2022 Ponzi Vineyards Chardonnay Laurelwood District Willamette Valley 750 ml

Not long ago, we were lucky enough to visit Willamette Valley's iconic Ponzi Vineyards. Between the spectacular views, the four-level gravity-fed winery, and the conversation with CEO Jean-Baptiste Rivail, the visit left us with a million thoughts swirling in our heads.

But nothing reverberated quite like their 2022 Chardonnay from the Laurelwood District estate. It's a sustainably grown, nearly impossible-to-find Chardonnay from an absolutely legendary winery, and it demonstrates why white-wine lovers would be wise to look to Oregon's Willamette Valley—and to one of the region's most revered producers.

You could make the case that Chardonnay master Dominique Lafon (of Domaine des Comtes Lafon) played a major part in the quality explosion in Oregon Chardonnay. His expertise has reverberated throughout the Willamette Valley, from Evening Land to Walter Scott to Lingua Franca. But the Willamette Valley gave Lafon a gift as well back in 1992, sending him a talented intern named Luisa Ponzi.

Ponzi's Burgundian training has guided her family winery for decades now, and it dovetails perfectly with their old-vine fruit. The core of this wine comes from the Ponzis' 1970 plantings in their original estate vineyard plus their 1991 plantings in the Aurora Vineyard, combined with a handful of other sites in the new Laurelwood AVA.

Early in the 2022 vintage, a late frost nearly devastated the valley's primary buds, but the vines responded with remarkable tenacity. Summer came on strong, and October arrived dry—one of the warmest in Oregon history—allowing fruit to ripen flawlessly. The result is a wine of real elegance, with a refined bouquet of lemon curd, white peach, and pear skin, plus a beautifully articulated palate of crisp citrus and orchard fruit gliding across a sinewy spine of acidity. It’s got layers of toasted almond, sea spray, and crushed limestone emerging on the midpalate, carrying through to a long, brisk finish.

Ponzi Vineyards is so renowned and accomplished that in 2021 Bollinger chose them as their first winery to acquire outside France. That speaks volumes. This bottle is a glimpse into the excellence they saw in this winery—it’s a true revelation for Chardonnay lovers.