Variety: 100% Chardonnay
Region: Yamhill-Carlton AVA, Willamette Valley, OR
Cost: $39 (SRP)
Winemaker’s Notes: The 2017 Vintage is our second Estate Chardonnay vintage from our own Marshall Davis Vineyard. This wine is 100% oaked, but maintains nice acid, minerality, and brightness. True Oregon style. Just how Mom likes it! Â On the nose are notes of honeysuckle and candied pear with a palate of golden apple, complex minerality, and hazelnut. This Chardonnay is the wineries favorite to produce!
My Review: So a fully oaked Chardonnay made it into my house, and while I’ll go ahead and give the spoiler that it wasn’t for my wife, I’ll also give the spoiler that I loved this wine. Like really, really loved it and would definitely by this again. If this is the type of Chardonnay that Oregon is making, we’re in for something special and all the other places that try to hang their hat on Chardonnay (looking at you California and Virginia) need to be looking over their shoulder.
Alright, so let’s get through the details and then really talk about this wine.
In the glass the wine was lighter than I expected it to be given the amount of time it spent in oak (16 months in French oak, 20% of it New); a light, greenish-yellow colour was much different than I was expecting. On the nose I got aromas of apple, citrus, and floral notes with just a hint of oak. In the mouth the 2017 Marshall Davis Estate Chardonnay showed flavors of mineral, with tart lime, good acid, and a bit of spice on the finish. It honestly reminded me a bit of the Pinot Gris that Oregon is better known for.
So why did I love this wine so much? I know lots of people like me like to talk about “balance” and how wines should be it. The 2017 Marshall Davis Estate Chardonnay is what we’re talking about. The oak was “present”, but only to round out the edges and temper the acid of the wine, not to bury it or be a crutch to hide an inferior wine.
There was no buttery/oaky flavor – I got to taste the wine and the skill of the winemaker (which is not insignificant based on this bottle).
This was a truly fantastic wine, one I highly recommend, and one that I hope is a preview of what’s to come out of Oregon.
Editor’s Note: I received this wine as a free sample for review.
