Drink of the Week: Red Electric “Alpine Lily” Chardonnay 2018

Living in close proximity to Oregon’s Willamette Valley provides a wealth of fantastic wine, and Pinot Noir is the dominant varietal, representing about 70 percent of the region’s planted acreage. But while Chardonnay may come in a distant third at only 7 percent, the wines show no less promise. So in 2017, the growers at Red Electric grafted one acre of their Armstrong vineyard over to Chardonnay, with the following harvest of 2018 resulting in their first release of two Chardonnay expressions to join their lineup of Pinot Noir.

The Alpine Lily Chardonnay lives up to its name with a fresh, floral aroma. The wine’s bright acidity carries flavors of citrus zest, vanilla cream and a suggestion of toasty bread, rounded out with a bit of salinity and richness (think salted pistachios) that echoes the marine sedimentary soils of the Ribbon Ridge AVA. Of course, all that is simply to say it’s delicious, quite food-friendly, and an ideal white wine for the middle of winter. $25, redelectricwines.com