2014 Lange Winery Estate Chardonnay Three Hills Cuvee Willamette Valley

Winery of the Year’s Take on White Burgundy

The Willamette Valley isn’t just Pinot Noir country anymore. Chardonnay from this slice of northern Oregon has become a hot commodity, and rightly so. The best Chardonnays we’ve tasted call to mind some of the qualities — richness coupled with juicy acid and precise minerality — you’d expect from a great white Burgundy. And winemaker Jesse Lange never fails to impress. Today’s 2014 Lange Estate Three Hills Cuvée Chardonnay — tasted when we visited his family’s Willamette Valley estate last August — is simply brilliant. But what else would you expect from the winery named 2012 Winery of the Year by Wine & Spirits? The Three Hills Chardonnay is bursting with candied minerality, with vibrantly crisp citrus fruit tinged with nuanced spice, all rounded out by a generous and smooth mouthfeel. Thanks to our close relationship with the Lange family over the years, we were able to secure the remaining 95 cases of the vintage to share with you at just $29.99 per bottle — 29% off the release price. Don’t miss out.  

For those of you familiar with Lange’s Three Hills Pinot Noir Cuvée, listen up. Jesse sources the grapes for this cool-climate Chardonnay from the same trio of hillside vineyards as the popular Pinot Noir grapes: Lange Estate, Yamhill, and Durant vineyards. Each set of vines, within their own micro-climates, produce grapes that interpret the region’s well-draining volcanic soils differently. Their collective stories come together to produce a supremely balanced wine of bright, sophisticated, mineral-kissed intrigue.  

The temperature was a scorching 105°F degrees when we arrived at Lange Estate for our annual visit and tasting with young winemaking impresario Jesse Lange. Triple digits are not common in the Willamette Valley, but Jesse already had a plan for us to beat the heat. Shortly after we arrived, Jesse led us to his boat and we spent the day fishing on the Columbia River, where we discussed everything from his recent marriage to the region’s superb 2014 vintage. The sturgeon weren’t biting that afternoon, but their lack of cooperation was forgotten the moment we returned to the winery and tasted through several of Jesse’s latest offerings, including this Three Hills Cuvée Chardonnay. Soaking in the estate’s panoramic view of the Cascades is breathtaking — and as we tasted, we became enthralled, forgetting completely about the heat, the fish, the news of the world…  

Shortly after its 2015 release, this bottle was heralded as an “excellent blend” by Wine Enthusiast in its 91-point review. With three years in the bottle, the wine has deepened in complexity and is worthy of a ratings bump, to our resolute 93. We hope you agree. Let us know.

Jonathan Cristaldi
Editor-in-Chief, Wine Access
Cristaldi has worked in the wine industry for nearly a decade as a professional writer, critic, and educator. His published work has appeared in national print and online outlets including Food & Wine, Los Angeles Magazine, SOMM Journal, and many others.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Sweetness
• Acidity

• ABV 13.90%
• Enjoy right away
• Drink Up
• % Chardonnay
• Serving temperature – 58°
• Screw cap