90pts Wine Enthusiast

This smooth-textured Chardonnay smells like a honeydew melon drizzled with sea salt. As the wine warms to the touch, a distinct mineral note surfaces. Tangy white grapefruit and ginger flavors mix with lemon butter and basil notes. I see a lobster roll in this wine's future.

90pts Jeb Dunnuck

The first of two Chardonnays, the 2021 Chardonnay Classique lifts with a bit of flint and matchstick reduction, as well as juicy peach and melon rind. It is dry but ripe and rounded, with juicy pear, almond, and candied lemon, and has a soft, clean finish. This is a lovely and balanced wine for those who seek a fresh and fleshy style. Drink 2022-2027.

Winemaker Notes

Aromas of pear, yellow apple, fresh-baked pastry, blanched almond.  On the palate, yellow apple, d’Anjou pear, melon lemon zest, flinty minerality.  A supple and fresh body, with steely acidity and persistence finish of orchard fruit, lemon zest, crushed stone.

The Classique series includes three varietals—pinot gris, chardonnay, and pinot noir. The provenance of this tier of wines is Oregon’s North Willamette Valley, a broad and diverse American Viticultural area.  Whatever the Classique series might lack in specificity of source, it makes up for in rambunctious fruit-driven style, intended more for immediate hedonism rather than cellaring.

The 2020 Classique Chardonnay was produced with fruit from Freedom Hill, Durant, and our own Lange Estate vineyards.