2021 Chardonnay Casteel

Certified Organically Grown

- Fruit source: Bethel Heights Wente and Dijon 76
- Harvest date: September 25 - 29, 2021
- Grapes at harvest: Brix 22.8, pH 3.07, TA 8.3 gr/Liter 
- Finished wine: Alcohol 13.5%, pH: 3.23, TA: 7.6 gr/Liter
- Barrel aged 12 months in French oak, 50% new barrels, and 4 months in stainless steel
- Bottle unfined February 13, 2023
- Cases produced: 283 cases

WINEMAKER NOTES:

The goal for the Casteel Chardonnay is always to make the best expression of the vintage, regardless of where in the vineyard the grapes come from. After a year exploring the possibilities from Justice in 2019, we turned our eyes back to Bethel Heights for the 2021. Hailing from both our oldest vines planted in 1977 and the adjacent block planted in 1994, this wine encapsulates the best of what we saw in 2021: the opulence of a warm year with the tension and vibrancy of a cool year. I don’t normally allow myself to drift into hyperbole, but 2021 really was both sides of the seasonal coin.

ACCOLADES: 

97 Decanter

2021 WILLAMETTE VALLEY WHITE WINE OF THE VINTAGE, Bethel Heights Casteel Estate Chardonnay. A gorgeous Chardonnay from estates vines planted in 1977 and 1994. This is a showy wine that retains its elegance while flirting with opulence…

97 Wine Advocate

The 2021 Chardonnay Casteel is complex and alluring, offering dynamic aromas and flavors as it unfurls with oxygen over several days. The nose offers lemon peel and panna cotta, spicy, honeyed undertones and streaks of flint. The mediumbodied palate is satiny and expansive with impressively concentrated, slightly exotic fruit driven by focused acidity, and just enough smoky reduction adds even more complexity to its generous fruit. Year after year, the Casteel is one of the best Chardonnays coming out of Oregon, and this 2021 is especially gorgeous!
 

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