Chers Amis is a special offering that is produced in very limited quantities. We generally make a selection for Chers Amis from wines that are structured, reflect mineral qualities and have the potential to age. The resulting wine has a focused, intense character that feels light and pure, finishing with refreshing gunflint, lemon, crunchy mineral nuances and aromatic floral notes. It has weight but it is vibrant, filled with energy.
Vineyard Notes
This is a wine of structure and length, coming in part from a neighboring site to the Lingua Franca Estate that expresses a distinctive mineral characteristic, combined with fruit from one of the finest sites for Chardonnay in the Chehalem Mountains AVA. The neighboring Eola-Amity Hills site has extremely shallow volcanic soils with low yields and offers the wine a silky texture with subtle flavors. The fruit sourced from the marine sedimentary soils in the Chehalem Mountains vineyard adds concentration and depth to the wine.
Production Notes
Whole cluster pressed, 100% barrel fermented with wild yeast in a combination of 22% new and 78% old French oak barriques from diverse coopers and left to age for 11 months. Full malolactic fermentation completed in each vessel and then the wines were put back in tank with their lees for five months prior to bottling.