By:Nan McCreary
Willamette Valley, located between Oregon’s Cascade Mountains and the Coast Range, shares a defining characteristic with Burgundy, France. Both are cool-climate growing regions situated at the 45th parallel north, and both are meccas for the holy grail of grapes, Pinot Noir. Yet, while Burgundy has long excelled at another grape, Chardonnay, Oregon has been late to the party. Fortunately, this is rapidly changing.
“This is a good time to be in the Chardonnay business in Oregon,” winemaker Alex Fullerton said, “and it’s a good time to be a Chardonnay drinker in the valley.” Fullerton, who, with his parents, Eric and Susanne, founded Fullerton Wines in 2012, is one of many winemakers championing Chardonnay as the new rising star of the Willamette Valley.
Chardonnay vines were first planted in the Willamette Valley along with Pinot Noir in the mid-1960s. Much of what was propagated was a single clone grown in California, called 108, which didn’t ripen sufficiently in the cool Willamette Valley.
“The first 20 vines we planted in our small vineyard near Beaverton were Davis 108 clones,” Fullerton told The Grapevine Magazine. “They were monsters. They were super vigorous and kept growing vegetatively but wouldn’t ripen. They were used to a dryer climate.”
In 1974, David Adelsheim, co-founder of Adelsheim Vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains AVA, spent a vintage working in Burgundy. There he noticed that Chardonnay ripened earlier or at the same time as Pinot Noir, whereas Oregon growers were picking Chardonnay two weeks after Pinot Noir.
“He figured it must be a clonal thing,” Fullerton said.
In 1984, Adelsheim helped import some of the earlier ripening Dijon clones he saw in France, which turned out to be perfectly suited to Oregon’s climate. That was a turning point in the evolution of Chardonnay in the Willamette Valley.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the movement to bring over better clones spurred the revolution. Growers began experimenting with other clones in addition to classic Dijon clones, including California heritage clones which tend to be less vigorous.
“Our climate is changing,” Fullerton said. “It’s warmer, so it’s a good idea to get a diversity of clones up here.”
According to Fullerton, clone selection is only part of the Chardonnay story in Oregon. The refinement of site selecting, winegrowing practices, pick times and winemaking decisions also contribute to Chardonnay’s continuing success. Fullerton, which makes an 80% to 20% ratio of Pinot Noir vs. Chardonnay, sources grapes from all over the Willamette Valley.
“We have a great narrative for Oregon Pinot Noir and what you get from different soils and AVAs, and we are starting to map that out for Chardonnay,” he told The Grapevine Magazine.
“We have both volcanic and sedimentary soils here, and we’re continually experimenting with which clones do better in which regions.”
Fullerton strives for diversity in the vineyard, planting some one-acre blocks with as many as 10 different clones in each block. “This broadens the expression of each individual site. If you plant only one clone on one site and vinify that separately, you will get an expression of terroir through the lens of only one clone. If you’re interested in seeing what a site does, you’re really better off seeing multiple clones planted together because you can find which sites are best and express the ultimate complexity of that site.”
When it comes to harvesting, a growing trend in the Willamette Valley is to pick early. Early harvest helps retain acid and keep alcohol and sugar levels low. Fullerton, for example, picks Chardonnay a full one-to-two weeks ahead of full flavor development on the vine. “With Pinot Noir, you don’t pick until the flavor is in the fruit, but with Chardonnay, if the grapes are tasty and flavorful, you should have picked a few days ago to get the style we’re looking for. We have to keep a close eye on the grapes. They ripen very quickly.”
In the winery, Oregon winemakers are generally striving for a leaner, crisper style of Chardonnay. Like many others in the valley, Fullerton is moving toward fermentation in larger barrels and away from oak. These include barrels as large as 350-, 500- and 600-liters, which allow for ingestion of less oxygen than smaller barrels as the wine ages. Wineries also use malolactic fermentation for white wines and aging sur lees by letting the gross lees settle, then reincorporating the desired solids back into the juice for fermentation and aging. Malolactic fermentation reduces harsh acids in the juice, and aging sur lees helps extract aromatics and adds texture to the wine.
While Pinot Noir remains the signature grape of the Willamette Valley – as of 2018, there were 20,000 acres of Pinot Noir compared to 2,400 acres of Chardonnay – more and more winemakers throughout the valley see the potential of Oregon Chardonnay as an exciting alternative to the oaky, buttery styles that earned popularity in California. Still, it is a work in progress. For one thing, Chardonnay is very site-specific.
“Today, we can identify which Pinots come from which appellation,” Fullerton said, “but we are not there yet with Chardonnay. With more experience and knowledge of soils and microclimates, eventually, we’ll be able to blindly pick out the appellation.”
Specifying an “Oregon style” of Chardonnay is even more difficult because the wine also reflects the winemaker’s choices. Chardonnay has long been known as “the winemaker’s canvas” because it is a grape easily manipulated in terms of flavor and aromas. “Oregon is developing its own style,” Fullerton said. “I don’t like to compare Oregon Chardonnays with White Burgundy, but generally, we’re trending toward the leaner, acid-driven styles of French Chardonnay. As our style evolves, I see more similarities than differences.”
A testament to Oregon’s enthusiasm for Chardonnay is the increasing popularity of the annual Oregon Chardonnay Festival. Founded in 2012 as the Oregon Chardonnay Symposium, the celebration has evolved from an industry-focused technical panel and tasting to an education seminar for consumers and professionals and one of the region’s largest varietal-specific tastings. “If you’re interested in Oregon Chardonnay, you want to go to this event,” Fullerton said. “It’s very educational and impressive to see how many good Chardonnays Oregon is producing.”
For Fullerton, delving into the nuances of Burgundian wines is a labor of love, so it’s no wonder that he and his winery are adapting and promoting the latest trends in Chardonnay. His father, Eric, owner and proprietor of Fullerton Wines, gifted him with a trip to Champagne, the Loire and Burgundy for his 18th birthday, and this is where he got the wine bug. “I was totally fascinated by wine all throughout college until I began working at wineries – Penner-Ash Cellars and Bergström Wines. These are the wines that speak to me.”
As a winemaker, Fullerton oversees an 8,000-case production of Pinot Noirs, Chardonnay and some Pinot Gris. Their signature Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays include Three Otters (named after the Fullerton Family Crest, which features three little otter heads) and Five Faces (an acronym for the five members of the Fullerton family), as well as an extensive portfolio of single-vineyard wines. Many have received 90-plus ratings from Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator and Robert Parker. Viticultural practices include organic, biodynamic and sustainable farming. Fullerton Winery offers three opportunities for tasting: Live virtual tastings, on-site tastings at the Portland Wine Bar and their tasting room at Fullerton Winery in Corvallis.
Winemakers throughout the Willamette Valley agree that this is an exciting time for Chardonnay. With nearly 700 wineries and over 25,000 vineyards planted, there are many options for experimentation and ushering this relative newcomer into the future. Asked if Chardonnay can compete with Pinot Noir, Fullerton said, “Oh yeah. We can’t leave Chardonnay out of the story anymore and just consider Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley.”
Clearly, the time is ripe for Oregon Chardonnay, for more information, visit…http://www.fullertonwines.com/
