Beaux Freres Willamette Valley Chardonnay 2017
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Wilfred
Wong -
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This harmonious wine delivers orchestral balance despite its youth. An Old World-esque depth of flavor and low alcohol ensure graceful aging for 7 - 10 more years.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Beaux Frères Chardonnay comes to the fore with lots to offer, and the nuances last long into the wine's finish. Without question, this one of the world's top Chardonnays! TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits outstanding and persistent aromas and flavors of dried peach skin, oak, and dried earth. Enjoy it with shellfish in decadent cream sauces. (Tasted: December 5, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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James Suckling
A blend of four vineyards that were all picked earlier in the ripening cycle, this has a very attractive, fresh and baked-apple nose with hints of chalk and wet stones. Poached pears, too. The palate has a smooth, very succulent and plush texture, carrying rich, assertive, pear, melon and apple flavors. Very balanced delivery of fruit weight and freshness. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Chardonnay Willamette Valley opens with inviting scents of white peaches, honeycomb, Golden Delicious apples, oyster shell and citrus peel with notes of hazelnut, dried hay and white flowers. The medium-bodied palate walks a pretty line between broad, savory character and precise, minerally tension, lifted by juicy acidity and finishing long and textured.
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Beaux Frères is one of the earliest and now leading wineries in Oregon, founded by Michael G. Etzel, and brother-in-law (“Beaux Frères” in French) wine critic Robert M. Parker Jr in 1986. Located on an 88-acre farm, Beaux Frères resides on the most prestigious terroirs of Willamette Valley. Since their first vintage in 1991, the Beaux Frères philosophy remains the same; to produce a world-class Pinot Noir from small, well-balanced yields and ripe, healthy fruit that represent the essence of the vineyard. Beaux Frères has had biodynamic and organic practices since 2002.
In 2017, Maisons & Domaines Henriot embarked on a partnership with Michael Etzel acquiring Beaux Frères.
In the summer of 1986, my young family and I began on a journey that, in our wildest optimism, never thought Beaux Frères and our Oregon wine industry would be on the center stage with the fine wine industry. I believe our success is a lesson for anyone with a dream: follow your heart. – Michael G. Etzel, Founder and CEO
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.