Academie La Grande Comete Chardonnay, Willamette Valley, USA 2024
La Grande Comète is the flagship white wine of Académie, the Willamette Valley project created by Thomas Savre with Joshua Wludyka and Burgundy luminaries Dominique Lafon and Bertrand & Anne-Sophie de Villaine. The project takes a Burgundian approach to farming, fermentation and élevage while deliberately allowing Oregon’s character to come through. La Grande Comète is sourced from sites across the Willamette Valley, with the fruit concentrated in the Chehalem Mountains and Eola-Amity Hills. The 2024 is 100% Chardonnay, fermented with native yeast and raised in a combination of stainless steel and new French oak, with approximately 40% new oak. Only 2,928 bottles were produced, putting it firmly into the tiny-production, collector category.
This is the wine I would put at the top of the Académie Chardonnay hierarchy. Compared with Ferveur, La Grande Comète is designed to deliver greater concentration, depth and length while retaining the project's trademark freshness and precision. The combination of Oregon fruit and restrained French élevage should make this particularly compelling for Burgundy drinkers looking for something new.
