This is a pre-arrival offering that is expected spring 2026
Our tasting impressions
Saul's homage to the fresh, electric white wines of Friuli—where blending grapes to combine their individual strengths is a long-standing tradition. The concept of soil-to-glass winemaking shines through in this delicious wine. The white, stone fruit and floral flavors are beautifully accentuated by the flinty, waxy minerals that make us feel like we've been "deeply deposited" in the loess soil. At first, it seems easy to sip but then you realize there's quite al bit of lift, length and depth. Certainly a 10 on the deliciousness scale.
About this wine
A blend of 45% Pinot Gris/35% Chardonnay/20% Pinot Blanc. The first two come from ungrafted 37-year-old vines in the Dion Vineyard. This site, in the Laurelwood District AVA, sits on windblown loess soils with deep deposits. The elevation is 400’ and the plot faces southeast. Temperatures are moderate and harvesting occurs a week or two earlier than Eola-Amity sites.
The Pinot Blanc hails from Twelve Oaks Vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains off Bell Road. It is in a cooler/later ripening section. Elevation is around 600’ and it faces east/southeast.
All the grapes were pressed, settled, then fermented with native yeasts in older oak barrels, where the wine rested for about a year on its primary lees before being racked and bottled unfined & unfiltered. Production is 140 cases.
About the blend
Pinot Gris is uncommon in that its name often differs depending on where it is grown - and it grows in many European countries, as well as in the new world. It mutated from Pinot Noir and developed a pink skin. They grow in small bunches. It's not high in acidity so picking at the best time is critical. Too much Pinot Gris (Pinot Grigio) is used to make innocuous wine but at its best, it can rival any of the great white wines.
Chardonnay is the most popular wine variety in the US. Winemakers love the green-skinned grape as well because it’s so easy to grow and adaptive to many different production techniques. Pinot Blanc, also evolved from Pinot Noir, has similar characteristics to Chardonnay and adds roundness.
About the vintage
Saul reports: 2023 was an easy vintage (relative to 2022) that was warm basically from start to finish. After the frosts in '22, vines seemed to have plenty of energy in reserve. I don't remember seeing canopies that healthy and lush. In general, I think the key was making sure you didn't wait too long to pick--it's one of the shorter bloom-to-picking timeframes I've dealt with here, but at the same time the flavors were fully developed and the acids were mature even though we picked at moderate brix. In general, fermentations were easy and clean, and the wines are really exciting to me: There's fruit, but still good vibrancy and plenty of acidity. I think the '23s are one of the most immediately rewarding set of wines we've made, but also should age really nicely.
Music Reference
A song title by the Indie Pop band, Magnetic Fields from 1995.
In a VDLT portfolio of small producers, Championship Bottle is the micro-est. Owner/winemaker Saul Mutchnick crafts about 600 cases of wine from grapes he acquires from some of the top vineyards in Willamette Valley. He seeks out some of the Valley’s finest growers, who already farm in concert with his priorities. He visits the plots regularly, insists on 100% control over the date to hand pick and participates in the harvest.
Based in Portland, Saul and his wife Sonya rent space at a winery in Amity. The winery name is based on Championship Vinyl from the film "High Fidelity." Saul is a huge music fan and most of his wine names have a music connection.
His wine influence is definitively the Italian region Friuli, which he considers to have much in common with the Willamette Valley - all the vineyards are dry farmed and sustainably farmed. They also share many grape varieties in common (he will not work with varieties that are not grown in Friuli).
Saul worked in wine shops early in his career. That combined with his love of the complex but transparent white wines of Friuli, inspired him to make his own wine. He is quick to point out that his goal is to make Oregon wines that reflect Friuli - not the other way around.
The first evidence that he is up to something uncommon: most of his wines clock in below 13% alcohol. Plus, try to find a new oak barrel in his arsenal. His focus is on clarity, purity, terroir and food-frienliness. He likes native yeast fermentation for its complexity, and long elevage to promote age-worthiness.
Championship Bottle is truly a labor of love and artisanship. They produce beautiful wines that have so much to say about the vineyards and the winemaker.
