Wine Specs
Vintage
2021
Varietal
Chardonnay
Appellation
Willamette Valley
Harvest Date
September 9, 2021
Alcohol %
13.00
2021 Lingua Franca Chers Amis Chardonnay
Wine Club Exclusive
Chers Amis is a special Wine Club offering that is produced in very limited quantities.
Wine Profile
Tasting Notes
This is a wine of great finesse from a site close to Lingua Franca Estate that expresses a distinctive mineral characteristic in the wine. The aroma has scents of white and yellow flowers, like jasmine and hawthorn blossom, and wet stone. On the palate it reveals pear, lemon zest and lemon custard notes with a bright green apple edge, with a silky texture and very long finish. It has weight but it is vibrant, filled with energy. Only 152 cases produced.
Vineyard Notes
Winter was extremely cold, with a historic ice-storm that left the region without power for over two weeks. It remained cool and wet throughout early spring but warmed up, in time to have a major heat dome event at the end of June with a record-breaking 116 F temperature scorching trees and killing vegetation all over the region. The resiliency of the non-irrigated soils in our vineyards, having fractured basalt as an insulating influence as well as the source of stored rainwater, meant that our vines almost had no negative effect and were verdant all the way through and after the experience. The heat event had the positive effect on our vineyard that helped to reduce the mildew pressure we normally experience after a wet spring.
Production Notes
Hand-picked and whole-cluster pressed, settled for 24 hours in closed stainless-steel tanks, the wine is then barrel fermented with wild yeast in 25% new and 75% old French oak barriques and 600-liter puncheons from diverse coopers and left to age sur lie for 11 months. Finally, the wine is put in a close top tank with its lees for five months prior to bottling.
Food Pairing Notes
This wine marries well with a wide range of fish dishes, such as simply poached or sautéed fish dishes with herbed butter, garlic butter, or a classic Beurre Blanc sauce or nage. Beacause of its creaminess it would work with richer shellfish dishes with sauces as well, even a sauce Nantua or Armoricain. Roast chicken with butter, thyme and lemon or a breaded veal scallopini dish with a squeeze of lemon. It also would be excellent with a variety of more powerful sashimi or sushi, such as Unagi, Anago, Shirako, Sake, Otoro, Chutoro or Maguro. Western smoked salmon or gravlax, or grilled salmon with a dill mayonnaise. Experimentation is welcome!
