Averaen Chardonnay

It's easy to understand why winemakers from the cooler regions of California's Sonoma Coast fall in love with Oregon's Willamette Valley. The Pacific Northwest excels at the same grapes that thrive in coastal California, where the cool-climate grape varieties of Burgundy are king. So when we found out that we could get our hands on wines from the sister project of Sonoma's Banshee Wines, we jumped at the opportunity! In fact, we loved them so much that we've featured two of Averaen's wines in March packages: a small-lot Gamay and this stunning Willamette Valley Chardonnay.

Fruit for this wine is sourced from two distinctive AVAs: Chehalem Mountains, where the vineyard is planted from the Calera clone, and Mount Pisgah, from two cooler sites that yield focused, acid-driven fruit. The resulting blend strikes a rare balance found only in the best Chardonnays, where the richness that comes from oak aging perfectly complements the ripe fruit and bright acidity. Enjoy over the next 5 years, served at about 12 C.