2004 Chardonnay – Columbia Valley

I keeping with Domaine Meriwether's goal of only providing the best examples of varietal wines in each vintage, we reached out to the Columbia Valley as the source of our 2004 Chardonnay. While we were able to achieve the necessary ripeness in our Willamette Valley chardonnay fruit for our sparkling wines, our winemaker was not satisfied that this was a vintage that would rise to the standards we set for our Chardonnay still wine. Columbia Valley to the rescue!

Only lightly oaked, this wine possesses the right balance of fruit and acidity we strive for in our still wines. Straw colored, there are wonderful aromas of lemon-lime and tangerines. Lots of fruit here, with a mouthful of peach, melon and –surprise! – apples. Must be the Washington roots.

BLEND: 100% Columbia Valley Chardonnay.

FERMENTATON: Open top fermenters

AGING: 50% in neutral oak, 50% in temperature controlled stainless tanks - for 12 months. The wine in barrel was allowed to go through malo-lactic fermentation.

Winemaker’s Notes: “Though not made from our usual vineyard sources, this Chardonnay turned out to be remarkably similar in style and flavor to our Willamette Valley efforts. There is a comfortable and tasty familiarity to this wine.”

Serving Suggestions: “oysters anyone?” This wine will go wonderfully with seafood, especially raw… cheeses, noodles, salads and root vegetables. Ok, there is not much you couldn't enjoy this with.