still drinking quite lovely. The nose shows expressive aromas of herbs, verbena, toasted hazelnuts, grilled brioche, French oak, baking spice, lemon zest, apple, pear and hints of white figs, tobacco leaf, oyster shells and white tea/flowers. The palate has racy acidity and structured phenolics. Well textured with moderate palate weight. Flavors of toasted nuts, baking spices, apples, sauteed pears, white fig, lemon zest, white tea, brioche, saline and minerals with touches of herbs and verbena. Again very Meursault like in its profile.
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My last of 4 bottles, purchased after reading the Pinotfile's review 2-3 years ago. This still has its fruit and mineral and length. Air helps. No noticeable oak or buttery taste. Very nice wine, although I think the Pinotfile's rating was exceedingly generous.
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This is an outstanding Oregon Chardonnay, reminiscent of a premier Cru Meursault. Crisp acidity, lemons and citrus fruit, good mid-range, excellent mouthfeel, and finish of aged French white Burgundy that reminds me of toasted oats. Have drunk a half case of this wine and only wish I had more of them.
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One of the best Chardonnays from Oregon. Begins with nose filling aromas of lemon, lime, and green herbs, including basil and cilantro. The sip has an acidity that is vivacious, mouth filling, and palette cleansing. Six years of bottle age has improved the texture, which also gets more caressing and mouth coating as it sits in the glass and warms up. Lacks the butter and vanilla taste that many big bodied California Chardonnays feature, such as Rombauer. Stylistically, this wine most resembles the superb White Burgundies from France. While highly enjoyable now, this food friendly wine will get significantly lusher and layered with another 6 years of bottle age. With curried chicken thighs, I fully expected this Chardonnay to be overwhelmed, but instead the wine stood up to the food and even added good additional flavors.
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Served with Fettuccine Alfredo with which it was an excellent match. Crisp acidity, full mouthfeel, good length, and developing tertiary characteristics, this is an excellent Oregon Chardonnay. I wish I had more of them.
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My third bottle of this vintage from Gran Moraine and this continues to be an outstanding Chardonnay. Served at dinner with a group of friends along with several excellent 2013-2017 Oregon Pinot Noirs (2014 Evening Land Seven Springs, 2014 Adelsheim Elizabeth's Reserve, 2015 Bethel Heights Flat Block, 2015 Colene Clemens Dopp Creek, 2015 Ponzi Tavola, and 2017 Patricia Green Reserve). This, along with the Bethel Heights and Patricia Green was my wine of the night. Very reminiscent of a good Meursault. Wish I had more.
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Served at dinner with fresh made pasta dishes (3). This is an excellent chardonnay with wonderful mouth feel, good acidity, and excellent finish. Very similar to a Meursault. Look forward to more of these.
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Served with shrimp scampi. This is an excellent Oregon Chardonnay that is very reminiscent of a Meursault premier cru. Relatively full mouth feel, balanced acidity, and long finish. Wish I had more of these.
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A wine we happily own in over a full case quantity. At 4 years old, we hoped we would start to see a gain in texture, complexity, and layers of tastes. Translucent pale yellow color. A lively and well perfumed nose with meadows of flowers, citrus, and peach. The sip features a lightly creamy texture that rolls though the mouth like a rounded wave. No longer is the feel of the wine just crispness. The swallow adds a Naval orange flavor to the lemon/lime. Overall, an enjoyable wine gaining richness, simultaneously worth drinking now and aging longer.
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Once again, phenomenal! We took this second bottle to Dundee Bistro and enjoyed it with Oysters, clams, and a smoke salmon/mushroom salad. The pairings were terrific and the Chardonnay is gorgeous.
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Beautiful, sparkling pale yellow, nose of stone fruit, flint and honeysuckle. Just the right bit of oak on the palate, with beautiful fruit, stone and stone fruits, with great viscosity. I thought the PinotFile review was too good to be true, but this wine comes close to perfection.
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One of the best Oregon Chardonnays I have tasted, that is also much closer to white Burgundy than most American Chardonnays. Light yellow color, excellent aromas of flowers and lemon citrus, acidity that is bright, refreshing, and vivid, and subtle oak. Tasted perfectly well when kept open for 7 days, with good concentration and a very long finish. What keeps my score from going higher than 93 points is the lack of evidence that the wine will leap into greatness with additional age. Right now, the components are impressive but not seamless, fully integrated, nor complexly layered. In particular, the texture is not caressing, lush, or especially mouth coating. Great white Burgundies take at least a decade of aging to achieve their greatness. While this Oregon Chardonnay may achieve that, right now I do not know it will.
