2024 The Estate Chardonnay

Willamette Valley Chardonnay from Our High-Elevation Vineyard

A limited-production, estate-grown Chardonnay drawn from a single south-facing parcel at Lonesome Rock, planted in volcanic soils at high elevation along the forested edge of the Coast Range. Sourced from just 1.28 acres, the site’s cool nights and steady airflow shape an aromatic, energetic wine of expressive fruit, clarity, tension, and depth, defined by a crisp, mineral edge.

This is the most youthful wine Lonesome Rock has ever released. Like the cooler-year Chablis that first captivated me in the 1990s, the 2024 Estate Chardonnay is defined by a vivid sense of green: crisp green apple, lightly underripe peach, and a taut, flinty minerality that reads as crushed stone on the nose. The texture is dense and creamy, yet remains balanced and fresh, carried by natural tension and clarity.
Hand-harvested into 1/2 ton bins early morning on 9/24 and whole-cluster pressed. Fermented in a mix of oak and stainless steel—including puncheons, ‘cigare’ barrels, and 228L French oak—it sees 10 months of aging, with 75% undergoing malolactic fermentation. Lightly filtered at bottling.
Vintage: Fourth
Cases Produced: 235
Year Planted: 2015
Harvest Date: 9/24/2024
Clone: 76
Cropload: 2.8 tons/acre
Élévage: 10 months
Alcohol: 12.5%
Winemaker: Jackson Holstein
Release Date: 3/10/2026
In many ways, winegrowing is a study in timing and weather—how conditions unfold at budbreak, bloom, and harvest. In 2024, each of these moments aligned unusually well. The growing season progressed slowly and steadily, marked by moderate temperatures and only a few brief heat events through the summer. September delivered cool days and cold nights, allowing us to harvest deliberately and at an unhurried pace, with no pressure from storms or extreme weather. The result was a long, even ripening cycle that favored balance, freshness, and precision.