The fruit for the 2017 Willamette Valley Chardonnay was sourced from several nesting AVAs across the Willamette Valley, including Andrea’s Vineyard in the newest Van Duzer AVA, Vivid Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA and Brick House Vineyard in the Ribbon Ridge AVA. This wine spent 19 months on its lees in 8% new, French oak barrels.

For the last three years, bud break started early, but in 2017 we saw a return to the “old normal”—at least for the first four months of the year. After a cool, early spring, bud break began in the middle of April. The summer months started off cool, but by late June, the heat came and stayed. Just as harvest approached, a rainstorm came in and slowed the vineyards’ rush to ripeness, giving the grapes time on the vine for flavor and tannin development and the winery more time to take care in our picking decisions.