North America | Oregon | Eyrie Vineyards | Estate Chardonnay

Estate Chardonnay

VARIETAL
Chardonnay

NOTES
VINEYARD: Eyrie estate vineyard. The oldest vines in the Willamette Valley are also among the last surviving vines of the Draper selection, a French import from the 1930s now extinct outside of the region. Vines are non-irrigated, own-rooted. No herbicides, systemic chemicals or insecticides. Vines are 47 yrs old and planted in two adjacent blocks. Yields are 2.5 tons per acre. Hand harvested. The Chardonnay Estate is a barrel selection. Since each barrel ferments with its own yeast and ages at its own rate, each barrel becomes very distinct. Before bottling, Jason tastes each barrel. Those barrels which speak to the longest aging potential become the Original Vines Reserve. This Estate bottling, on the other hand, is blended from those barrels which offer the most immediate pleasure.

VINIFICATION: Picked by hand, the grapes were pressed in a combination of antique basket press and Champagne cycle press. Fermented in largely neutral French oak barrels with indigenous yeast strains. The wine ferments at its own pace in the naturally cool cellar and goes through a spontaneous malolactic fermentation over several months. On the lees for 11 months without stirring, and bottled with a light filtration.
90 cases produced

TASTING NOTES: Complex aromas and only the barest hint of oak. On the palate, the wine’s richness is reiterated, finishing long and crisp.

PRESS/REVIEWS: Pale straw. Powerful, mineral-driven Meyer lemon and pear scents show excellent clarity and complicating fennel and sweet butter flourishes. Minerally and precise in the mouth, offering vibrant citrus and orchard fruit flavors that show impressive tension and back-end lift. Finishes silky and impressively long, with insistent floral and mineral notes and a late touch of saffron.
-- Josh Raynolds 93 (VINOUS, 9.3.2020)