Division Chardonnay ‘Un’ Willamette Valley 2017

Story

The Division Chardonnay ‘Un’ Willamette Valley 2017 is a return to the more acid driven style we prefer from this glorious grape. Aromatics are a balance of stone fruits, fragrant flowers, and the ever-present saline notes we find in our Chardonnay. The palate is electric with pear, peach, and light minerality, balanced acidity, and phenolic depth of flavour. The grapes for the Chardonnay ‘Un’ Willamette Valley are from old vine sites including Eola Springs and Dell’Ucello. They also sourced from Johan Vineyard (biodynamic), and Methven Family Vineyards (Eola Amity).

Division Winemaking Company is a Portland, Oregon based winery founded in 2010 by Kate Norris and Thomas Monroe. Inspired by the wineries of the Loire, Beaujolais, Burgundy and the Northern Rhone where they first learned winemaking and viticulture, the urban winery creates Oregon and Washington wines including Pinot Noir, Gamay, Chardonnay, Rosés of multiple varietals , Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Côt, Syrah, and Grenache. Determined to make approachable and balanced wines through minimal manipulation, Kate and Tom have a passion to work with well farmed terroir expressive vineyards, many of which are organic and/or Biodynamic, celebrating the varietals they as winemakers love to drink.

Division Winemaking Co. includes the flagship Division label, the more approachable Division-Villages label, the Gamine brand inspired by the Rhone Valley and a personal expression of co-founder Kate Norris’ love of the region, as well as the experimental Tripod Project label, a collaboration between co-winemaker Tom Monroe, Barnaby Tuttle of Teutonic Wine and Jesse Skiles of Fausse Piste. Division Winemaking Company is also a member of the PDX Urban Wineries Association. They represent a new generation of winemakers that are looking beyond the status quo to create unique styles of wine, with a purpose, a story and without barriers.
Both Tom and Kate have been passionate about wine for most of their lives, for Tom it was when he started an entry level sommelier course in college, for Kate is was spending time at her family home in the Loire Valley, France. The both decided to trade cubicles for winery cellars and France proved to be a perfect place for their immersion into viticulture and enology.

Starting with no grape farming or production experience, they crafted Pinot Noir, Gamay and Chardonnay at Domaine Sauvat during the 2009 season and harvest, followed by internships in Beaujolais and Burgundy. They each completed an intensive eight-month private viticulture and enology program with both classroom and field study in the vineyards and wineries of Burgundy, Beaujolais and the Northern Rhone.
Norris and Monroe arrived in Oregon in early 2010 with youthful energy and armed with the wealth of experience and knowledge that they learned in France. Not being taught the more traditional New World winemaking methodologies most commonly seen on the West Coast, provided the opportunity to start their own winery uninfluenced by the New World norms. The wine company has become an ambassador for the new generation of Portland produced wines and serves as a guide to the hottest upcoming varietals and wines such as Gamay Noir, Chenin Blanc, and old world style rosés.

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