00 Wines is one of the most intellectually ambitious Chardonnay projects to emerge in Oregon’s Willamette Valley in the last decade. Founded by Chris and Kathryn Hermann with French consultant Pierre Millemann, the project pursues a distinctly European idiom of reductive, mineral-driven Chardonnay quite unlike the warmer styles that characterised earlier Oregon examples. Chris Hermann’s legal career in vineyard transactions gave him a forensic understanding of the Willamette Valley’s finest sites before the first vintage was produced with the 2015 harvest.

The VGW, or Very Good White, is 00 Wines’ flagship Willamette Valley Chardonnay blend, drawing on historic sites across the four corners of the valley including key parcels in the Eola-Amity Hills, which provide the wine with much of its characteristic minerality and cool-climate precision. The 2023 vintage saw steady maturation and beautifully high acidity across the valley, making it widely celebrated as one of the finest recent harvests for both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Willamette. Native yeast fermentations and extended élevage in French oak produce a wine of notable depth relative to its entry-level positioning within the house.

The VGW functions as the flagship introduction to the 00 Wines portfolio, sitting beneath the single-site and Hermann Family Cuvée tiers in terms of specificity but not in terms of ambition or winemaking rigour. It has attracted consistent critical attention as one of Oregon’s most refined Chardonnays at its price point and has appeared in annual lists across multiple leading publications. The 2022 VGW earned 92 points from Vinous, who noted its “evergreen freshness” and “stimulating core of zesty acidity” in a review that characterised it as a standout among its Oregon peers.