92pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Flint, edge and tension are the first words that come to mind when describing the 2019 Reserve Chardonnay. We include both vines from the Dundee Hills planted back in 1974 and younger vines from Eola-Amity Hills to provide this swing of flinty, lemon zest to sweet spiced, white nectarine. We recommend serving slightly chilled to retain the crisp quality of the acidity and cooling freshness. Acidity and freshness are the main goal for Chardonnay and most of these is determined by the picking date. What's most intriguing is when to pick Chardonnay, and after the 2011 harvest - the coolest and latest harvest on record - the picking decisions for Sparkling and still Chardonnay are very similar, high acid but with a little more ripeness.

92pts Vinous

The 2019 Chardonnay Reserve lifts from the glass with a rich and sweetly scented bouquet blending almond custard with confectionary spice and crushed apples. This is fruit-focused, balanced by crisp minerality and tantalizing acidity. Suggestions of ripe peach and vanilla bean linger as the 2019 finishes potent and long yet remarkably fresh.

Winemaker Notes

The 2019 growing season began with a relatively mild and dry winter and moderately cool spring, leading to bud break during the second and third weeks of April. Temperatures picked up in May and continued into a beautiful mid-June bloom. The rest of the summer continued to be warm and very dry, with no precipitation for nearly 3 months. Early September remained warm and dry through the beginning of the sparkling harvest, but then cooled down with a few days of precipitation in the middle of the month. This allowed for still wine ripening (and the cellar crew!) to slow down and catch their breath before finishing out with beautiful late September and early October weather. In all, the 2018 harvest was very condensed, having started with Chardonnay at the lower elevations of Lone Star Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills on September 4th and finishing with Pinot Noir in the upper elevations of the Eola-Amity Hills at Spirit Hill Vineyard on October 2nd.