate in berserkerday next year.

Heck, give me some contacts and I’ll call them.

There’s a lot of room for more white wine on BD imho.

No JP this year. He was in attendance last year, but was also a panelist then. Perhaps that explains the absence.

Bethel Heights is always a producer I tell myself to buy, but yet as I sit here today I still own zero bottles. That is not due to a lack of quality.

My understanding, which may be incorrect, is that Alexandria makes all the Phelps wines. I really liked the Phelps 2014 Rose of PN when I visited the Gorge last year.

Good idea! Marcus had a BD offer this year although I think it was mostly reds and the WR white blend? I’ll mention it, but my guess is Marcus, Jim Anderson, Rick, Rich or other Beserkers with a better pulse/contacts would be better recruiters.

Done!

I really enjoyed the event. It was very well attended and there was an excellent energy all around.

I tasted a number of really lovely wines, and Scott’s highlights hit most of my favorites as well.

I’m a fan of the Bethel Heights Pinot Noirs. For some reason, however, they are usually not as high on the ‘buy’ list as they should be. The Chardonnays are different, IMHO. The BH Estate Chard is typically over oaked for my taste and you’re much less oak tolerant than I am. When I’ve purchased their Chard, its always been the unoaked (stainless steel).

Greg, I’ve had the same experiences at BH, but I seem to remember them dialing down the oak more of late.

RT

Great event and kudos to Marcus for a fantastic job on the panel.

I didn’t get to try as many wines as I would have liked and focused on “new to me” bottlings. I particularly liked the DDO Roserock.

I expect this event will grow in the coming years.

The Chardonnay Symposium was really a delight. The line up of chards was even better than at our house…plus we don’t typically open as many all at once!

It’s always interesting to hear about how winemakers go about their craft as well as how they describe it to laymen - I think there was actually a Porsche vs Lexus comparison thrown in for good measure. Only problem now is that I’m realizing that my stock of some of the chards that I love and thought we had bought plenty of from Brick House, Walter Scott, Goodfellow and Crowley are now far too low and will have to be replenished in July during the return trip for IPNC. Such struggles!

When we go to dinner in NYC, we tend to BYO and we get a big kick when they exclaim about a chard from OR like its a unicorn. If the word keeps getting out, this may not keep happening!

Cheers to that. I’m drinking a 2014 Crowley Willamette Valley right now on this 75 degree day here in Oregon. Living the good life right now!