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An absolutely stunning Chardonnay. Very Meursault like in its profile on the nose and palate. Intoxicating aromas are complex and layered with chalk and oyster shell notes that mingle with scents of white fig, golden apples, lemon zest, toasted nuts and oak that give way to delicate scents of white flowers, oak, verbena, baking spice and golden leaf tobacco. The palate is structured in its weight and acidity. The flavor profile is intense with notes of apple, pear, lemon and white fig that are seamlessly integrated in with notes of toasted nuts, baking spice, chalky mineral and saline, white tea, honeysuckle, verbena and a hint of golden tobacco. Racy through the complex finish with juicy acidity and lingering on notes of toasted nuts, mineral and lemon.
Harmonious and seamless in every way! This is great now but should cellar well too. Hands down the best Oregon Chardonnay.
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So I see the Prince of Pinot (The Pinotphile) give this the highest rating I've ever seen from him (a 98). I find it at Woodland Hills Wine Co. in L.A. for $33 and order three bottles. Love it! Thanks PoP for the tout! This is elegant, graceful, bright on the palate. It has beautiful citrus that's not too tart with a hint of butterscotch and/or caramel. I've grown tired of the oaky, hot California Chards so thought I'd give an Oregon version a try and so glad I did. And ditto what DJFERMENTATION said, though it was consumed before the food arrived so cannot speak to the food pairing thing! I checked WHWC to see if they have more, and their last five bottles are now priced at $45, with Prince of Pinot comments attached! When I ordered my three bottle from WHWC, I mentioned the PoP review, so it looks like they took notice and bumped the price (note to self: keep your mouth shut!). American capitalism at work...what a country!
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Absolutely fantastic! This Chardonnay had enough weight for interest, but fantastic tension and finishing acidity to make a beautiful, well balanced whit wine. I got some saline and sea shells on the nose with a little golden apple. On the palate I noticed lemon curd, crisp apple, and a bit on lime. This is an amazing, food friendly, white that I think could compete with the worlds best. Gorgeous!
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I really enjoy this Chardonnay. The nose indicates heavier oak than greets the palate an I feel this was judiciously barreled. It is bright, with lively acidity, yet round and luscious with driving flavors of Meyer lemon curd and Jonagold and golden apples. Nice spice and a hint of toast give it a pastry aspect, rather like a fresh fruit tart. Very nice and will complement food well.
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Gran Moraine & Zena Crown Dinner w/ Shane Moore (Charlie Palmer Steak - DC): Deep and fascinating aromas of mixed nuts, honeysuckle, lime and complex white and yellow floral tones. Wide-textured and some pleasant creaminess but lit up by intense acidity, the balance is pristine. Limes and apricots topped in butterscotch, floral perfume, toasted nut, sea shells, crusty chalk and a streak of minerals. Long finish. Gorgeous stuff.
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Lighter and citrus driven. Great acidity, white peach, pear, just enough lemon curd to add some body. Went great with swordfish. Oregon makes great Chardonnay!
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8/10/2022 - bjamesclark wrote: 94 Points
still drinking quite lovely.
The nose shows expressive aromas of herbs, verbena, toasted hazelnuts, grilled brioche, French oak, baking spice, lemon zest, apple, pear and hints of white figs, tobacco leaf, oyster shells and white tea/flowers.
The palate has racy acidity and structured phenolics. Well textured with moderate palate weight. Flavors of toasted nuts, baking spices, apples, sauteed pears, white fig, lemon zest, white tea, brioche, saline and minerals with touches of herbs and verbena.
Again very Meursault like in its profile.
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1/2/2021 - Quiller Likes this wine: 92 Points
My last of 4 bottles, purchased after reading the Pinotfile's review 2-3 years ago. This still has its fruit and mineral and length. Air helps. No noticeable oak or buttery taste. Very nice wine, although I think the Pinotfile's rating was exceedingly generous.
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12/31/2020 - margaux321 wrote: 97 Points
Color, light pale yellow; 1st nose, oak; 2nd nose, minerals, butter and vanilla. On the palate, medium to big body smooth and buttery.
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10/26/2020 - jviz Likes this wine: 91 Points
This was very nice with some air. Good layering to the fruit and mineral. Elegant.
