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Division Winemaking Company 2021 Chardonnay “Un”
The day the phone started ringing
The phone rang. And it rang again. And again. At Division Winemaking Company, the phone didn’t stop ringing for days. A little over eight years ago, New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov singled out Tom Monroe and Kate Norris’s 2012 Gamay Noir as the best red wine to pair with a Thanksgiving meal. It was just a three-sentence mention, but the phone didn’t stop ringing until the Gamay Noir was sold out – and almost everything else in a bottle, too.
Tom and Kate are best known for founding the Southeast Wine Collective, a popular wine bar and urban winemaking facility. At one point, the home of twelve winemakers, the Collective launched numerous labels that are still winning fans.
They’ve have been making wine together since they spent a year on a vineyard in France in 2009. With a business plan for an Oregon-based winery that Tom wrote during business school, they relocated to launch a winery of their own.
At Division, they create wines that reflect their love of French-style wines – balanced wines with nuanced flavors using minimalist winemaking practices that help the unique character of each vineyard shine through in each bottle.
Cellar 503 Tasting Notes
Division Winemaking Company, Portland, Oregon
2021 Chardonnay “Un”
While Chardonnay wasn’t the first white wine planted with any success here in the Willamette Valley – that distinction belongs to Pinot Gris – it has finally become a hallmark of the valley. It has been fun to watch the evolution of the Oregon style of Chardonnay over the past ten years.
This Chardonnay is a blend of organic and biodynamic sites in the Willamette Valley. A mix of younger vines and older vines makes this wine exceptionally representative of the Willamette Valley.
On the nose, you’ll get a wonderful combination of white flowers, chamomile and quince. While this wine is aged in a combination of French and Austrian oak barrels, Tom and Kate are very careful to use the oak to season the wine but not dominate.
A Cellar 503 selection in January 2023, Classic Wines Oregon Twist Willamette Valley | Chardonnay
