2014 Lucidité WV Chardonnay

I said, “Pucker”… without any single-finger gestures

The Cliff Notes: The color is pale brass. The nose holds earth, hazelnut, crème brûlée, lemon pound cake and peach cobbler with a touch of ginger. The palate is bright, ripe and weighty with a lemon-lime finish of great persistence.

Fermentation: 100% Chardonnay ­— 100% whole cluster pressed and barrel fermented in an old world style. By using a long, slow, low-temperature, wild-yeast, barrel fermentation regimen we are able to promote vineyard characters and preserve fleeting fruit esters.

Elevage: 100% barrel aged on its lees for 16 months in mainly older (plus one new) French oak barrels to promote roundness of the mid-palate. Racked and filtered prior to bottling February 2016.

A Story: You had to know that in the warm growing year of 2014 we would feel compelled to pick this pretty early. Like a kayak on a slick before a waterfall, sugars were moving, flavors were quickening and acids were preparing to tumble. So we paddled ashore.

Vineyards: This wine is from two vineyards, Temperance Hill’s high and late-harvested southeastern shoulder in the Eola Hills and St. Paul Vineyard outside Newberg.

 — Jim Prosser, owner/winemaker