About our Chardonnay
If you love Oregon wines, you know that Oregon Chardonnay is rapidly growing in popularity and reputation. At Winter’s Hill, we are excited to be a part of that movement, and we believe that our volcanic soils and higher elevation will help us to create Chardonnay of exceptional quality. Our 2020 vintage of Chardonnay quickly sold out, and we are planning to release our 2021 vintage to our Cellar Door Club members in the Fall of 2023. Quantity is limited, so if you want to be sure to get a few bottles, join our club now, or subscribe to our email list to learn when it is released.
All of our wines start with hand harvested fruit from our estate vineyards in the Dundee Hills. To minimize handling and crushing of the fruit, we gently loaded the whole clusters of grapes into the press without removing the stems. Gentle pressing with minimal rolling or mixing of the fruit while in the press allowed us to extract only the purest, most flavorful juice from the grapes. After settling, we transferred the juice to 500L oak puncheons for fermentation and aging. We prefer the larger puncheons for our Chardonnay for the balanced oak and respect for the natural characteristics and terroir of the fruit. Cool cellar temperatures during the aging process help to preserve the freshness and balance of the wine.
Tasting Notes
The large puncheons in which the wine was crafted provide fine, elegant tannins that are already well integrated into the wine. This is a smooth and balanced wine with medium body. The wine showcases flavors of citrus, pear, melon and hints of vanilla with spicy notes of nutmeg and sandalwood. It finishes with minerality and mouthwatering acidity. It has the structure to pair with a variety of foods, as well as excellent aging potential.
2020 vintage “This is a lightly oaky wine with supporting acids and crisp flavors of Meyer lemon and green apple. It’s a fine match for butter sauces and sautéed white fish, but should have particular appeal to tasters who favor higher-acid Chardonnays.” 90 points, Wine Enthusiast
