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2007 Dijon Clones Chardonnay
The combination of Estate grown Dijon Clone fruit with little winemaking intervention results in an intense sunburst yellow wine with unrelenting aromas and flavors of passion fruit, lemon grass and ripe limes, with a crisp and persistent finish. This is an Oregon Chardonnay that shows you where it was grown and expresses the true character of the varietal. The Chardonnay for this wine is grown in 2 small blocks. The blend is Dijon clone 76 (50%) and Dijon clone 95 (50%). These blocks were hand harvested on October 26 and thanks to a cold cellar, completed primary fermentation the following May. This wine did not undergo malo-lactic fermentation. The Vintage: the 2007 vintage was another example of cool climate viticulture. Our measure of this is degree days, or how much warmth the vines received. We registered below 1,900 degree days, the coolest year we have ever seen at Amalie Robert Estate.
The vines however, did not seem overly concerned. Bud break and bloom came as we have come to expect. Fruit set was not overloaded as we saw in 2006. This vintage brought considerable disease pressure to the Willamette Valley. We were fortunate to have been on top of the challenges for the year and had little incidence of compromised fruit. This in turn allowed us to let our fruit hang through the rains of early October. Harvest was “fast and furious” during the middle 2 weeks of October. Suggested food pairings: Oregon Dungeness crab cakes with roasted red pepper aioli, pan seared scallops over organic greens with pan drippings, oysters on the half shell with a drop or two of Jalapeño Tabasco, smoked black cod with mango salsa, and especially Pacific Rim cuisine. 85 cases produced. |