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5/3/2020 - Ken332 Likes this wine: 94 Points
This is an outstanding Oregon Chardonnay, reminiscent of a premier Cru Meursault. Crisp acidity, lemons and citrus fruit, good mid-range, excellent mouthfeel, and finish of aged French white Burgundy that reminds me of toasted oats. Have drunk a half case of this wine and only wish I had more of them.
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2/25/2020 - Kenny_G Likes this wine: 94 Points
One of the best Chardonnays from Oregon. Begins with nose filling aromas of lemon, lime, and green herbs, including basil and cilantro. The sip has an acidity that is vivacious, mouth filling, and palette cleansing. Six years of bottle age has improved the texture, which also gets more caressing and mouth coating as it sits in the glass and warms up. Lacks the butter and vanilla taste that many big bodied California Chardonnays feature, such as Rombauer. Stylistically, this wine most resembles the superb White Burgundies from France. While highly enjoyable now, this food friendly wine will get significantly lusher and layered with another 6 years of bottle age. With curried chicken thighs, I fully expected this Chardonnay to be overwhelmed, but instead the wine stood up to the food and even added good additional flavors.
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9/27/2019 - Ken332 wrote: 92 Points
Served with Fettuccine Alfredo with which it was an excellent match. Crisp acidity, full mouthfeel, good length, and developing tertiary characteristics, this is an excellent Oregon Chardonnay. I wish I had more of them.
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8/25/2019 - Ken332 Likes this wine: 93 Points
My third bottle of this vintage from Gran Moraine and this continues to be an outstanding Chardonnay. Served at dinner with a group of friends along with several excellent 2013-2017 Oregon Pinot Noirs (2014 Evening Land Seven Springs, 2014 Adelsheim Elizabeth's Reserve, 2015 Bethel Heights Flat Block, 2015 Colene Clemens Dopp Creek, 2015 Ponzi Tavola, and 2017 Patricia Green Reserve). This, along with the Bethel Heights and Patricia Green was my wine of the night. Very reminiscent of a good Meursault. Wish I had more.
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8/24/2019 - Ken332 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Served at dinner with fresh made pasta dishes (3). This is an excellent chardonnay with wonderful mouth feel, good acidity, and excellent finish. Very similar to a Meursault. Look forward to more of these.
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7/10/2019 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
On chard. Smells a little bit like it as well. With soft candied fruit on the palate. Aging fairly well.
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6/16/2019 - redbrix Likes this wine: 90 Points
Pale yellow and clear. Nice nose of lemon, butter and oak. Smooth with flavors of butter and lemon. Very nice.
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3/16/2019 - Djfermentation Likes this wine: 97 Points
Once again, awesome!
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3/4/2019 - Ken332 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Served with shrimp scampi. This is an excellent Oregon Chardonnay that is very reminiscent of a Meursault premier cru. Relatively full mouth feel, balanced acidity, and long finish. Wish I had more of these.
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12/4/2018 - Mossrose wrote: 94 Points
A wine we happily own in over a full case quantity. At 4 years old, we hoped we would start to see a gain in texture, complexity, and layers of tastes. Translucent pale yellow color. A lively and well perfumed nose with meadows of flowers, citrus, and peach. The sip features a lightly creamy texture that rolls though the mouth like a rounded wave. No longer is the feel of the wine just crispness. The swallow adds a Naval orange flavor to the lemon/lime. Overall, an enjoyable wine gaining richness, simultaneously worth drinking now and aging longer.
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9/1/2018 - Susaninaustin Likes this wine: 91 Points
3
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2/1/2018 - BigRedBearATX Likes this wine: 92 Points
Great depth of flavor. Very interesting and tasty.
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1/2/2018 - Djfermentation Likes this wine: 98 Points
Once again, phenomenal! We took this second bottle to Dundee Bistro and enjoyed it with Oysters, clams, and a smoke salmon/mushroom salad. The pairings were terrific and the Chardonnay is gorgeous.
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10/30/2017 - WineAggregate Likes this wine: 96 Points
Beautiful, sparkling pale yellow, nose of stone fruit, flint and honeysuckle. Just the right bit of oak on the palate, with beautiful fruit, stone and stone fruits, with great viscosity. I thought the PinotFile review was too good to be true, but this wine comes close to perfection.
