Why is Oregon chardonnay so expensive?

WINE TALK
21

Greg, a big factor in price with reds vs whites is labor. Chardonnay comes in, gets pressed, maybe settled overnight then either ferments in tank or in barrel with little human effort.

Reds will get two, maybe three, pumpovers or punchdowns a day for two weeks, then maybe one a day for extended maceration for another week or two with daily dry ice application…that’s when you have several interns working 14 hours a day only doing cap management.

22

Or, you could simply look east instead of west for value. There are decent Finger Lakes chardonnays for around $20/bottle. [cheers.gif]

23

Scott, I recommend that you find a bottle of this. It is one of the best chardonnay’s I have tasted in the past year, regardless of region, regardless of price.

24

Exactly. Rather than answer the question, I reject its premise. Sure you can find some spendy bottles if you look around hard enough. But there’s plenty of reasonably priced Oregon chard, much of it pretty good. For years, I had written it off as a wasteland (outside of a few bottles from Eyrie and Evesham Wood). Now, there’s a lot of nice stuff made, and most of it won’t break the bank. Vincent’s chard is really nice for the price, better than any similarly priced chard I’ve tried recently.

25

I recently had a chance to finally taste the entire 2014 Walter Scott Chards at a McCarthy and Scheiring (Seattle wine store), heard great things here on WB about them. I was converted on the spot, the cuvée Anne was the least expensive at about $37 and a steal given the quality level. A dead ringer for a high end Mersault.

26

I’m more curious why people are still paying $300 for premoxed white burgundies.

27

This is a much better question.

28

Sorry, I’ve just started looking into Oregon chards literally for the past couple of days, and my views were skewed by initial online browsing of Arterberry and Clos Electrique. I’m still surprised chardonnay can command higher prices than many pinots in Oregon, I’m happy for the producers obviously, but still just a little surprised, that’s all. Oregon pinot has been such a well kept secret that I think I’m dismayed at the trajectory of chard prices (but again, happy for the producers).

29

Drinking a Longplay chard tonight, and it’s great. Scott, there are a few expensive OR chards, but there’s a ton of great wine under $30, including this one.

That said, the Clos Electrique is worth the price.

Michael

30

I will give Longplay chard a tryout, Vincent has made the best I have tasted so far, the Clos is just too expensive for me red or white now. I’ve tried to interest my wife and friends in the better whites, but they just keep sucking down the PG with abandon @ half the price, so I spend the money on PN. [snort.gif]

31

Wow. You need to get out more. There is an awful lot of outstanding Bourgogne Blanc for $20-30. Got PYCM Bourgogne Blanc 2014 for $30 and 2012 Bourgogne Blanc from Dublere (which was wonderful) for $20. Could have bought a bunch of others including Carillon and Boillot in the same price range. Got village level PYCM (Meursault Narvaux) for $60. Your prices for Roulot are really not at all representative for what is out there for an awful lot of white Burgundy producers. It is like treating Harlan as reflective of California Cabernet prices.

32

Attn John Morris,

I cannot speak for others but all the Chardonnays I have helped made have spent a minimum of 16 months in barrel. And don’t forget that many bottle their Pinots before the following harvest.

I got Eric Hamacher to make Oregon chardonnay with me back in the 90s and we worked together for about six years. My point was that Oregon chardonnay needs the same care lavished on it as a fine Meursault. The goal was to make a wine that would not be compared to most California Chardonnay but to white Burgundy.

So we used special wide grain Taransaud barrels (air dried nearly four years), barrel fermented it it, left it on its lees through ML (which took forever),bottled it sixteen month after harvest, and we got some nice acclaim.

33

Howard,
With this year’s freeze those prices won’t last long. And when did Bourgogne Blanc and Bourgogne Rouge at $25 a bottle become a bargain. Somebody pointed out that the Six Million Dollar Man is now worth $30 million, so maybe I am behind the times. God knows what PYCM St Aubin will go for now…It seems just like yesterday it went for $20 and last year’s got delivered here for around $40.

I think that if somebody in Oregon could create a white Burgundy style Chardonnay for around $30, a lot of wine couldbe sold.

