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, who brought in Alsatian-French consultant Pierre Millemann from a roster that includes DRC, Gaja and Domaine Dujac, the project pursues a distinctly European idiom of reductive, mineral-driven Chardonnay quite unlike the warmer, more textural 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.

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. The 2023 vintage is celebrated as one of the finest in recent Oregon winemaking history, combining excellent balance and high natural acidity with a range of sites that each brought something distinctive to the final blend. The winemaking uses native yeast fermentation in French oak barrels, typically with a modest proportion of new wood, and extended élevage to develop complexity.

00 Wines has built one of the fastest reputations of any Oregon Chardonnay producer, earning its first national recognition when the 2017 Freya Hermann Cuvée appeared in James Suckling’s Top 100 USA list. Subsequent releases of the VGW have been reviewed by multiple leading critics and are consistently compared in style to Premier Cru white Burgundy from the Mâconnais and Côte de Beaune. The magnum format benefits long-term ageing, providing a slower, more even evolution for a wine already built for patience rather than immediate consumption.

Pale gold with a herb-tinged, mineral nose of green apple, crushed seashell, stone dust and a faint reductive quality of flint and struck match. The palate is energetic and mineral-intense with stimulating zesty acidity, a core of orchard fruit and a long, saline, cheek-puckering finish. Very much a Chardonnay for those who value mineral tension over richness; best from 2025 through 2032.