Roserock Chardonnay 2018

Roserock lies on the southern reaches of the Eola–Amity Hills near the outskirts of Salem, Oregon’s state capital. It’s a large vineyard, planted mostly to pinot noir save for about 11 acres of chardonnay planted a little over a decade ago. Those vines grew an opulent wine in 2018, made firm and shapely by the coolness of the site and of the Oregon summer. It leads with scents of honey and peach, and has a hazelnut breadth. It’s built like a Beaune wine (no surprise there); for a chicken fricassee.

Drouhin Oregon's Eola-Amity Hills Roserock vineyard is maturing nicely, as this rich, almost unctuous new Chardonnay demonstrates. Rippled with butterscotch around fruit flavors of apples and nectarines, this tasty bottle is buoyed with Meyer lemon acidity, and accented with whiffs of toasted hazelnuts.

The 2018 Chardonnay offers bright, fresh apple fruit with deeper, more savory bass notes of honeycomb, almonds and spice. The medium-bodied palate is super silky and bursts with tensile, mineral-laced fruits, expanding into a long, juicy and gently honeyed finish.