We are releasing the 2022 Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs (both bottled in March of 2024) and the vintage is a delight. Of recent vintages it seems most like a hybrid between the silky tannins, youthful enjoyment and floral nature of 2016, with a bit more of the grace of 2019. The only downside to this vintage was the early spring freeze, which came just after bud-break in much of the northern Willamette Valley, and for us decimating yields at Whistling Ridge Vineyard and in the Durant Chardonnay. Thankfully Temperance Hill had not budded out yet, and Tsai Vineyard and the Durant Pinot Noirs recovered a bit, but the joy in the excellent quality of the vintage is tempered a bit by our regret at how little we have. That being said, all three single vineyard Pinot Noirs are an excellent look at terroir with juicy acids and firm but fine tannins, folding in with expressive floral and fruit profiles. These are in a youthful window, available for the time being but likely to shut down at some point in a year or two. The block bottlings are more structured but also more expressive aromatically and with more vibrancy of fruit in the wines. The Heritage wines, Heritage No. 20 Temperance Hill and Heritage No. 21 Whistling Ridge are absolutely wonderful representations of Willamette valley wine in the style of old school Burgundy. The Long Acre bottling from Whistling Ridge shows more density and a distinctly darker profile and I would hold this for a minimum of 6-8 years to give it time to close and re-open. Pumphouse Block from Temperance Hill is a tremendous expression of the old vines in that block, but 7-10 years would be optimal.
We only have two Chardonnays in 2022, the Tsai and the Temperance Hill. Both are excellent and extremely representative of their source. The 2022 Tsai vineyard is seamless, expressive, very pretty, lighter bodied at 12.5%. It has the tranquility I associate with the deeper volcanic soils of the vineyard, and is in a lovely early window. I feel that there is little penalty in opening this wine now, but the best days are well ahead though, and that 2028-2035 will be worth the wait. The 2022 Temperance Hill shows the naturally reductive nature of the vineyard and while I feel this wine has much appeal for those who enjoy some elements of reduction in their Chardonnay, to me it definitely gives a more complex nature and the flinty savory notes I love in reductive Chardonnay. There’s little doubt that this wine will evolve and improve for a long time, and 2029-2037 will be a wonderful time for drinking this wine.