(2024) From the Laurelwood District AVA, this is a carefully oaked Chardonnay that majors on freshness and medium-bodied, quite Chablis-like restraint - but with power too. There are chamomile notes, apple, and just a background of cedary nuttiness. In the mouth it has some weight and a bit of intensity, but it is lean and lemony overall, again little almond and honeyed nutty note just softening the firm citrus and salts drive of the finish.
(2024) Tavola is part of the small range that introduces Ponzi, made with a combination of estate and purchased fruit from across Willamette. Max calls this a 'fun' wine and a 'pizza wine'. Nicely pale and transparent, it is leafy and perfumed, touches of pot-pourri spices and red fruits. The palate has brightness and plenty of drive. It is medium-bodied, and the mid-palate fleshes out with creamy and sweet berries. Tannins and acid combine to again add a sparky, lemony freshness to the finish. Note price and stockist for previous vintage at time of review.
(2024) From a single vineyard planted at 800 to 900 feet, the black fruit and peppery spice component is striking. Blackcurrant and blueberry are streaked with cedar and an edge of leafiness. At the same time there is a touch of dark caramel or chocolate in the background. The palate is stunning, with so much supple, fleshy sweetness, a velvet mouthfeel with so much spice and hints of meatiness and something of herbs and truffle in the background. Long, meaty and rich, but with such a focus between creamy tannins and precise acidity. A special arrangement sees a parcel of this limited edition, normally allocated wine exclusively for the UK market. No retail stockists listed.
(2024) Fruit is 100% Laurelwood, a small amount from local growers who planted their vineyards with Laurelwood cuttings. Fermentation included 10% whole cluster, fermented in small lots. It was aged in French oak barrels (30% new) for 10 months. Deep cherry touched by briar and spice, there's a tiny edge of sweet vanilla and something floral. Beautifully sweet as it strikes the palate, this has succulence and an undertow of orange and sour Chinese plum. Tannins are moderate and creamy rather than forceful, giving this a long, spiced fruit finish. Again, stockist and price for previous vintage at time of review.
(2024) Fruit was fermented using 40% whole clusters and manually punched down twice a day. The wine was aged in French oak barrels (40% new), for 20 months. There's a polish to this wine aromatically, a sheen of chestnut and briar over black cherry, but a suggestion of minty herbs, rose-hip and real fragrance. Medium-bodied and supple, the fruit is in the red spectrum, but dense and fleshy, juicy red plum and a lift of raspberry to the acidity. The oak here is very classy; polished and dark, giving this some spice and cedar, and with taut, creamy tannins, good length and finesse. Price and stockist for a previous vintage at time of review.
(2022) 'Drink me' it says on the label of this Oregon Chardonnay, built in an approachable style with a year in barrel on the lees with minimal battonage, then four months in steel to firm up before bottling. There's a nutty and ripe, golden delicious character overall, but immediately some flinty inflections add an extra edge of interest. Oatmeally and quite full on the palate, there's plenty of fruit sweetness, touching on ripe pear and peach, but always sharpened with honing edge of acidity. Nutty and creamy barrel notes underpin the long finish. Very good, and very stylish.
(2021) From several vineyards in the Willamette Valley, this organic wine is aged mostly in steel with a small proportion in oak. Deep in colour and deeply fruited in aroma, there's a juicy plushness of red plum and blackberry, a pleasing floral lift too. In the mouth it floods across the palate with supple fruit and spiciness, a bit of tannic grip and roughening edge of plum skin acidity. An honest, fairly rustic, but very enjoyable Pinot.
(2021) An organic blend of mostly Riesling made in a variety of vessels from concrete eggs to Austrian oak to amphora, blended with a little Gewurztraminer. There is certainly some aromatic perfume here, hints of lychee and summer blossom, lime and a touch of mango exotics. But the amphora/egg ageing and, I presume, wild yeast ferment does add that dimension of yeasty, light earthy character too. In the mouth there's surely a little residual sugar, but such a phalanx of iodine, mineral salts and zesty lemon flavours that the wine is savoury and multi-layered, fresh and juicy with lovely hints of orange and chamomile into a long finish. Unusual and delicious.
(2021) There's a touch of bronze to the colour of this blanc de noirs still wine, which is 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay, aged six months in neutral (untoasted) French oak. Aromas are firm, lemon and apples, with a gently oxidative nuttiness. Lovely fruit on the palate: again apple and pear, but juicy and ripe, a salty lick to the acids too, and the barrel ageing just broadening the texture and depth of flavour. Finishes very tangy fresh, on citrus and salts.
(2021) Eileen is Cristom's largest Pinot vineyard, and also one of the highest rising from 165- to 220-metres, planted on a range of basalt soils. Clones are dominated by Wädenswil and Dijon 777, then a fairly even split between Dijon 115, 114 and Pommard. Maybe slightly darker in colour than the Jessie, and though that lovely floral nuance is there again, it's a little tighter, cooler and darker in fruit profile too. Wonderfully sweet and ripe black and red berries flood the palate; a real welterweight of creamy and dense fruit here, sumptuous, but again the polish of the fine tannins and juiciness of the cherry and plum-skin acidity give terrific balance.