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10/28/2017 - Mossrose wrote: 93 Points
One of the best Oregon Chardonnays I have tasted, that is also much closer to white Burgundy than most American Chardonnays. Light yellow color, excellent aromas of flowers and lemon citrus, acidity that is bright, refreshing, and vivid, and subtle oak. Tasted perfectly well when kept open for 7 days, with good concentration and a very long finish. What keeps my score from going higher than 93 points is the lack of evidence that the wine will leap into greatness with additional age. Right now, the components are impressive but not seamless, fully integrated, nor complexly layered. In particular, the texture is not caressing, lush, or especially mouth coating. Great white Burgundies take at least a decade of aging to achieve their greatness. While this Oregon Chardonnay may achieve that, right now I do not know it will.
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10/27/2017 - CMBlomster Likes this wine: 92 Points
Buttery/butterscotch creamy delicious without being too oaky. More crisp than oaky.
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7/3/2017 - bjamesclark wrote: 95 Points
An absolutely stunning Chardonnay. Very Meursault like in its profile on the nose and palate.
Intoxicating aromas are complex and layered with chalk and oyster shell notes that mingle with scents of white fig, golden apples, lemon zest, toasted nuts and oak that give way to delicate scents of white flowers, oak, verbena, baking spice and golden leaf tobacco.
The palate is structured in its weight and acidity. The flavor profile is intense with notes of apple, pear, lemon and white fig that are seamlessly integrated in with notes of toasted nuts, baking spice, chalky mineral and saline, white tea, honeysuckle, verbena and a hint of golden tobacco. Racy through the complex finish with juicy acidity and lingering on notes of toasted nuts, mineral and lemon.
Harmonious and seamless in every way! This is great now but should cellar well too. Hands down the best Oregon Chardonnay.
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5/21/2017 - ozziewine Likes this wine: 95 Points
So I see the Prince of Pinot (The Pinotphile) give this the highest rating I've ever seen from him (a 98). I find it at Woodland Hills Wine Co. in L.A. for $33 and order three bottles.
Love it! Thanks PoP for the tout! This is elegant, graceful, bright on the palate. It has beautiful citrus that's not too tart with a hint of butterscotch and/or caramel. I've grown tired of the oaky, hot California Chards so thought I'd give an Oregon version a try and so glad I did. And ditto what DJFERMENTATION said, though it was consumed before the food arrived so cannot speak to the food pairing thing!
I checked WHWC to see if they have more, and their last five bottles are now priced at $45, with Prince of Pinot comments attached! When I ordered my three bottle from WHWC, I mentioned the PoP review, so it looks like they took notice and bumped the price (note to self: keep your mouth shut!).
American capitalism at work...what a country!
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5/15/2017 - Djfermentation Likes this wine: 98 Points
Absolutely fantastic! This Chardonnay had enough weight for interest, but fantastic tension and finishing acidity to make a beautiful, well balanced whit wine. I got some saline and sea shells on the nose with a little golden apple. On the palate I noticed lemon curd, crisp apple, and a bit on lime. This is an amazing, food friendly, white that I think could compete with the worlds best. Gorgeous!
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3/27/2017 - vegasoenophile Likes this wine: 93 Points
I really enjoy this Chardonnay. The nose indicates heavier oak than greets the palate an I feel this was judiciously barreled. It is bright, with lively acidity, yet round and luscious with driving flavors of Meyer lemon curd and Jonagold and golden apples. Nice spice and a hint of toast give it a pastry aspect, rather like a fresh fruit tart. Very nice and will complement food well.
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3/23/2017 - isaacjamesbaker wrote: 94 Points
Gran Moraine & Zena Crown Dinner w/ Shane Moore (Charlie Palmer Steak - DC): Deep and fascinating aromas of mixed nuts, honeysuckle, lime and complex white and yellow floral tones. Wide-textured and some pleasant creaminess but lit up by intense acidity, the balance is pristine. Limes and apricots topped in butterscotch, floral perfume, toasted nut, sea shells, crusty chalk and a streak of minerals. Long finish. Gorgeous stuff.
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12/12/2016 - zack.wygant Likes this wine: 90 Points
Lighter and citrus driven. Great acidity, white peach, pear, just enough lemon curd to add some body. Went great with swordfish. Oregon makes great Chardonnay!
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4/2/2016 - walkerjfw wrote:
During the lunch at the Barrell Auction...
Refined and delicate chardonnay. Lean in typical Oregon style. Light and enjoyable, would be good as a first wine/aperitif
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