Namaste Vineyard is the home of the oldest chardonnay plantings in the newly minted Van Duzer Corridor AVA. This AVA is named for a gap in the Oregon Coast Range mountains that enables cool winds from the ocean to blow into the Willamette Valley each night. These winds help create delicate wines with intense acidity.
Originally planted in 1980, the site was bought by Dave Masciorini in 2002. Since then, he has hired Jessica Cortell, who manages some of the top sites in the valley, to farm the site sustainably and care for the old vines.
Because of the cool weather and old vines, the grapes at Namaste barely ripen enough to make still wine—but that makes it a perfect site for sparkling. We end up harvesting at the same time many other wineries are harvesting for still wine. Extra hang time on the vines helps creates the intense citrus, pomme, and baking spice flavors that underpin our Namaste Blanc de Blancs.