Oregon Chardonnay

[Brandon_R]

Not to sound like a broken record: Goodfellow. Absolutely.

Also, based on your descriptions, I’d recommend Morgen Long (Chardonnay-only label, good guy, great wines).

[Sc0tt_F_tzgerald]

@Scott Everson

Well, the response to Everson Chardonnay, Oregon’s most expensive Chardonnay ever, has been overwhelming. But, before I can even think about allocations, I have to nail down my artwork. I’ve been working with local, sustainable, vegan, free-range, non-binary, artisanal homeless street artists on concepts, but our first attempt didn’t go so well. I honestly spelled Oregon incorrectly, so we have some work to do. I apologize for the delays. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to post this damn picture correctly.

Scott, please add me to your mailing list and wine club, the “1 case per quarter” option.

[Lex_S]

I think the Elk Cove Chardonnay from their Goodrich Vineyard is excellent. I had some last year, but I can’t remember if it was the 2014 that they’re currently selling on their website.

[Scott_Everson]

Mailing list, this is getting complicated, especially since I recently received an email from Yahoo informing me that come end of September, YahooMail will no longer be supported on my 2009 iPad.

Running a winery is hard.

[lleichtman]

The number of really good Oregon Chardonnays is in the too many to count range now. Oregon is making the best Chardonnays in the US right now. My top would be Brickhouse, Cameron, Matello, Walter Scott, when I can get it, and Ayoub, when you can get it.

[Sc0tt_F_tzgerald]

Thanks for all the input. My goal is to try as many of these as possible. I maybe should have changed the OP to “Oregon White Wines” as I was pleasantly surprised at how many varieties are made up there as I checked out several of the websites. Just goes to show that I need to step out more on my wine exploration.

[Ian_Dorin]

@Brandon R

Not to sound like a broken record: Goodfellow. Absolutely.

Also, based on your descriptions, I’d recommend Morgen Long (Chardonnay-only label, good guy, great wines).

I’m stunned that only one person mentioned Morgen Long. As you noted, great guy, and arguably the best Chardonnay I’ve had from the US under $100. I can’t wait to see what his wines do with age, these should be incredible with 10+ years in the bottle.

(kudos to you Brandon!)

[R_Nanda]

My favorites have all been named already: Eyrie (which age amazingly), Walter Scott, Goodfellow, Arteberry Maresh, Cameron, Brickhouse and for a screaming bargain, Vincent Wine Co.

[Bob_Paul]

Agreed that Cameron and Crowley are both great. Big Table Farm as well.

I haven’t had the Morgen Long yet, but am looking forward to trying it.

[Monte_Mast]

@Rich Nanda

My favorites have all been named already: Eyrie (which age amazingly), Walter Scott, Goodfellow, Arteberry Maresh, Cameron, Brickhouse and for a screaming bargain, Vincent Wine Co.

A huge +1 on the Vincent recommendation. His Chardonnay’s are as close to anything I have tasted to a Chablis. They have that crispness that I love about young Chablis. Not the same as, but more like cousins. Plus you can’t beat the price.

Here are the prices from the pre-release email that just closed:

2016 Vincent Chardonnay Willamette Valley - retail $23, pre-release $18
2016 Vincent Chardonnay Ribbon Ridge - retail $29, pre-release $22

If there is a better value in Oregon Chardonnay, I want to know about it.

Since you intimated about other Oregon whites, here are a few.

I am not a big fan of Pinot Gris. It just doesn’t do much for me. Matello is one of the few I like.

Instead of Pinot Gris, I prefer Pinot Blanc. Check out Helioterra, St. Innocent and Vincent.

John Grochau makes a 70% Pinot Blanc/30% Melon de Bourgogne blend named Pearl that is very tasty.

And if you want to really go off the rails try Helioterra’s Arneis. I’m addicted to the stuff. Anne makes some of the most interesting whites in Oregon.

If you get to the north side of Houston, let me know and we can pull a few bottles.

[Scott_Everson]

The best deal in Oregon is Cameron WV Chardonnay for ~$13 or less/bottle with case discount. Cameron Dundee Hills Chardonnay can be had for ~$17/ bottle with case discount. That’s the best deal in Oregon. Then maybe Vincent.

[dsGriswold]

Let’s keep the noise down on Vincent. He may just decide to raise prices. I said it before, his chard was an eye opener for me and I buy it for msGris so she doesn’t grouse too much about the reds. I hardly get a taste, so I split chard and gamay 50/50 this fall.

[Vincent_Fritzsche]

Lots of good recommendations here, myself excluded. Very cool to see Oregon Chardonnay getting lots of love. It’s truly a special thing, the story of the old plant material here being bad is wrong, and the newer plant material I think is only adding to the mix. Taste as widely as you can and decide for yourself.

[Andy_Steinman]

Lots of love coming from the press as well:

The new issue of Wine & Spirits features an article about the emergence of Oregon Chardonnay while the recent Wine Advocate had many kind words as well.

