I only have a few bottles of 2018 and 2019 Goodfellow as my Oregon Chardonnay. CT suggests both are far too young to drink, but I might pop a 2019 Berserker Cuvee later this week if the consensus is that they’re ready(ish) to drink this young.
Oregon chardonnay strikes me as maybe #1 on the list of location+variety combinations which are really going to take off. I mean, it’s already taking off, but the potential there is still so great.
Though prices for the top wines are already very high. And I don’t begrudge that, but I guess what I’m really hoping for myself is that Oregon can continue to develop into a white Cote de Beaune replacement in the $30-60 price range.
I drink a lot of Goodfellow whites. Trust me, they are not too young to drink. And if I can put words in Marcus’s mouth, I think he’d agree. It all depends how you like your Chards. If you love brightness and intensity, they are fantastic now.
Not everyone uses CT. Checkout the “What Goodfellow/Matello are you drinking” thread. There are lots of notes on young Goodfellow whites.
Let me kick off David’s charity week by posting about a wine that our community all helped to bring about, the 2019 Goodfellow Family Cellars Berserkers Cuvee from Temperance Hill. Lightly reductive on the nose, with juicy apple fruit on the palate, and nice persistence through the finish. Quite tasty
Jim Anderson and I started our tasting with a vertical of Durant Vineyard chardonnay. Just some quick notes.
2015 Patricia Green Cellars Chardonnay Durant Vineyard
Ripe lemon, crisp green apple, underripe pineapple. Bright fruit on the palate, nice chalky minerality over a long finish.
2016 Patricia Green Cellars Chardonnay Durant Vineyard
Struck match on the nose, yellow apple, touch of butterscotch, more round than the 2015 but good acidity.
2017 Patricia Green Cellars Chardonnay Durant Vineyard
Part of this was fermented in concrete, the rest in barrel. Green apple, underripe pear, orange peel, and vanilla bean on the nose. Very fresh, a little more salinity compared to the prior two bottles.
2019 Patricia Green Cellars Chardonnay Durant Vineyard
Fermented in concrete. Struck match, followed by a nose of underripe pineapple and green apple. The most energetic wine of the flight. Loved the brightness and tension of the wine, which seems to dance on the palate.
I have 2 green sweatshirts. The one in that picture is my nice one. The other one is the source of great animosity here at the winery. They’ve tried to take it from me a couple of times.
2016 Division Winemaking Company Chardonnay “Trois” Johan Vineyard- USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills (12/9/2021)
What a couple of years in the cellar can do for these wines. The flinty/reductive note is gone, and it’s developed a mid-palate depth that takes the bright start and racy finish to another level. Fresh Golden Delicious apple fruit (picked at the farm, not from a grocery store!) with a dash of spice, it finished with a saline wash that then reverberates the spice. I drink so many of my Division bottles early. This is a good reminder to give them some extra time.
Black Walnut is a vineyard high in the Dundee Hills above Maresh. It is Will Hamilton’s first vintage with it and I am unaware of any other bottling of this fruit.
I have a lot of respect for Will’s work and think his wines are of par with Walter Scott’s (direct influence as he made his wine at WS for a number of years). This wine shows a very nice, restrained, flinty reduction along with scents of autumn harvest, crunchy dried leaves, white peaches, and lightly toasted hazelnuts. Excellent acidity and a very moderate touch of oak. Check in again on odd numbered years up to 2029.
My wife and I met up with Marcus Goodfellow at his cellar along with Vincent Fritzsche (Vincent Wine Co) and Saul Mutchnick (Championship Bottle). Kind of just threw together an Oregon chardonnay vs. riesling (Oregon and elsewhere) tasting. If it’s not obvious, I brought the three rieslings on the right of the line-up. Such a fun experience getting to geek out with these guys for a couple hours about all aspects of winemaking in Willamette Valley and to get a pulse on where things are heading with chardonnay in the region as well as the influence of climate change.
Too many wines to keep track of, but for the sake of this thread these were my brief thoughts on some of the chardonnays:
2019 Goodfellow Family Cellars Chardonnay Richard’s Cuvee Whistling Ridge Vineyard - Just as I remember it when I tasted it 6 months ago. A little coiled up, but on the nose has aromas of matchstick, pear, lemon peel, mint, and a mix of flint/seashell minerality. Bright and light as a feather on the palate, with a great wave of minerality that gradually builds over a long finish.
2014 Walter Scott Chardonnay Cuveé Anne - Mostly green/yellow apple, yellow florals, and vanilla enveloped by chalk on the nose. Lightly honeyed but underripe orchard fruit on the palate, I most appreciated the nuance of the mineral tones and spice on the finish.
2019 Championship Bottle Chardonnay Gravity’s Pull Dion Vineyard - Good god this is electric. Mostly gunpowder, chalk, seashell, and lime leaf, on the nose. On the palate there is a burst of citrus fruit upfront, with fresh acidity and great tension, complemented by grippy chalky minerals. Not as refined or elegant on the palate as Richard’s Cuvee, but has a tannic/mouth-drying quality that cleanses the palate and makes you want to go for another sip.
2016 Vincent Chardonnay Ribbon Ridge - Technically would’ve been labeled as Brick House Vineyard. Crisp citrus and flint on the nose, showing some development with slightly turned orchard fruit tones on the nose and palate. A touch of almond skin and dried herbs on the palate as well. Lithe and playful, not heavy/full-bodied or super ripe as I would’ve anticipated from the 2016 vintage. Very nice juice, with plenty in the tank for further aging.
2019 Domaine Nicholas-Jay Chardonnay Bishop Creek - Marcus opened this as he had spent some time earlier in his career making pinot noir from Bishop Creek, and some land has since been replanted to chardonnay. Crisp citrus and chalk minerals on the nose, has a nice purity of lemon peel, green apple skin, and underripe pineapple on the palate with a touch of richness, complemented by fresh acidity and a long mineral finish. A little more ripe and fuller in body than the other 2019s in the line-up.
2012 Crowley Chardonnay Four Winds - Bruised yellow apple, butterscotch, and hazelnut on the nose and palate. Still fresh, has nice intensity of flavors and weight on the palate. Missing a little acidity for my palate, but otherwise a nice wine.
That’s great! Some of my favorite Oregon peeps already in this thread. I’ve never met Saul, but Jim, Marcus and Vincent in the same day is epic. Well done!