2010 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Chardonnay Arthur- USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills (8/22/2014)
Chilled for an hour or so, then poured. Light yellow with no sign of aging. On the nose it’s beautiful, with tart apple and pear, a touch of oak, cut grass, and lots of ripe lime. Similar notes on the palate, this has excellent balance and beautifully integrated oak. The finish is crisp and clean, with a nice crackle of acidity. I suspect this is in its peak drinking window and will stay in it for a while.
Another OR wine I want to like more. I’ll never understand why DDO isn’t leading the way with drop dead gorgeous Burgundian Chards (i.e.: Cameron, Evening Land). Almost always prefer Eyrie. Walter Scott will be surging past very soon (if not already). I’d take an Evesham Wood any day.
Not sure about the 30 - 50% new oak barrel ferments. The oak is almost always too distracting IMHO. The wine can be quite good, but DDO should be doing so much better.
You like Eyrie and Cameron, I think the Eyrie chards are among the most consistently disappointing ones out there and the last few Cameron chards I opened were undrinkable. Walter Scott makes some special wines, Evesham Wood Le Puits Sec can be profound, but I keep going back to DDO year after year.
My experience is that Eyrie Chardonnays are generally excellent, and the 2012 Estate bottling is especially delicious and well priced (we’re well into our second case). I haven’t found any of the Cameron whites (or reds for that matter) to be undrinkable, but your distaste for anything Cameron is well known. I would agree with your comments regarding Walter Scott and Evesham Wood, but, while good, I wouldn’t put DDO in the top group of Oregon Chardonnays. I would put both Eyrie and Cameron in that top group (along with Brittain, Crowley, Walter Scott, and several others).
Not every Cameron Chard is delicious, but I’m also yet to encounter an undrinkable bottle, or one that was corked. I focus on their Abbey Ridge and Clos Electrique bottlings and probably consume fewer than Rick, maybe 3 - 4 bottles/year, since the 04 vintage.
Shame about Eyrie Chards, didn’t they do a big Reserve Retrospective Tasting in 2009? Everyone was predictably disappointed?
DDO Arthur is the pinnacle of OR Chardonnay? A chacun son goût .
A few months ago we did a blind tasting of chardonnays, I had no idea a 2010 Eyrie or 2011 Cameron was in there and yet the entire group scored both wines at the very bottom. In March we opened a 2010 Clos Electrique for our housewarming party that was still full at the end of the night. No one would drink it. Needless to say, I’ve had delicious wines from both producers in the past, to be sure. Maybe my expectations are just too high for each producer? As I’ve told friends, I keep waiting for an epiphanous bottle from both wineries, so I can finally join the crowd of cheerleaders on this site.
As far as DDO Arthur being at the top, I wouldn’t say that. If I gave that impression, my apologies. There are several producers who I would group at the pinnacle, as we’ve discussed already. Following the Walter Scott wines over the next several vintages will be fun, something I’m really looking forward to.
Or we could just say I have a junk palate for not being on the bandwagon and not buying into it all? Who knows!
I get that tons of people like Eyrie, trust me. I want to like their wines more often than I do. Same goes for Cameron, especially when I see so many palates I admire and respect praising the wines. Yet I wonder why I don’t have the same experiences? Chardonnay is one of my favorite grapes, especially ones from here and all over Burgundy. I did buy a 2012 Eyrie Estate Chardonnay a few months ago after having it in the TR. It was fantastic.
No worries Beau, just different palates for different people. I would expect that, for you, my tasting notes aren’t worth much…
Chardonnay is my favorite grape, to the point where I have pretty much stopped buying Pinot Noir so I can spend those dollars (and cellar space) on Oregon Chardonnay and White Burgundy instead.
Brings me right back to the original point. Why isn’t DDO at the top or moving rapidly in that direction? In France they have their Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche, a consistent Corton Charlie and very respectable Chablis. What’s stopping them?
Interesting about the 2010 Clos Electrique. 4 bottles in the cellar so I’ll certainly be checking up.
Re: 2010 Clos…I recall having two bottles. One, at Sauvage in PDX (RIP) was way too young and oaky but had potential. The other was the one I refer to in this thread.
Good Q on DDO, I suppose that’s just your opinion of DDO though. An informal, random, small sampling of some wine geek buddies via FB and the like revealed that there seems to be a fairly high opinion of their chardonnay. That said, I think that their chardonnay can always be better and would love to see it ascend to the level of some of their pinots.
I buy the Cameron DH chard every year. I do find it a bit oaky upon release but it’s inexpensive and got enough other good things going on that I don’t mind sitting on it for a couple of years. That being said, my understanding is that it sees more new oak than the higher end AR and CE stuff that he wants more neutral. I’ve only had a handful of those and always liked them. Haven’t touched any of 2011 AR chard and CE blanc in my cellar.
I’m not much for the Cameron DH chard (unlike the AR/CEs). Maybe I should take Ron’s advice and sit on them for a while to let the oak subside. I always like the Arthur quite a bit but do not find it particularly compelling.
2012 Brittan chard recently was a revelation. Best OR chard I’ve had in several years.
Rick - not surprised about your preference for chard over pinot given your beer preferences/products…
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