34

I was doing a tasting in a local wine shop pouring Oregon chard in Washington.
Someone asked the same question, after hearing another person go on about how Oregon wineries are charging it ‘because they can’ I finally blew my lid and asked a basic question, ‘have you had a Washington chard this good?’
The answer was ‘yes’, follow up question was ‘how much was it’…
Answer $50, the Oregon chard I was pouring was $42.

So WHY is Oregon Chard so expensive… Perception… It’s all relative.

35

There are a lot of outstanding chardonnays from Burgundy (esp. if one includes Chablis and the Macon) for $30. The Oregon wine is going to have to be quite good. And, most likely, people who buy it will be converts from California Chardonnay, not from Burgundy. Very few American Chardonnays taste like they come from Burgundy. You can like them or dislike them, but they taste like different animals.

As for PYCM, his wines have really been a bargain for the quality of his wines, esp. the village level wines from Meursault and the St. Aubins. I hate to see the prices go up, but the wines are awfully good.

When did Bourgogne Blanc and Bourgogne Rouge at $25 become a bargain? Look, I wish I could still get them for $5 as I did when I was younger. But, a Dublere 2012 Bourgogne Blanc I had a couple of weeks ago was the best $20 Chardonnay I have had from anywhere in a long time. So, my answer is that this one was a bargain because it is better than any comparably priced wines I can buy TODAY.

36

AGREED HOWARD! I laugh at the suggestion that quality white Burgundy starts at $50. Moreover, a $25 Bourgogne blanc, or a $40 St. Aubin, is often, to my taste, better and more representative of producer style than a similarly priced Bourgogne rouge, etc. Choosing Roulot’s Bourgogne is a poor example because his are amongst the most expensive Bourgogne blanc while many less expensive offerings are very good. This is to say nothing of the greatest source of white Burgundy value, Chablis. Tons and tons of great Chablis for under $40, and even quite a bit less.

37

Wow. Really? Tons of fantastic value to be found in WV. I can think of entry level (and better) offerings from a dozen producers that represent incredible value, frequently at or under $20. Too many for me to even keep up with them all. WV is a great source of value.

38

So Howard, what you’re saying is that, to you, White Burgundy is still a bargain, and nothing compares, yet it sounds like you haven’t even tried any Oregon Chardonnays. If you haven’t tried something, how do you know?

We drink 3-4 bottles of Chardonnay a week, split about evenly between White Burgundy and Oregon Chardonnay (used to be all White Burgundy), and most everything we drink costs under $25. I find the two regions comparable for quality, taste, and value in this price range. When I move into Village and Premier Cru level wines, I find it difficult to continue to afford the White Burgundies in any kind of volume, but I can still afford the Oregon versions. Does Oregon have anything that approaches Grand Cru status? Nope, not yet. Remember that Lafon and Drouhin have had a big influence in Oregon Chardonnay over the last decade, and a number of Oregon winemakers took time in 2011 (late harvest in OR, early harvest in Burgundy) to work harvest in Burgundy before picking their own grapes. I suspect that with the current disaster in Burgundy, we’ll see a lot more of their winemakers over here this summer and fall.

39

Perhaps I should express myself more precisely. I am thinking of Meursault quality chardonnay for $30.

Once again, given the news out of Burgundy, where it appears many villages have lost 80% of their crop, this is a good time to stock up.

40

True, getting out more would be good. I exercise outside approx. 10 hours per week…although that’s probably not what you meant.

Last Saturday I was perusing the shelves at Flatiron Wines and discussing White Burgundy. The shop is typically pretty good at directing buyers to fine QPR wines in the $10 - $40 range. There were approx 15 options under $40 and 2 that our knowledgeable sales helper felt comfortable recommending. Prices quickly shot above $50 for most, probably 80% of their White Burg inventory. You won’t see the same in OR stores selling OR Chards.

The Roulot prices are real…Wine-Searcher Pro. They weren’t like that 5+ years ago.

I still believe there’re very good White Burgs < $40, but go-to favs slide up and out of that range regularly.

RT