00 Wines 'Stardance' Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton District, USA 2022
00 Wines (Double Zero) has set out to produce the next great American Chardonnay in the Willamette Valley. Using the premier cool climate Chardonnay fruit in the US, and time honored artisanal white Burgundy techniques, 00 Wines has created something rare that is being set in a class alongside the greatest white wines in the world.
As a decade’s long White Burgundy lover, 00 Wines owner Chris Hermann’s dream after many years of drinking wines from the greatest producers up and down the Cote d’Or and Chablis, is to “produce extraordinarily intense, distinctive, Coche Dury like, statement Chardonnays in Oregon.
The reds are no less interesting and rare. Sourcing fruit from iconic vineyards like Shea and Hyland, the Pinot noirs begin with a painstaking process of hand clipping berries from the cluster as opposed to more traditional destemming. This process leaves the pedicels (the piece of the stem that attaches to the berry) intact and gives fragrance and spice to the resulting wine. Once destemmed, the berries are fermented in small amphora (terra cotta fermenters used in ancient times for winemaking): an uncommon practice that, in tandem with the hand-destemming, creates wines that have fragrance and texture not achievable through contemporary techniques.
" The 2022 Pinot Noir Stardance is a new bottling from 00 Wines. “It usually goes into the VGR,” proprietor Christopher Hermann says, “but in 2022, it was special on its own.” Planted in 2003 on the western side of the Yamhill-Carlton appellation near the coast range, the Pommard vines are own-rooted, unirrigated and biodynamically farmed. The vineyard is located on an east-facing slope that runs from 300 to 550 feet of elevation and the soils are Peavine, an unusual silty clay loam series. In the winery, the grapes were destemmed by hand, and whole berries were fermented in 500-liter terracotta amphorae from Tuscany. The wine was matured in French oak barrels for 18 months. The Stardance has open-knit, inviting aromas of cranberry, raspberry, hibiscus, bitter orange and amaro, releasing nuances of spice and mushroom as it spends time in the glass. The medium-bodied palate offers concentrated, crunchy flavors delivered in a silky texture. It’s enlivened by succulent acidity and has a very long, nuanced finish" Wine Advocate 95