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Along with Walter Scott, '00' comprises a vanguard of two that continues to seem light years ahead of its Willamette Valley Chard-producing peers. Reduction is a priority, and when they're 'on' the reductive power is as dramatic and persuasive as anything you'll find in this country.
'00's Chris Hermann remains open to blending across sites in our single-vineyard obsessed era, a statement that centers the contribution of winemaking. Extraction is a critical step. The pressing here is long and heavy with the aim of extracting as much solid material as possible, after which the richly phenolic must is left to oxidize in a process similar to Coche-Dury and Roulot in Burgundy. Skipping the science-y stuff, the practice results in paradoxically pure yet thickly extractive juice.
The flinty Roulot-like reductive notes and sweet citrus are more centered in this '18 than previous iterations. There is lovely tension to the sleek, medium-bodied flavors and I love how the reduction reappears on the finish, toning and tightening the fruit. Top shelf stuff here.
Cheers,
Jason
