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King Estate Family Owned & Farmed Chardonnay
Board Service Award: Justin King
Justin King, National Sales Manager
Justin served on the Oregon Wine Board from 2019-2024, leading the Board as Chair for two years in 2022 and 2023, and worked with the industry to re-imagine Oregon Wine Month, establish the Industry Partnership Committee, and many other critical projects. The Board and the Industry would like to thank Justin for his years of thoughtful, responsive, and dedicated service to the Oregon wine industry.
Justin King is a third-generation member of the King family. In addition to his responsibility for distributor relations, Justin leads a nine-person national sales force. He is also exploring the winemaking side of the business, producing a limited amount of Biodynamic Pinot Noir from the 2016 vintage that will be available only in the King Estate Restaurant and to wine club members. Before joining his family’s wine business, Justin, who is a professional fingerstyle acoustic guitarist known for pioneering the percussive tapping style, founded and operated Vinegar Hill Sound, a recording studio in Brooklyn. In the late 2000s he worked as a photojournalist in places such as Iraq and Haiti. An active community volunteer, King serves on the boards of the Oregon Environmental Council, Square One Villages and FOOD for Lane County.
Cellar 503 Tasting Notes
King Estate, Eugene, Oregon
Family Owned & Farmed Chardonnay
The characteristics of outstanding Oregon Chardonnay pop in this wine, first on the nose, with notes of lemon oil, white peach, pear and apple tart, and then on the palate. Flavors of lemon, pear, stone fruit with notes of melon and minerality are accompanied by a clean touch of caramelized oak and hazelnuts. The wine balances acidity and fruitiness, with complex layers of fruit and oak leading to a soft, opulent finish.
The Willamette Valley is developing an increasingly strong reputation for Chardonnay. The grapes fare well in the cooler climates of Burgundy, France – where Chardonnay originated – and Oregon. Both regions are along the 45th parallel, producing a medium-bodied wine with pleasant acidity and fruit flavors of green apple and pear.
Fruit is whole cluster pressed and fermented in oak barrels, stainless steel and the concrete egg vessel. About half the wine undergoes a secondary malolactic fermentation, producing a soft, creamy dimension to the wine. Aged 10 months in French oak, 15% new, with weekly bâtonnage, where the lees are stirred back into the wine.
A Cellar 503 selection in February 2025, For the Love of Oregon Wne Willamette Valley | Chardonnay
