Founded by poet and winemaker Jarad Hadi, Grape Ink is the best Oregon winery you've probably never heard of. To our taste, and for anyone who loves Chablis and Champagne, he makes the best Chardonnay... Read More

Founded by poet and winemaker Jarad Hadi, Grape Ink is the best Oregon winery you've probably never heard of. To our taste, and for anyone who loves Chablis and Champagne, he makes the best Chardonnay you can buy in Oregon under $40. It's truly representative of the high elevation dry farming and conscientious, hands-on vineyard management that was present in every wine we tasted with Jared. We ordered every bottle we tasted with him a few days back and while we absolutely loved the reds, it's the Chardonnay that we can't stop thinking about (full disclosure; Oregon Chardonnay is a current obsession).

This is a wine for serious Chardonnay lovers from Mendocino to Burgundy. The richness of its texture is balanced by naturally acidity and precision. The grapes come from Linda’s Vineyard, the northernmost high elevation Chardonnay vineyard in the Willamette Valley which is farmed and tended to by Jared. In fact, young Jared helped develop the vineyard from training the vines in their infancy. Jared’s also helped develop the growing techniques for this unique site. He has extensive experience farming and making wine at some of the top wineries in the world.

Don’t let his rakish and youthful appearance fool you. Jared has worked for Pichon Comtesse, consultants of Margaux, Lafite, Mouton, Latour and Cheval Blanc as well as being personally mentored by the likes of Michael Silacci of Opus One and Victoria Coleman of Lobo wines. He is one of the most sought after consultants for those looking to develop high altitude vineyards in both Oregon and California.

We love everything here. These are wines that are made in the vineyard by a true vigneron who is fully committed to producing wines that capture the purity of their site. They will always be made in tiny quantities and released when ready, not on a production release schedule. This allows each wine to develop a perfect balance between the characteristic acidity coming from grapes grown at 1000 ft elevation and texture developed over its long aging process.