Willamette Winemakers Agree – It’s an Exciting Time for Oregon Chardonnay

When the best-of-the-best winemakers and winery owners gather around a table, you know the conversation will be enlightening. I experienced just that at a Chicago luncheon shared with impressive Willamette Valley experts Adam Campbell, Winemaker of Elk Cove Winery, Maggie Harrison, Winemaker of Antica Terra Winery, Florent Merlier, Winemaker of Van Duzer Winery, Marcus Goodfellow, Winemaker of Goodfellow Family Cellars and Page Knudsen Cowles, Owner of Knudsen Vineyards. Each was in town for Pinot in the City, a trade and consumer event at which Oregon’s Willamette Valley showcased its signature grape, Pinot Noir, and other varieties in the Windy City.

Willamette Valley, located between Oregon’s Cascade Mountains and the Coast Range, is more than 100 miles long and spans 60 miles at its widest point. The distance to the Pacific Ocean is 50 miles from McMinnville to Lincoln City. There are 3,438,000 acres in the Valley with 23,524 acres under vine. Dominant soils are marine sediment, volcanic basalt and windblown loess (silt). With 756 vineyards and 564 wineries, wine lovers have plenty of choices in the Willamette Valley. The most popular variety is Pinot Noir with 15,881 acres planted. Following are Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Blanc.

Pacific Standard Time was the setting for a lively banter between the producers and five wine and food writers accompanied by a delicious pairing menu. Potato Soup with green garlic, leek, white miso, smoked cod, shabazi oil and chive and Smoked Eggplant Pita with charred red onion, pickled jalapeno, feta and pistachio were brilliant starters. Guests had a choice, albeit a difficult one, between the Grain Bowl with farro verde, quinoa, roasted tofu, apple and yuzu kosho, Half Heritage Chicken with black beans, Carolina gold rice, mojo rojo, sungold tomato and chorizo and Roasted Strip Steak with cucumber, shoug, ricotta salata, dill, and caraway breadcrumb. The bright finale was Citrus Pavlova with lemongrass pudding, yuzu curd, grapefruit granita and mint.

During this stellar lunch, our group sipped and savored distinctive expressions of Pinot Gris and Chardonnay from Elk Cove Vineyards, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from both Van Duzer Vineyards and Knudsen Vineyards, Rosé of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Antica Terra and Chardonnay and a field blend of Riesling, Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc and Gewurztraminer from Goodfellow Family Cellars. With each sip, these wines highlighted a unique terroir, winemaking style and each producer’s connection to the vineyards.

Willamette Valley Chardonnay

In particular, I was duly impressed with the styles of Chardonnay poured. I noted that the Knudsen Vineyards 2017 Chardonnay offered full and complex aromas and flavors and boasted a broad mouthfeel and the slightest hint of oak. The Van Duzer Vineyards 2016 Chardonnay Bieze Vineyard was a refreshing expression of pure fruit, layered with vibrant acidity and elegant minerality. The Elk Cove Vineyards 2016 Chardonnay Goodrich Vineyard was vibrant with a fruit-focused profile… think lemons, white peaches and flinty minerality. Nuanced with complexity was Goodfellow Family Cellars’ 2017 “Richards Cuvée” Chardonnay, a sophisticated wine of breezy salinity, lemon curd, stone fruit and ginger.

Each producer I met is proud that there is distinct variety in style and flavor found in Chardonnay from Willamette Valley. Page Knudsen admitted that she’s “not in a position to speak for all of Oregon, but the Willamette Valley wine growing region is a cool, maritime climate that preserves freshness in the fruit’s expression as well as ability to preserve acidity in the finished wine. Our aim at Knudsen Vineyards is to produce a Chardonnay that highlights the purity of the fruit, and is complimented, not overwhelmed, by a small amount of new French oak, an average of 25% over the past three vintages. The result is a light, bright, refreshing Chardonnay that reflects the elevation, clonal selection and age of the vines.”

Florent Merlier, with a strong heritage in Burgundy, explained that “you don’t want all Chardonnays to taste the same. I think that each winery expresses its style, its site typicity or terroir. Some are heavily influenced by oak and some more buttery or bready from malolactic fermentation.”

He continued. “In my case, I pay a tribute and I am inspired by Chablis wines as it is the area where I grew up. This means no malolactic for me to preserve freshness and tension. Also, selecting a specific site is important, such as higher elevation, to highlight the acidity and make a wine that is food friendly. My Burgundian roots are always guiding me toward the association of food and wine. Finally, selecting the appropriate balance of vessels is key: concrete eggs to lift up the minerality and oak barrels (no more than 20% new) to add subtle layers of spice and weight on mid palate with limited barrel stirring.”

Adam Campbell added, “Oregon Chardonnay is typified by freshness and vibrancy. Our cool climate produces Chardonnays with less obvious sweetness and more complex minerality. Our Goodrich Chardonnay comes from a very high-density vineyard (2600 vines per acre) with two amazing Dijon Clones (95 & 124). We harvest on the earlier side to capture the freshness and vibrancy of the varietal. We use long and slow fermentation to build complexity and barrel age in French Oak puncheons for 12 months with an additional 6 months in stainless steel.”

Is climate change a factor in Willamette Valley viticulture as it pertains to Chardonnay? Florent Merlier weighed in.

“In my case climate change has limited effect as I am receiving the buffering effect from the Van Duzer Corridor – cooler while facing a warm vintage and warmer while facing a cooler vintage. Also, the site in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, influenced by the Van Duzer Corridor I am using for my Chardonnay, is at higher elevation. To summarize, I am already accounting that reality in my winemaking approach (site selection, viticultural practices and winemaking). I am not so sure that all AVAs in the Willamette Valley are necessarily suited for Chardonnays. I believe that, for example, Yamhill Carlton isn’t conducive to my winemaking style; it’s too warm for this varietal. But again, and that is the richness of wine and winemaking, we all have a different style and are trying to achieve different goal to break monotony and uniformity.”

Clearly the exhilaration about Willamette Valley wines and specifically, the potential of Chardonnay was pervasive that afternoon. Page Knudsen remarked that “not only does this grape varietal produce fantastic still wine, but sparkling as well. Many premium vineyard blocks are also located at high elevation locations on the Knudsen Vineyards property.  These tend to be the coolest sites, planted with Chardonnay grapes, which are used in the production of Knudsen Vineyard designated sparkling wines made by another producer.”

Adam Campbell stated, “There is amazing work being done by a great number of quality producers in our area. I am really enthusiastic about new plantings of Chardonnay on top quality sites as well as a real winemaking focus on respecting the fruit and concentrating on freshness and vibrancy.”

“Chardonnay can be successfully grown in areas that are slightly cooler and very much warmer than we currently experience in the Willamette Valley. With our love for classic cool climate Chardonnay we are planting Chardonnay on some of our cooler sites and looking at pushing the boundaries of high elevation vineyard properties. We are very excited to see some of these new plantings achieve greater vine age and see what their full potential will be… It is such an exciting time for Oregon Chardonnay.” Adam Campbell, Winemaker of Elk Cove Vineyards

Fresh, pure, vibrant, exciting… this is Chardonnay from the Willamette Valley. To locate Chardonnay producers in the Willamette Valley, follow the link here.

Cheers! ~ Cindy

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