Flavor Profile

• Aroma: Straw in color with a sweet, mellow bouquet of kiwi, pear, citrus zest and minerality
• Taste: Candied ginger, green apple, vanilla bean and lemon peel emerge on the palate
• Body: Medium to full bodied, dry, with a balance of warmth and fresh acidity
• Finish: Long and vibrant

Product History

Founder Jim Bernau traveled with the Oregon Governor’s Delegation to Burgundy in the 1980s to seek out French clones to improve our state’s Chardonnay quality. These vines were brought back and quarantined at Oregon State University before being propagated for use in Oregon vineyards. Naturally derived Dijon Clones from France being planted in the Willamette Valley was one of the greatest tipping points in Oregon wine quality.

Production Method

2023 in the Willamette Valley began with a very cold, dry winter followed by a short, wet spring. The cooler weather led to a late bud break around April 27th through May 1st, which was two to three weeks behind average. It quickly warmed up and accelerated the time between bud break and bloom. Similar to the 2011 vintage, bud break was short, with flowering happening in a single week. A hailstorm during the flowering period led to lower yields for the 2023 vintage. Lower yielding vintages tend to produce wines that are very concentrated in color, tannins and body. The summer was ideal with temperatures staying around 80 degrees. A heatwave from August 13th – 16th reached temperatures over 100 degrees in certain areas and quickly broke. The berries on the vine were at the tail end of veraison during the heatwave and were able to handle most of the heat stress. It caused an increase in sugar levels in September, just in time for harvest. With a record yield from our estate vineyards in 2022, the 2023 harvest reflected the typical vineyard cycle of a lower yield after a high yield. Picking began around the first week of September and finished in late October. Temperatures stayed ideal until the last week of September when rain arrived. Growers either worked through the rain to finish their harvest or paused until it passed the following week. Intermittent rain followed throughout the rest of the harvest. Willamette Valley Vineyards brought in 90 percent of its grapes by this period. Although it was a challenging vintage with lower yields, winemakers are excited about how this unique vintage will display.

Awards

• 2022: 91 points – Wine Enthusiast
• 2021: 91 points – James Suckling
• 2018: 93 points & Gold Medal – Beverage Testing Institute
• 2018: 90 points – Wine & Spirits
• 2017: 91 points & Editors’ Choice – Wine Enthusiast
• 2016: 92 points – Washington Wine Blog
• 2013: Year’s Best U.S. Chardonnay – Wine & Spirits
• 2012: 90 points – Wine Enthusiast
• 2008: 91 points – Tasting Panel
• 2008: Excellent – Wine Press Northwest

Willamette Valley Appellation

The Estate Vineyard, located south of Salem, is planted on an old west-to-southwest facing volcanic flow. The pioneering Jory family, who first farmed the hill-site, found the ancient volcanic, iron-rich soil was ideal for dark, thin-skinned plums, which they dried into prunes. Wine grapes were first planted in 1983 by Founder Jim Bernau. The vineyard site rises from 500-750 feet in elevation with seven to twelve degree slopes tilted toward the sun. As a result, the vines get excellent air drainage and are above the frost line. At this elevation and slope, the temperature is approximately 10 degrees cooler than the valley floor during the day. The soil type is typically a clay loam, which is permeable to roots, retentive of moisture and runs five to seven feet deep. Because this soil is so old (estimated to be 10 to 14 million years old) rainwater has percolated through this now acidic soil, breaking down the basalt and allowing the roots to tap down.

Stewardship of the Land

UV-C Light Robot

It was from that work that Founder Jim Bernau started reading about how a special band of ultraviolet light, UV-C effectively kills fungus including the biggest disease threat to our grapes, powdery mildew. By teaming up with Saga Robotics, Cornell University and USDA scientists at Oregon State University, Willamette Valley Vineyards is testing UV-C light with the worlds first autonomous, electric-powered robot to be used in a commercial vineyard. For us, the use of organic sulfur could be replaced, but for many farmers, fungicides would no longer be necessary.

LIVE (Low Input Viticulture & Enology) & Salmon-Safe

Our vineyards are certified sustainable through LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology) and Salmon-Safe. LIVE is certified through the International Organization for Biological Control (the international standard for sustainable agriculture). The whole farm system certification includes preventative measures for water runoff into streams, natural pesticide management and riparian areas. In 2011, Founder Jim Bernau was recognized by Salmon-Safe with the very first Hero of Salmon award for the implementation of his high impact Salmon-Safe SIP-SAVE campaign in print, retail, web and vehicle wraps.

FSC Certified Cork

Our winery was the first in the world to use cork certified through Preferred by Nature to FSC standards. Cork is a natural, sustainable product where the cork tree is never cut down but continues to sequester carbon throughout its long life. Additionally, all of our bottle packaging materials are certified BPA-free, and we continue to promote continued sustainability through the founding of CorkReharvest, the first nationwide recycling campaign that continues today as Cork Forest Conservation Alliance. We recycle the corks used with our wine bottles into high value products and encourage you to do so as well. We’re also transitioning to labels printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified labels made with 100% recycled paper. This small change is equivalent to 8,380 pounds of wood saved.