Division Villages L’Isle Verte Chenin Blanc 2018

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Division Villages L’Isle Verte Chenin Blanc shows the deliciously savory and mineral qualities of this grape. Leading with salty notes of beach sand, toasted coconut, lime, and a faint hint of mushroom, this wine is truly “clawed from the earth”. Long, gorgeous, mouth-coating acid, and the structure you can expect from superb old-vine Chenin fruit give way to a lime zesty finish. Division Villages L’Isle Verte Chenin Blanc will be the perfect partner to fresh vegetable-rich salads and acidic cheeses, like goat cheese.

The Willard Chenin vines are planted on soils formed from volcanic Miocene uplift against basalt bedrock with the primary topsoil being made up of quartz and lime silica, overlaid with the mixed glacial sedimentary runoff of Missoula floods that makes the soils in the region so dynamic and unique. We adore this particular site, as it is one of the last remaining old vine Chenin Blanc sites in the Pacific Northwest, has demonstrated a unique and interesting terroir influence in the wines, and is farmed by an excellent, albeit quirky, farmer named Jim Willard who has a deep understanding of the soils and region.

Division Winemaking Co. 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, 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 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. Kate was spending time at her family home in the Loire Valley, France. Both deciding to trade cubicles for wineries, France proved to be a perfect place for their immersion into wine.

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