2021 The Eyrie Vineyards Chardonnay, Dundee Hills, USA

Certified organic. The oldest vines in the Willamette Valley are also among the last surviving vines of the Draper selection, a French import from the 1930s now extinct outside of our region. Picked by hand, the grapes were pressed in a combination of antique basket press and Champagne cycle press. Juice was run to neutral French oak barrels on the lees for 11 months without stirring, and bottled with a light filtration. “The Chardonnay estate is a barrel selection. Since each barrel ferments with its own yeast and ages at its own rate, each barrel becomes very distinct.