2021 Résonance Chardonnay, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA

ABOUT THIS WINE

The Willamette Valley Chardonnay from Résonance is sourced from both estate vineyards and top vineyards in the Willamette Valley. This wine showcases the absolute best of the Willamette Valley and elegantly blends Maison Louis Jadot’s winemaking history with the Willamette Valley’s signature terroir. 2021 is an exceptional vintage with harmonious wines. From May the growing season was ideal: sunny and dry, without rain. Bloom was accomplished with perfect weather conditions. July and August were some of the warmest and driest on record, but without the heat spikes of 2016 and 2017. In mid-September, two weeks of cool nights, following a few days of rain, helped the end of the maturation and allowed grapes to develop a complex aromatic profile and to retain a nice acidity. This was perfect weather for the harvest from September to the beginning of October.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

It was a crisp spring day in April 2013 when Thibault Gagey and Jacques Lardière set out to survey a well-established Oregon vineyard named Résonance. Jacques had just retired after leading winemaking at Maison Louis Jadot for 42 years, and Thibault, whose family has operated Maison Louis Jadot since 1962, was ready to enter the business with a bold new project. They immediately felt a deep connection with the place, and after tasting through dozens of wines made with the vineyard’s fruit, Jacques sat back and said, “Perfect.”

Pierre-Henry Gagey, the President of Maison Louis Jadot and Thibault’s father, agreed. They decided to keep the vineyard’s title, and they also named their new winery—Maison Louis Jadot’s first outside of Burgundy—in its honor. With the same meaning in English and French, Résonance evokes many great things to come. They added the tiny but all-important accent mark to represent this small but special connection between Oregon and France.