2018 Goodrich Chardonnay
Opens with lemon meringue, orange blossom and vanilla on the nose. The palate displays rich tones of apricot and honey while a savory, rounded note is held in check by the freshness of key lime and Meyer lemon.
Year's Best Chardonnay
“A wine that starts out with a lean herbal scent, like mint and thyme combined, this takes on a caramelly weight with air. It’s substantial, in need of a meal, like roast chicken or duck. 91 Points.”
– Wine & Spirits (October, 2021)
92 Points
“Ripe peaches, mangoes, golden apples, butterscotch and lime curd on the nose. It’s full-bodied, concentrated and ripe with a buttery, creamy texture. Balanced and delicious. Drink now.”
– James Suckling (July, 2021)
Vintage
VINTAGE 2018’s growing season started hot and dry through spring and summer, but relief was just around the corner. A hearty rain weeks before harvest and cool temperatures in September and October slowed ripening and gave the fruit additional hang-time. Harvest came late with small, intensely flavored berries with a high skin-to-juice ratio. After a slow start, the second half of harvest saw the simultaneous ripening of multiple blocks and a veritable “crush” in the fermentation hall. Once again, we were thankful for the added capacity of our 2013 cellar expansion and a crew of seasoned pros in the vineyard and the cellar. These are wines of ample flavors and high maturity levels. The Pinot Noirs are bold and fruit-forward with higher than average tannins. In the white wines, expect more tropical fruit aromas in addition to the classic stone-fruit aromas. This is a great vintage for those who appreciate boldness in cool-climate varietals. 2018 wines are highly intriguing, their intense richness balanced by lifted tones, coming from a warm growing season that thankfully concluded in a cool autumn.
Vineyard
Elk Cove Vineyards purchased Goodrich Vineyard in 2014. A 69 acre property planted with 21 acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Goodrich sits just outside the town of Yamhill, Oregon in the heart of the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. Goodrich Vineyard was planted in 2007 with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in high-density a format. The property boasts the exact same marine sediment (Willakenzie) soil as our Mount Richmond property and lies just a few miles from our Estate Vineyard in Gaston. This young vineyard has great promise and we were so impressed by the quality of the fruit we decided to make a Single Vineyard Pinot Noir in our very first year of farming the site.
Winemaking
Our Chardonnay is hand picked then gently whole-cluster pressed to avoid bitterness. The juice is fermented in large puncheons and a mix of neutral and new oak barrels. We age in barrel for a full 12 months with some stirring on the lees after malolactic fermentation. This is our classic take on Chardonnay, one of the original varietals we planted in 1974 and grew for over 20 years. We’re happy to bring this varietal back to the Elk Cove family of wines.
Viticultural & Enological Data
- Vine Age 13 years
- Harvest Sugars 21.5 brix
- pH 3.52
- Vatting Fermentation and aging in oak puncheons and barrels for 12 months.
- Cases Produced 509
