2017 Knudsen Vineyards Chardonnay

Block 28 | 50%
Rootstock | 3309
Clone | CH95
Plated | 1995
Elevation | 710-760 ft
Exposure | SE
Spacing | 5×3.3 ft

Block 28 | 25%
Rootstock | 3309
Clone | CH76
Plated | 1995
Elevation | 725-760 ft
Exposure | SE
Spacing | 5×3.3 ft

Block 32 | 25%
Rootstock | 3309
Clone | CH76
Plated | 1995
Elevation | 655-690 ft
Exposure | SE
Spacing | 5×3.3 ft

93 POINTS
PinotFile
“Light golden yellow color in the glass. Invigorating aromas of fresh lemon and petrichor. Crisp, clean and rousing like a cold shower on a hot day. Flavors of lemon, white peach and pear carry through to a quenching finish. Impeccable harmony. More austere in this vintage but still classy and highly satisfying.”

93 POINTS
International Wine Report
“This starts off with an inviting bouquet of Meyer lemon zest, Challah bread, Pink Lady apple and shades of clove spices that all take shape. This reveals a lovely silky texture and soft mouthfeel that offers a sense of elegance as it glides seamlessly across the palate. This is showing beautifully now as flavors of citrus fruits and melon connect with bright acidity keeping it fresh and inviting. This gorgeous Chardonnay will continue to develop even further complexity as it evolves over the course of next decade.”
– Owen Bargreen

90 POINTS
Wine Enthusiast

90 POINTS
Christy Canterbury, MW
“Beautifully perfumed with an enticing array of scents, this Knudsen Chardonnay smells of poached pears and crisp golden apples as well as toasted oatmeal and roasted hazelnuts. Spicy on the attack, there is an underlying stream of salinity that gives the medium, brisk finish a taut and clean feeling. The palate feel is caressing with a whisper of glycerol dancing across the medium body. A cleansing grippiness braces the finish. This is compelling wine that should age nicely over the next several years. Drink: 2020-24”

“Knudsen Vineyards [has] created something special. 2017 is the third vintage of Knudsen Vineyards Chardonnay from Dundee Hills in Oregon I had a pleasure of experiencing, and I see a clear progression here, with 2016 being better than 2015, and 2017 being even better than 2016. I would describe this wine as an Elegance of Precision – from the get-go, it had just a perfect amount of everything Chardonnay is famous for – a touch of vanilla, a touch of butter, a touch of golden delicious apples, vibrant acidity – and it was getting even better over the few days it was stored in the fridge, more precise, more integrated, more Burgundian.  If you like Chardonnay, this is a “case buy” wine – not because it is inexpensive, but because you want to keep a few bottles in the cellar for the next 5-10 years, to see it magically evolve.”
– Anatoli Levine, Talk-a-Vino

“The aromas of this wine are lemon zest, apple and vanilla.On the palate this Chardonnay reveals a lovely silky texture and a mouth-feel that is seamless. It displays beautiful flavors of citrus and white melon with bright acidity that keeps it fresh on the finish.”
– Perry Miroballi, Chicago Wine Press

Pairing Suggestion: Knudsen Vineyards 2017 Chardonnay and Salmon
“Be it smoked salmon at brunch or an oven-cooked salmon with a festive spring sauce, this Chardonnay is a great pair. The warm hints of caramelized pear and vanilla will match the smokiness or heaviness of the fish. Each sip finishes with bright acidity and hints of wood, a great balance with the rest of the fresh flavors on the table or with a lemon-herb sauce that tops the fish.”
– Honest Cooking

SILVER MEDAL
2020 Savor NW Wine Awards

SILVER MEDAL
2019 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

SILVER MEDAL
2019 California Pacific Rim Wine Competition

SILVER MEDAL
2019 Sunset International Wine Competition

A relatively cool and wet spring with a near-normal bud break in mid-April. Late May was characterized by record heat that initiated flowering which produced a very good fruit set with more and larger clusters than previous years.  June saw a cool-down, while the heat ramped up through July moving the fruit rapidly to véraison. August was one of the warmest on record. Early September was warm, which accelerated fruit development but was slowed by a cooling period mid-month, leading to a relatively slow and steady harvest. 2017 ended up with near average to slightly higher than average sugar and acid levels.