Ambar Estate: Dazzling Chardonnay
Clive Pursehouse
While the Pinot Noirs of Oregon have taken their rightful place alongside the world’s most revered wines, the Chardonnays are following close behind. At Ambar Estate in the Dundee Hills, the first regenerative organically certified vineyard in the Willamette Valley, winemaker Kate Payne Brown is making some of the region’s most exciting examples. ‘Chardonnay is having a moment here,’ she says. ‘I pick on acidity and, if we start there, we can build this great texture with barrel fermentation and lees contact. Our colder nights allow us to keep beautiful acidity too.’ The Lustral Chardonnay 2021 is a selection of a barrel selection: Payne Brown might take five gallons (22.7L) from one barrel and six gallons (27.3L) from another to get the precision she wants. Fermented in 35% new French oak, it shows juicy lemon curd, honeyed apricot and almond pastry cream notes. The finish is mouthwatering as rich citrus plays against elements of honey, lemongrass, sweet hay and saline minerality.
Outpost: Axa’s Napa acquisition
Amy Wislocki
Christian Seely was viewing another vineyard for sale in Napa in 2018 when he got the call about Outpost, on Howell Mountain. AXA Millésimes had decided to add a Napa estate to its winery portfolio two years previously and managing director Seely had been searching since then for the right property. ‘We were open-minded about location and size,’ he recalled on a visit to London to introduce the wines to the UK press, along with Frank Dotzler, the previous owner, who has stayed on to manage the estate. ‘The only imperative was that the vineyard had great terroir, producing Cabernet Sauvignon with a real sense of place.’
A tasting of recent and back releases showed that box ticked. Planted at 700m, well above the fog line, the vines are on volcanic soils, and the microclimate is very different to that on the valley floor. The standout was the True Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 19 months in 90% new French oak. In both the 2021 and 2019 vintages, the wine showed florality, juicy black and blue fruit, structure, cool minerality and persistence. AXA hopes to appoint a UK distributor by the end of the year.
Istria from the air
Sylvia Wu
Helicopter view of Meneghetti’s Istria vineyard. Credit: Sylvia Wu
Istria, the peninsula adjacent to Slovenia in Croatia’s north, facing Venice across the Adriatic sea, is known for its olive oil, truffles and the versatile white grape Malvasia Istriana.
Recently the Decanter team celebrated the Croatian wins at this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards with the local producer association Vinistra, and were invited on a rare helicopter ride. We took off from Rossi – its Templara Malvasia 2022 from the Monte d’Oro site is stellar – heading south along the western coast and landing next to Meneghetti’s amphitheatre-shaped vineyard, home to its Chardonnay-driven White 2017.
Another highlight was a visit to the renowned Kozlović; the 2015 vintage of its Santa Lucia Malvazija, named after its crown-jewel vineyard, was a testament to the ageability of the variety. It exuded dried apricot and acacia honey while retaining vibrant freshness, a silky texture and a profound finish.
For a taste of Istria’s indigenous red Teran, try Benvenuti’s saline, powerful Livio 2020 or Deklić’s Teran 2023 for dark fruits and chocolatey tannins. Among the region’s passito (straw-dried) sweet wines, Franković’s Luno d’Oro Moscato 2021 has floral perfume and dried peach with lovely freshness.
BC Benevolence
Tina Gellie
The past few years have been tough for winemakers in Canada’s westernmost province of British Columbia (BC). Unpredictable and extreme weather – from heat domes to deep freezes and wildfires in particular – are an escalating problem, with significant impact since 2021 on yields and wine quality. Following the most destructive wildfire season in BC’s history in 2023, temperatures in the Okanagan Valley plummeted to -20°C in January this year, destroying 90% of grape production and damaging 15% of the region’s vines, according to the BC government. To keep the industry alive, it has introduced a temporary measure allowing winemakers to import grapes and grape juice from outside the province so they can produce a 2024 vintage. In the meantime, here is a variety show of tasty Okanagan whites for late summer sipping; raise a glass in support. Quails’ Gate, Dry Riesling 2023 (£23.39 Strictly Wine); Mission Hill Family Estate, Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2020 (£25 Ocado); Haywire, Chardonnay 2021 (£29 Feel Good Grapes); Burrowing Owl, Pinot Gris 2022 (£32.50 Yorkshire Vintners); Le Vieux Pin, Ava Viognier-Roussanne 2021 (£36.99 Shelved Wine).
Elegant Elgin: La Brune
Julie Sheppard
Decanter’s Julie Sheppard with Nico Gobler
Winemaker Nico Grobler completed his first vintage in Burgundy in 2008 and was smitten. It was the start of a quest to produce terroir driven fine wines in his native South Africa that led him to Elgin Valley and the La Brune estate, named after his wife Christelle. Making a first vintage of Pinot Noir from grower grapes in 2011, the duo finally bought La Brune in 2020. The year before, Nico resigned from his role as chief winemaker at Eikendal, paving the way for his own project. ‘Elgin is South Africa’s coolest wine-growing area,’ he explained at a recent tasting of the new vintages of La Brune Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The cool terroir delivers wines of incredible freshness, showcased in La Brune’s ‘village wines’ The Valley Chardonnay (93pts) and The Valley Pinot Noir 2023 (£21.95 Davy’s, 92pts). The Burgundy influence is clear. But the single-vineyard La Brune Pinot Noir 2023 (2022, £32 Davy’s, 94pts) and La Brune Chardonnay 2023 (£29 Davy’s, 94pts) were my highlights – the latter delivering a combination of mineral purity, rich complexity and thrilling acidity. I can’t wait to see how this young project and its wines evolve over time.
