|
|
|
The Saratoga Wine Exchange |
is pleased to offer selections of |
Chehalem Winery |
Oregon
State Wine, Wilamette Valley |
| |
| |
|
|
| |
| About
Chehalem Vineyard
Wines |
Chehalem
Winery
(Chuh-hay-lum)
is a
local
American
Indian
word
best
translated
as "gentle
land"
or "valley
of flowers,"
phrases
that
capture
a long-standing,
almost
religious
reverence
for
the
land.
We at
Chehalem
Winery
understand
this
reverence,
for
we consider
ourselves
a vineyard
winery,
dedicated
to reflecting
as purely
as possible
what
the
vineyard
has
produced,
with
minimal
processing,
without
compromising
great
fruit.
Our
vineyard
sites
are
at once
warm
and
ripening,
yet
austere
and
cruelly
stingy
with
grapes.
Grapes
never
lack
for
intensity.
Chehalem
Winery
2002
Stoller
Vineyards
Pinot
Blanc
This
pinot
blanc
continues
our
appreciation
of Alsace
varietals.
From
our
newest
plantings
at Stoller
Vineyard,
there
is excellent
ripeness
and
clean
flavors.
Experiments
have
developed
a process
that
combines
classic
Alsace
textured
and
Kaiserstuhl
ripe
characteristics,
showing
a purity
of fruit,
lushness
and
huge
weight
on the
palate.
We think
we’re
there.
Chehalem
Winery
2002
Pinot
Gris
Reserve
This
is the
version
of pinot
gris
we make
to gain
ultimate
complexity
and
structure.
Using
Alsace
as a
standard,
we seek
weight
and
complexity
to make
this
more
than
a simple
white.
This
pinot
gris
is a
true
reserve
wine--the
fruit
is divided
at harvest,
after
full
ripeness
is achieved,
with
the
reserve
portion
going
through
barrel
fermentation
in neutral
oak.
With
long
lees
contact,
minor
partial
ML (malolactic
fermentation),
and
a variety
of yeasts---
the
wine
is concentrated,
complex,
well-textured,
and
carries
tropical
fruit
aromas
and
a tight
pear
flavor
profile,
accented
with
a honeyed
richness.
Chehalem
Winery
2001
Ian's
Reserve
Chardonnay
Entirely
Dijon
clone,
this
is our
attempt
to make
a fine
white
Burgundy,
complete
with
richness,
balance
and
great
acid
structure
for
aging.
Named
for
Ian
Peterson-Nedry
who
died
on the
first
day
of harvest
for
Dijon
clones
from
our
vineyards
in 1996,
it is
our
best
white
and,
with
vine
age,
may
be one
of the
best
chardonnays
you’ve
tasted.
The
Wine
Advocate
annually
calls
Ian's
Reserve
"certainly
one
of the
finest
Oregon
Chardonnays
I have
tasted
to-date."
Chehalem
Winery
2001
Rion
Reserve
Pinot
Noir
We look
for
this
wine
to embody
the
essence
of pinot
noir.
Select
barrels
and
fermentation
lots
are
chosen
from
Ridgecrest
Vineyards
before
any
blending
is done
in the
cellar.
We choose
components
to make
a wine
that
epitomizes
finesse,
elegance,
complexity,
textural
silkiness,
and
palate
breadth
and
length
for
the
vintage.
We think
these
elements
are
what
pinot
noir
is all
about--not
as big
as we
can
make
it,
but
as beautiful
as we
can
make
it.
In balance,
as it
is,
it will
be optimally
ageable.
Chehalem
Winery
2001
Willamette
Valley
Cerise
Cerise
is our
name
for
a predominant
gamay
noir
blend
with
pinot
noir.
Both
varietals
are
best
done
in Burgundy
and
both
exhibit
a palate
of cherry
flavors
and
aromas.
"Cherry"
in French,
Cerise
is our
tribute
to a
high
fruit,
moderately
serious
red
wine.
In Burgundy
they
do one
too,
called
passetoutgrains,
blended
close
to an
80%
gamay
noir
and
20%
pinot
noir,
for
drinking
while
waiting
for
their
highly
structured
pinots
to develop.
Ours
is made
with
the
same
casual
purpose
in mind.
Chehalem
Winery
2001
Ridgecrest
Vineyards
Pinot
Noir
This
wine
is the
oldest
of the
three
vineyard-designated
pinot
noirs
we produce.
Chehalem
has
made
a Ridgecrest
Vineyards
Pinot
Noir
since
its
first
release
in 1990,
with
selected
barrels
going
to an
upper-end
elegant
Rion
Reserve
from
Ridgecrest,
since
1994,
and
any
not
measuring
up to
this
standard
being
designated
3-Vineyard.
It is
characteristically
brawny,
briery,
dusty
black-fruited,
and
occasionally
currant
or cassis.
Deep
sweet
fruit
has
been
balanced
with
fine
tannin
structure
in recent
years
which,
with
good
acidic
structure,
gives
good
ageability.
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
