2022 00 Wines, VGW Chardonnay, Willamette Valley 1x75cl

00 Wine: A Willamette Valley Pioneer

Based in Carlton, Oregon, 00 Wines (pronounced Double Zero) is one of the most exciting and radical contemporary projects operating in the Willamette Valley. Founded in 2015 by wine-industry attorney Chris Hermann and his wife Kathryn, the estate was born out of a desire to see if the textural precision, intense minerality, and complexity of Grand Cru Burgundy could be replicated in the cool-climate terroirs of Oregon.

Rather than establishing a vast, estate-owned vineyard from scratch, the duo strategically chose to partner with a handpicked selection of the valley’s most prestigious growers. This unique approach allows them access to incredibly rare heritage plots and old-vine material that would otherwise take generations to develop. Today, under the technical direction of French-born, Burgundian-trained oenologist Maxence Lecat, the estate has risen to international cult status, expanding its vision to craft micro-cuvées across Oregon, Burgundy, and Champagne.

The Radical Brilliance of the “Black Chardonnay” Technique

The winemaking philosophy at 00 Wines is defined by a striking departure from standard New World methods, yielding Chardonnays of monumental structure, high tension, and profound depth. Chris Hermann is celebrated as a pioneer of the historical, European-inspired “Black Chardonnay” method. This labour-intensive process involves crushing the grapes before pressing and applying long, heavy, non-interventionalist press cycles to deliberately extract maximum phenolics, tannins, and particulates. The resulting juice turns dark, cloudy, and completely black in the tray. Forgoing early sulphur additions or settling, the must is racked directly into barrel with all of its heavy lees. This high-risk, oxidative handling paradoxically creates a finished wine that is hyper-stable, heavily reduction-resistant, and marked by a distinct, waxy mid-palate density, brilliant framing acidity, and a mineral-driven persistence.

Uncompromising Old-Vine Quality and Global Pedigree

The global acclaim and strict allocations surrounding 00 Wines are anchored by their meticulous focus on old-vine heritage clones and highly expressive volcanic soils. The estate’s portfolio is spearheaded by its benchmark releases, the “VGW” (Very Good White) and the select barrel-aged “EGW” (Extra Good White) Chardonnays, alongside single-vineyard masterpieces from iconic locations like the historic 1969 blocks of Chehalem Mountain Vineyard. For their Pinot Noirs, the domain embraces an equally artisanal ethos, meticulously destemming the fruit entirely by hand and fermenting the berries inside traditional Italian terracotta amphorae from Tuscany to maximise aromatic lift and silkiness. By basing picking decisions purely on natural acidity levels rather than sugar ripeness, 00 Wines consistently captures a low-alcohol, high-fidelity profile even in warmer vintages. These highly sought-after, investment-grade bottles possess an exquisite architectural symmetry, purpose-built to cellar gracefully and reveal hidden layers of savoury complexity over decades.