Our next Spin the Bottle guest is Domaine Delelee, a French-American family winery making Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in barrel-sized batches. They're joining us on Saturday, October 24, with five wines, including two brand-new 2024s and a pair of library bottles from 2019.
The Delelees describe their approach as restraint: the Willamette Valley does the heavy lifting, and their job is to stay out of the way. Fermentations run on native yeast and take their time. Barrels come from Burgundian coopers, and the mix of new and neutral oak changes every year depending on the vintage.
Production is tiny. We're talking a few barrels of Pinot and a couple of Chardonnay. The family bottles everything themselves on a six-spout gravity filler, holding each bottle up to the light before it goes in the case.
Here’s what they’re pouring:
2024 Cuvée Jacqueline Chardonnay, Cassin Vineyard, Yamhill-Carlton
2019 Cuvée Charlotte Chardonnay, Cassin Vineyard, Yamhill-Carlton
2024 and 2023 Cuvée Maurice Pinot Noir, Tsai Vineyard, Yamhill-Carlton. A side-by-side of back-to-back vintages.
2019 Cuvée Charlotte Pinot Noir, Eola Springs, Eola-Amity Hills
Come pull up a stool and taste through the lineup on Saturday, October 24, 2-6 pm.
