Lavinea Chardonnay Lazy River Willamette Valley 2017

Lavinea winemaker Isabelle Meunier cut her teeth in Burgundy (Domaine de la Vougeraie) and New Zealand (Felton Road), before falling on the radar of Dominique Lafon (of Domaine des Comtes Lafon). It was Dominique who put Isabelle forth as the winemaker for his first U.S. project, making her the winemaker at Evening Land back in 2007. In a short seven years, Evening Land had become the darling of Oregon’s avant garde wine scene, a prime opportunity for Isabelle to team up with Evening Land's CEO and president, Greg Ralston, on a new Oregon venture, Lavinea, opening in 2014. Almost immediately, Vinous’ Josh Raynolds proclaimed “…I’m betting that LAVINEA will, in short order, be widely considered among Oregon’s elite producers.”

With efforts like this 2017 chardonnay, we must concede the point. This is a full weight, decidedly fresh and lively chardonnay layered with confounding depth and texture. The nose is loaded with exotic spices, orange blossom, and ripe white peach aromas. The palate showcases more of the same with juicy Bartlett pear and smoky gun flint and black peppercorn. The finish is creamy and steely, with bright, persistent acidity that readies you for sip after delectable sip. Just over ten cases available, so make sure to get yours!

The Lazy River vineyard sits on a steep, south-facing slope of Mt. Richmond in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. Set amongst a diverse terrain of woods, rolling meadows and ponds, the vineyards possesses a unique soil not common elsewhere in the region, though frequent in other grape growing areas of Oregon. “Jory” is a soil series consisting of very deep, well-draining red, loamy clay formed in a colluvium of basalt with a base of igneous volcanic rock. Such sparse soils encourage meager yields and intense concentration of fruit – ideal for high quality chardonnay and pinot noir.

This wine is made from densely planted twenty-year-old chardonnay vines, located at over 350 feet in the foothills of Oregon’s Coastal Range. The clonal material is all Burgundy-based, with clones 76, 95, and 548 all planted to 3309 rootstock (a V. riparia and V. rupestris crossing that has flourished in France following the Great French Wine Blight in the mid 1800s). Following a gentle, Champagne-style pressing of the grapes, the juice is settled for 12 hours before racking. From there, spontaneous, native yeast fermentation occurs entirely in barrel, with 15% new French oak. 100% secondary fermentation occurred over the next 11 months, just before bottling.

With a scant 265 cases total produced, and given the “rising star” status of this producer, we had to fight just to get what we did. At the best price in the nation on this beauty, add some to your collection and enjoy over the next 7 years!

PAIRING IDEAS: Much of the country has beautiful late summer mushrooms flushing right now. If your local grocer has chanterelles, grab some of those and work them in Jacques Pepin’s Scallops Grenobloise.

MUSIC SUGGESTIONS: Now that you have a glass in hand and some lovely scallops ready to go, it’s time to set the mood. My vote...Mumford & Sons’ “Holland Road”.