Oregon’s Superb Chardonnays, and Chacra Hits the Mark: Weekly Tasting Report (April 6-12)

It’s snowing today in Portland, Oregon. I am driving due east with Associate Editor Nathan Slone to Walla Walla, Washington to visit the vineyards of K Vintners and Cayuse for a few days and get to know the lay of the land, but I honestly didn’t bargain for such cold and bad weather. I have never seen the vineyards in this part of Washington, and I don’t like to write about winemaking areas that I haven’t been to. But maybe it wasn’t such a good idea? I’ll let you know.

Nathan and I just finished eight days of visiting vineyards and speaking to dozens of wine producers in Willamette Valley, Oregon. The state makes some of the best pinot noirs AND chardonnays in the world. I used a capital-lettered “and” to emphasize that Oregon makes superb chardonnay with some bottles at the same level as grand cru Burgundy. The problem is that most American wine lovers seem to just think of Oregon as a pinot noir producer, according to most Oregon winemakers we meet.

Yet some producers seem to have all the confidence in the world for Oregonian chardonnay. “In 10 years or less, Oregon will be best known for chardonnay at the highest level,” Chris Hermann of 00 Wines said yesterday in a freezing Portland. He and his wife, Kathryn, make tiny amounts of super-collectible handmade chardonnay that is pretty amazing quality. “This little corner in the world in Willamette Valley really is something very special,” he said. “It makes excellent pinot noir, but chardonnay will be best known for Oregon.”

It’s amusing that Oregon chardonnay, at least from 00 Wines, is very sought out by a few wine collectors in Hong Kong (they are personal friends) yet Oregon pinot noirs, which are fermented in amphora and aged in French oak, are less known. Maybe only outside the United States is Oregon chardonnay the calling card for the state’s wine producers.

Anyway, this week’s report has 150 ratings from our trip to Oregon over the last week, and there are dozens with ratings of 92 and 93 points. This seems to the baseline for Oregon wines at the moment, with relatively few others rising above that level. This is good and bad because the overall quality is high, but the very top wines are few and far between. I will discuss this all later in a special report on our Oregon tastings, which were done in cellars and at Atticus Hotel in McMinnville. We rated about 800 wines from Oregon during the trip.

Overall this week we have more than 700 ratings from so many different countries, including Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, Hungary, Italy, South Africa, Switzerland, the United States and Uruguay.

READ MORE: ON OREGON'S WINE TRAIL, PINOT NOIR FINDS ITS SWEET SPOT AND CHARDONNAY COMES ON STRONG

PATAGONIAN PRECISION

In our Hong Kong tasting office, Associate Editor Claire Nesbitt delved into the Argentine wines, including from one of our favorite producers, Chacra of Patagonia. Its recent releases of incredibly fresh and mineral chardonnays and pinot noirs are of fantastic quality even though we didn’t rate any of them 100 points. For example, the Chacra Chardonnay Patagonia 2021, made in collaboration with Burgundy’s Jean-Marc Roulot, is taut and precise, decidedly old world in style, and has plenty of tension and aging potential.

And Chacra’s Pinot Noir Patagonia Treinta y Dos 2020, which is made from old vines planted in 1932, again impressed us with its focus, structure and minerality after the 2018 version was named our 2020 Wine of the Year.

It’s also worth seeking out and comparing the Sin Azufre (“without sulfur”) bottling of Treinta y Dos: a more intense, textured and darker-fruited expression. Chacra founder Piero Incisa della Rocchetta said in a Zoom interview with Claire (above right) that the great thing about the Sin Azufre is its “fluidity is not interrupted … there’s nothing between you and the wine.”

Also check out the Chacra Pinot Noir Patagonia Cincuenta y Cinco 2021 – a perfumed and floral pinot with “delightful citrus and crunchy red-fruit character.”

Another highlight from the Hong Kong office came from Sven Bruchfeld of Polkura winery in Marchigue, Chile. He’s a small but dedicated producer and part of the country’s Independent Winemakers Movement, or MOVI. Bruchfeld’s dry-farmed syrah Secano from the hot 2020 vintage is testimony to how syrah has evolved into one of the most exciting grapes in Chile, along with some other Mediterranean varieties such as carignan and grenache.

Further south in Chile, in the Itata Valley, MOVI producer P.S. Garcia’s Grenache Valle de Itata Piedra Lisa Vineyard 2019 is a great example of a tiny-production grenache (just 2,694 bottles were made) that delivers fresh, scented aromas with a natural concentration of bright, juicy red berry flavors and seamless tannins without being hefty.

There was also greatness this week coming from Chile’s bigger wineries. One was Cono Sur’s Silencio 2017 – a cabernet sauvignon from Maipo that brought excitement to our tasting table. Senior Editor Zekun Shuai was impressed with its elegant, layered complexity, which showed fine-tuned cabernet character and silky, precise tannins with tension, transparency and an extremely long, juicy finish.

And staying on the South American theme, Uruguayan producers Bodega Garzon and Bouza gave us some high-quality whites, showing the country’s potential for albariño and chardonnay grapes, with their refreshing acidity and a saline quality.

READ MORE: TOP 100 WINES OF CHILE 2021

Zekun also tasted some of the latest releases from one of the most iconic names of Brunello di Montalcino, Biondi-Santi. These bottles are generally known for their ability to withstand the test of time, but in their youth it’s their pure, uncompromising austerity that defines them, although in an understated way.

Biondi-Santi’s 2016 Annata and 2015 Riserva bottlings are strong continuations of this style, underpinned by a certain transparency on the palate, where the tannins and flavors are assertive and evenly proportioned. The discreet and refined nose of chalky red cherries, dried rose petal and orange-peel savoriness with a lift of clove and eucalyptus make the Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2015 a very special wine to taste, even though it needs some time to bloom to tease out all its complexity.

There is so much to consider and enjoy from the past week, and it’s all in the tasting notes below.

– James Suckling, Chairman/Editor

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by James Suckling and the other tasters at JamesSuckling.com. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.

Note: You can sort the wines below by country, vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.