94pts Decanter

From eight different sites in the Eola Amity Hills, winemaker Daniel Estrin learned how to make Chardonnay from Litorrai's Ted Lemon. Paul Gerrie makes up the bulk of this wine with Eileen and Louise. 100% barrel fermented Estrin uses a tactile approach to the lees inclusion in this wine. At the entry-level, this wine is still over-vintaged, which builds tension in the wine. Notes of tarragon and chipped flint frame the smoky grilled lemon aromatics. Stony flint streaks introduce the palate, green mangoes, and grilled lemon peel. Delicious and a tad unbelievable as their entry-level bottling.

93pts James Suckling

Plenty of golden apples, lemon zest, sweet spices and toasted brioche on the nose. Medium-bodied with crisp acidity. Well-driven and precise, with a vibrant core of fresh lemons lifting the mid-palate and a focused, juicy finish. Drink or hold.

93pts Jeb Dunnuck

Fruit from eight different vineyards goes into this bottling. A bright medium yellow hue, the 2022 Chardonnay Eola-Amity Hills is elegant, with a juicy, decadent feel to its notes of sweet oak spice, delicate, floral perfume, wet stone, and fresh white peach. Refreshing and mouthwatering, it’s medium-bodied and crisp, with good ripeness of acidity and a clean, elegant finish. It’s going to age well over the coming 6-8 years.

Winemaker Notes

A blend of benchmark vineyard sites in the Eola-Amity Hills, including the Cristom estate, the combination of volcanic soils, elevations, and the cool marine influence, yield a Chardonnay with tension and generosity.

Winemaking: Hand-harvested and whole-cluster pressed; the juice settles overnight and is moved to barrels. It undergoes native yeast fermentation and full malolactic fermentation. It's aged for eleven months on its lees in 20% new French oak barrels, followed by five months in stainless steel tanks.

Tasting Notes: Aromatically complex, the wine delivers intermingled notes of brioche, toasted meringue, lemon curd, and minerality. Zesty Meyer lemon, ginger, and cardamon drive interest on the palate, with a satisfying viscosity and bright acidity that lead to a long finish.

Winery Notes

Cristom Vineyards is a family-owned and operated winery that has established itself as a top producer of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Eola-Amity Hills district of Oregon's Willamette Valley. Second-generation proprietor Tom Gerrie leads the production team, which includes long time winemaker Steve Doerner and recently arrived vineyard manager & winemaker Daniel Estrin. Each bring experience from working at top Pinot/Chardonnay producers in California: Doerner from Calera and Estrin from Littorai. Tom’s parents, Paul and Eileen Gerrie, founded the winery in 1992.

The estate is divided into five single vineyards: Jessie, Eileen, Marjorie, and Louise (all named for Matriarchs in the Gerrie family); and the newly added Paul Gerrie vineyard, acquired in 2012. There are 95 acres on vine throughout the 240-acre property. The majority vineyards are planted at a high density of around 2,300 vines per acre and heavily cropped to produce about 2 tons of fruit per acre.