It’s been nearly 20 years since Wayne Bailey and his wife, Nicolette, began to transform iconic Youngberg Hill near McMinnville, Ore., into an organic project. However, they’ve only recently begun to roll out bottlings from their eponymous reserve brand — Bailey Family Wines. They focus their Chardonnay program on Biodynamically farmed Dijon clones in their Aspen block, named for their youngest daughter. It is a fruit-driven example from a balanced vintage with a barrel program that’s 10% new oak. Asian pear leads the aromatic profile, that includes light butterscotch, blanched almond, lemon pepper and delicate toast. The delicious approach brings bright fruit akin Bosc pear and Golden Delicious apple as pinches of white pepper and ground savory lead out with a lemon curd finish.
Rating: Outstanding! 91 points
Production: 152 cases
Alcohol 13.4%
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