[Marcus_Goodfellow]

@Scott Everson

My daily drinker (and perhaps one of my favorite wines of all time) is Cameron Willamette Valley Chardonnay. When guests come over I open a WV Chardonnay and a Cameron Dundee Hills Chardonnay and let guests compare and contrast, then blend the two to play around. I should have bought more of the 2014 Cameron Reserve Chardonnay, I’d recommend that a lot if you can find it anywhere. The ‘lesser’ Cameron bottlings are so good I honestly haven’t even worked up to the Clos Electrique or Abbey Ridge (but picked up a mag of the liner &elsen special due to be released later this fall). I took a whiff of La Combe Verte Chardonnay earlier this year and told the woman with blond curly hair at Walter Scott that it smelled like Cameron, and she seemed to take that as a real compliment.

In the spirit of Lingua Franca, and of course my favorite punching bag Seth Morgan Long, I plan to introduce my first ever extra limited release of Chardonnay later this year --the 2015 Everson Oregon Chardonnay. Production will be approximately one case. Really it will be Cameron 2016 WV Chardonnay, but I’ll peel off the label or use a Sharpee to draw over JP’s label. Cost will be $400 per bottle, not including shipping. PM me now to reserve your exclusive place in Oregon Chardonnay history, the most expensive Oregon Chardonnay I believe ever to be released.

Put me down for 1/8th of a bottle…

[Marcus_Goodfellow]

@Jim Anderson

@Scott Fitzgerald

@PrestonS

While on the pricey side of domestic Chardonnay, check out Lingua Franca. I think what Larry Stone, Thomas Savre, Dominique Lafon, and team are doing is very compelling.

. Thanks for the tip. That “Sisters” bottling is pricey at $90.

Not to be a jerk, but why would you invest in the most expensive (or thereabouts) Chardonnay in Oregon made by a pack of people who have, at best, a budding relationship with Oregon? There are producers with intense knowledge of and relationships with the fruit of this area that offer far more compelling and older vine material than the newcomer in LF. This is a new thing in Oregon and I dislike it quite intensely. Ooh, someone who sold wine in restaurants in CA is “making” wine in Oregon? His must be the best. It’s not. Not specifically trying to run down Larry and LF but I do get annoyed at the CA-fornication and faux-Burgundian stuff when people here have been figuring it out for years/decades and are, of course, doing it better and more soulfully.



Go buy some Cameron, J. Christopher, Walter Scott, etc. at 1/3rd-1/2 the price and be happy you did.

+1 on this.

Maybe the most disturbing thing in my craft today is the idea that someone who doesn’t live here can bring anything more than technique to the cellar.

Oregon vineyards will give a winemaker absolutely stunning fruit to work with but understanding the smallest nuances and quirks of the vineyards, aligning yourself to the qualities and needs of individual blocks of fruit is a life’s work. Some vintages are easier to do good work without tremendous experience(my own 2002 wines are a good example) but consumers will be far more likely to find soulful, consistently well crafted wines, from the likes of Belle Pente, Eyrie, Bethel Heights, Walter Scott, Cameron, or Brickhouse than from a well known transplant. There’s a reason Michel Rolland makes the type of wines he’s famous for(the kind where technique trumps terroir).
I think Thomas Savre is doing excellent work at Lingua Franca, he’s dedicated, intelligent, and he lives here now and is as immersed in educating himself as anyone, but there’s always a curve. Most of the rest of transplants just don’t hold up for me. Evening Land Pinot Noirs have, IMO, underperformed at the Berserker throw down after IPNC for several years in a row. Remembering the Seven Springs wines fromEvesham Wood, Patricia Green, and Bethel Heights, the idea that a Seven Springs Pinot Noir would be in the bottom half of that tasting 4 years in a row is unthinkable for me…

[Sc0tt_F_tzgerald]

Just requested some of the 2014 Goodfellow Durant Vineyard Chardonnay. Looks like they have a little left!

[Brandon_J]

I think Oregon chard is a far better bargain than our pinots. I love our pinot, but it’s not too difficult to find similar quality wine for cheaper in other parts of the world (Germany for example) but with the chards, I think they can compete with some of the worlds best chardonnay.

I love the Franca folks but please don’t buy their wine. They don’t need your money and as others have said, there are FAR better deals to be had. The only bottle of chard worth that kind of money is the Arterberry.

Good luck and don’t buy too much!

[Jim_Anderson]

@Brandon J.

I think Oregon chard is a far better bargain than our pinots. I love our pinot, but it’s not too difficult to find similar quality wine for cheaper in other parts of the world (Germany for example) but with the chards, I think they can compete with some of the worlds best chardonnay.

Not agreeing here. There are good German Pinots. Yes. Easy to find? Not so much.Know what you’re getting? Less so. For under $50 Oregon is really, really difficult to beat for Pinot Noir.

[Brandon_J]

@Jim Anderson

@Brandon J.

I think Oregon chard is a far better bargain than our pinots. I love our pinot, but it’s not too difficult to find similar quality wine for cheaper in other parts of the world (Germany for example) but with the chards, I think they can compete with some of the worlds best chardonnay.

Not agreeing here. There are good German Pinots. Yes. Easy to find? Not so much.Know what you’re getting? Less so. For under $50 Oregon is really, really difficult to beat for Pinot Noir.

I didn’t mean “not too difficult” to translate to “easy”.

I guess since I’ve been looking, I’ve found a fair amount of German and French pinot that’s under $50. Not sure I get what you mean by not knowing what you’re getting. If you buy on a whim, then sure? There’s some OK wines, like any other region.