I’d love to see pinot blanc/bianco develop more in OR as well. It’s a similar latitude as Trentino-Alto Adige, would be great to have wines of comparable quality produced domestically.
I’ve heard this before in interviews with winemakers in CA talking about certain red grape varietals. Why is this?
Four Grace’s makes a top notch Pinot Blanc, lots of energy.
I concur on PB, but I’m not counting on it. With Chardonnay on a fast ascent and PB being a niche grape, I don’t expect it to be widely made.
But there are already some excellent versions being made and that is enough for me - Kelley Fox Freedom Hill and Barbie, Cameron Giovani, and Paetra. Although I would buy from Walter Scott and Goodfellow if they produced it again (hint hint).
I don’t expect it to be widely made, it’s relatively obscure in other countries anyway. Thanks for the tips.
I would agree completely with this. PH, TA, SO2 and extended lees contact both in barrel and tank. I know my boy Marcus goes long in barrel for his lees contact. Where as we go shorter in barrel (12+ months for the single vineyard wines) then 4-5 months in tank also on the lees which we take to tank. I believe this keeps freshness and tension in the wines and allows for all of the pieces of a given cuvee to come together. To all of this I would have to add trapped CO2 as a big deal with age-ability of Chardonnay. And that time in tank keeps it locked up. It is one of the many take aways from my time working with the team at Evening Land (by the way their 2007’s-2010’s should be drinking quite well now) specifically Dominique Lafon. Details, details, details and EXECUTION. Typical trapped CO2 at bottling is about 1100 mg/L these days. I used to de-gas prior to bottling, we don’t anymore. I only check them to make sure that they are in the sweet spot and as we only rack once to tank, the wines are generally right where we want them.
We truly believe that the chardonnays from the Willamette Valley have the ability to age. How long? Well, what do you like in the wines you drink? Our first vintage of chardonnay was 2011 (140 cases BTW), recently Erica and I have gone back and tasted some of our early vintages to reflect on the decisions we made and the wine’s evolution. We have found some bottle variation which we definitely attribute to cork, but found most of the wines to be pretty fresh and youthful. The '11’s & '12’s are starting to show notes of evolution where as the '13’s & '14’s are tight and youthful.
There are plenty of great examples of Willamette Valley chardonnays that have aged well, made by folks who were truly dedicated to the varietal! Our intention is to make wines of balance that should ultimately age well. We are, much like the many producers we admire in this valley, absolutely obsessed and committed to the varietal. Ultimately the perfect drinking window for a wine is totally subjective. Erica and I tend to fall toward the earlier side int the 5-8 years from vintage.
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Thanks for your input. Loved your interview on the Oregon wine history archive podcast btw 
I don’t know if it is still the case, but Eyrie made very long aging Chardonnays during David Lett’s lifetime. My friend Fred Arterberry (RIP) organized some of our friends to help (I mostly ‘helped’ by eating grapes and staying out of the way) with harvest in the mid-1970s. Those Eyre Chardonnays easily aged 25+ years.
Did you try the Championship Bottle “Hard Promises” (in the quarantine offer). It’s right in that style.
Chardonnay is already the white grape of the Willamette Valley. Yes, Pinot Gris has made several wineries a truck load of money over the years, but it is clearly a cash flow wine given little respect in the vineyard and less in the cellar. Whereas the best Chardonnay in the Willamette Valley are given the royal treatment (from the producers who respect it! as it too is quickly being viewed and used as a money maker) in the vineyard and the cellar. Willamette Valley Pinot Gris will never achieve the level it does in Alsace or North Eastern Italy. A tiny group of chardonnay from the Willamette Valley WILL rise up to the greats of Burgundy.
Pinot Blanc, BTW, kills when it is farmed well and given attention in the cellar (there’s a trend developing here…) and there are a couple of killer sites out there. Crannell in the EAH is one of the very best.
Quick question: Last time you saw a $40 Willamette Valley Pinot Blanc? vs. Last time you saw a $40 Willamette Valley Chardonnay? 'nuf said.
Easily achieved through selection massale plantings. Diversity of plant material in a single block or having contiguous blocks with multiple clones that are picked at the same time! More ripe, less ripe, perfectly ripe=balance.
I think a vineyard that gives you ripe flavors at lower sugars is key. That’s the beauty of Oregon and certain parts of California.
Dave Lett, who turned me on to a Draper clone vineyard at Tualatin, used to say he could either look for cool part of a warm place in California or a warmer spot in a cool place like Oregon, and one thing Dave was always: cool.
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Humans have this desire to need something to look and taste perfect at every point, and I think that sometimes we forget that wine is fermented fruit, not the fruit itself. Too often we want golf-course vineyards, and picture perfect clusters, and the optimal lab numbers, and we forget that what is essential is that we are encouraging yeast, and a fermentation that produces something that is beautiful. The fruit ripeness needs to feed this, not feed our humanistic craving for sugar and ripe flavors. Diverse plantings can be maddening if you are looking for some sort of “ideal” but if you know your sight, and walk through it, and see where the vines that are always ahead are, and know that your vines that are always behind are also at a place that, together, makes something beautiful… it is easier to say yes, this is the right point. Wine is a translation of fruit through fermentation. The quality and nuance and complexity is important for the beginning, but you are looking for raw materials, not the end result.
Ken, loved your Crannel PB.
Love the optimism! Aim high.
My experience with aging Cameron Chards has been very positive…15+ years. Competitive with plenty of Burgs that are 2x+ of the price. I’ve got less experience aging yours (and Marcus’s) but the opening bids have mostly been excellent…again, toe-to-toe with plenty of Burgs.
Savvy buyers are catching on.
RT
Brian…big thanks for initiating this thread. I had a hunch this was going to be one to watch. And thanks to all the producers who have made this “must reading”.
The idea that grape for wine ripeness is different from grapes for table consumption is a good one. But all too often I taste wines where the winemaker had the idea ‘I ll pick at 21 brix and make a Chablis style wine’ and the wine tastes like acidic sauvignon blanc.
Clendenen and I found a vineyard in the Anderson Valley where the grapes ripened at 22/23 brix. Made wonderful wine and Raj bought most of it. Then the vineyard got old and the owners, who I theorized had another crop which they mostly smoked, never replanted.
Absolutely! Loving the enthusiasm from both the producers and enthusiasts on this thread.
Mel:
That’s true. Reading this thread, I was reminded of the attributes that, for me, define white wine… and agree sugar content can be a slippery slope.
Ken, thanks for posting!