Pike Road Chardonnay 2019
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast
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Winemaker Notes
Pike Road Chardonnay has delicate tropical notes of pineapple and guava mixed with lemon curd and hints of oak, lemongrass, and a long, seamless finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A fruity nose of pears, mangoes, peaches and lemons. It’s medium-bodied with a creamy texture and a clean finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
This bright and fresh Chardonnay has a smooth, accessible mouthfeel, with light flavors of banana, pineapple and lemon meringue. There's a creamy note that coats the palate and lingers most pleasantly on the finish.
Editors' Choice
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2020-
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James
Suckling
We named this wine project Pike Road after the winding road that runs adjacent to our vineyards at the foothills of Oregon's Coast Range Mountains.
Pike Road is made from estate grown grapes and a smaller amount of fruit we purchase. We are committed to preserving small family farms here in the Willamette Valley through our relationships with partner growers, some of whom we have worked with for decades. This is the best place in the New World to grow Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, and we are so pleased to be here at Pike Road.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
One of Pinot Noir's most successful New World outposts, the Willamette Valley is the largest and most important AVA in Oregon. With a continental climate moderated by the influence of the Pacific Ocean, it is perfect for cool-climate viticulture and the production of elegant wines.
Mountain ranges bordering three sides of the valley, particularly the Chehalem Mountains, provide the option for higher-elevation vineyard sites.
The valley's three prominent soil types (volcanic, sedimentary and silty, loess) make it unique and create significant differences in wine styles among its vineyards and sub-AVAs. The iron-rich, basalt-based, Jory volcanic soils found commonly in the Dundee Hills are rich in clay and hold water well; the chalky, sedimentary soils of Ribbon Ridge, Yamhill-Carlton and McMinnville encourage complex root systems as vines struggle to search for water and minerals. In the most southern stretch of the Willamette, the Eola-Amity Hills sub-AVA soils are mixed, shallow and well-drained. The Hills' close proximity to the Van Duzer Corridor (which became its own appellation as of 2019) also creates grapes with great concentration and firm acidity, leading to wines that perfectly express both power and grace.
Though Pinot noir enjoys the limelight here, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay also thrive in the Willamette. Increasing curiosity has risen recently in the potential of others like Grüner Veltliner, Chenin Blanc and Gamay.