Jim Maresh makes Chardonnay unlike anyone else in the United States. Tan Fruit is Jim’s Chardonnay project, where he explores the upper limits of what Willamette Valley Chardonnay can be. Inspired by Chablis and Puligny but firmly rooted in Oregon terroir, these are some of the most exciting Chardonnays being produced in the world today.
These chiseled, linear, and powerful Chardonnays benefit from time, and I learned that the hard way. When the three wines below arrived early last year, I was excited to try them. Unfortunately, they were so wound up and tightly coiled that they weren't giving me much of anything. Fast forward 15 months, and everything has changed. The wines have relaxed, gained harmony, and are now drinking like thoroughbreds.
The wines are now living up to the hype that preceded their arrival. Jim's 2022 Anela, White Walnut, and Maresh Vineyard Chardonnays all earned 95-96 point scores from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, and they are all showing a pedigree now that was missing last year.
Up first, the 96-point (Wine Advocate) White Walnut Vineyard Chardonnay is a personal favorite of mine. From a revered Dundee Hills site planted to ten heritage Chardonnay clones, this is still tightly coiled, but it's shed some of its youthfulness. Intense, bone dry, and mineralic to its core, this shows savory herb, lemon oil, underripe pear, and saline minerality.
Tasted blind, I'd call Grand Cru Chablis, and this will offer great drinking over the next 10 to 15 years. I can say with certainty that this is headed to a place of perfection...
Nearly as compelling and coming from what Jim Maresh called the “stoniest vineyard he’s ever seen in Oregon,” Tan Fruit's Anela Vineyard Chardonnay also took home a 96-point score from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. This is the debut vintage, and it's all Draper Clone, the same "stuff" that goes into Stony Hill's and Eyrie's famed Chardonnays. Like those wines, this smells of wet rock, but with some time in glass, it blossoms with notes of green apple, pear, hazelnut, and preserved lemon.
This is very Puligny-like, and it will drink well through 2040.
Last but not least is the 95-point Maresh Vineyard Chardonnay, and this comes from Jim's own site at the top of the Dundee Hills. This section of the vineyard was planted in 1991 to Dijon clones on a steep slope, and it reminds me very much of a Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnere. Complete, powerful, intensely mineralic, this shows notes of steely lemon, freshly sliced green apple, flint, chalk, and savory herb.
This is quite pleasing to my palate currently, but it will go the long haul. Drink 2026 through 2045.
Nationwide demand for these remains incredibly strong, and I’m thrilled to have even a small allocation to offer. My advice? Buy as many of each as you can, and drink them over the next 10 to 15+ years.
Josh Spurling
Owner, Operator, Wine Monger
Table Wine Asheville
