Celio Vineyard Chardonnay
⏳ Drinking Window
2021 - 2024
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Pan-seared halibut, roasted chicken with herbs, creamy mushroom risotto
✨ Technical Specifications
Kerloo Cellars' Celio Vineyard Chardonnay is a brilliant testament to the cool-climate potential of the Columbia Gorge AVA. Sourced from the wind-swept Celio Vineyard, which sits in a dramatic, high-elevation setting influenced by the intense winds and alpine cooling of the Gorge, this wine represents a highly elegant, mineral-driven style of Washington Chardonnay. Winemaker Ryan Crane employs low-intervention cellar practices, utilizing native yeast fermentation and aging in neutral French oak to preserve the vineyard's natural tension, bright acidity, and saline undertones. The resulting wine captures the rugged, volcanic terroir of the Columbia Gorge, offering a stark and refreshing contrast to the riper, warmer-climate expressions found elsewhere in the state.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 2007 by winemaker Ryan Crane, Kerloo Cellars takes its name from the echoing call of the sandhill crane, symbolizing Crane's calling to craft authentic, terroir-driven Washington State wines. After studying viticulture and enology in Walla Walla and honing his cellar craft at Forgeron Cellars and Va Piano Vineyards, Crane built Kerloo around meticulous fruit sourcing from esteemed, sustainably farmed vineyard sites spanning the Walla Walla Valley, Yakima Valley, and Columbia Gorge. His cellaring philosophy prioritizes minimal intervention, foot-treading, native fermentations, neutral oak, and concrete maturation to highlight purity of site and varietal transparency. Kerloo built a devoted following for its cool-climate Rhone-style expressions and vibrant single-vineyard bottlings, including Celilo Vineyard Chardonnay, Boushey Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, and single-site Grenache, Syrah, and Grenache Rosé from benchmark crus like Upland and Painted Hills.
🍇 Grapes
Chardonnay