Travis Scarborough and Darryn O’Shea say “Hail to the God of White Wine!”

by Travis Scarborough & Darryn O’Shea

Chardonnay: the world’s most prestigious white grape. In the white wine world, Chardonnay is the heavyweight, the leader of all other white wines. It goes for more money than any other white grape around. Think of those magical Corton-Charlemagnes or those prized Montrachets. Only in Burgundy can Chardonnay command prices like $500-$900—why? With the right vineyard and management, combined with winemakers who wish for the true Chardonnay flavors to shine, nothing rivals the taste or aromatics of this white grape as produced in Burgundy: bright lemon and citrus notes, chalky, focused minerals, and the natural weight and structure of the Chardonnay grape. A great white Burgundy should be on your list of things to experience before you die!

Sleepy winemakers during crush: Darryn O’Shea and Travis Scarborough (photo: Joy Israel)

From the sublime to the ridiculous: by combining fruit from vineyards planted in areas where maybe Cabernet should be growing (too hot!) and picking at a very ripe stage, winemakers who also tend to use 100% new oak can end up with a completely different wine. It becomes toasty and buttery with weighty flavors of banana or rich coconut oil. In our opinion, this leads to an undrinkable mess, although there are many people who love this style. These are two diametrically opposed sides of the Chardonnay spectrum. At O’Shea Scarborough Winery, we try to emulate Burgundy, yet stay true to Washington’s personality.

One hallmark of our Chardonnay is that we don’t allow it to go through malolactic fermentation. Definition: malolactic fermentation (ML) transfers the malic acid (think of biting into a green apple) and converts that into lactic acid (think butter). In essence, what we hope to achieve is the natural expression of the grape and vineyard. What do we come up with from our Pacific Northwest vantage point? Lemon zest, hints of green apples, honeysuckle mixed with minerals, and chalky flavors—and unlike so many others, a wine that can be enjoyed in 5-7 years because of the balance (pH).

Everything about these wines sets them apart, including their cool label artwork.

Chardonnay is a beautiful grape that thrives in many different areas around the world. Its many possible styles allow this wine to fit into multiple categories (e.g., old world, new world, naked, unoaked, partial ML). Here in Washington, where not too many might think about Chardonnay, we at O’Shea Scarborough treat our Chardonnay in an almost naked form and strive for an old world style. What the hell does that mean? Instead of overemphasizing other factors, like the barrel, the malolactic fermentation, and lots of lees stirring, we allow the wine to express itself the way it wants to. Instead of new oak, which can lead to toasty flavors, we use neutral oak (from 2-4 years used). Why ruin such beautiful aromatics by adding oak?

Travis Scarborough grew up in Napa Valley, where he worked for a few wineries (Charteau Montelena, Viader to name a few) during the heyday of the butter and oak fad. How rich and creamy can you get it? Eventually, he found solace in Chateau Montelena’s, Forman’s, and Stony Hill’s way of making Chardonnay the non-ML way. After he moved to Seattle to pursue his own endeavors, he met Darryn O’Shea, who at the time was working in wine sales. Darryn introduced many new white Burgundy producers to Travis. Both our palates were so similar.

Wallula Vineyard above the Columbia River (photo: Travis Scarborough)

As Darryn moved on to work at another winery as assistant winemaker, we somehow acquired a little Chardonnay from a well-known vineyard in Washington, Champoux Vineyard. Usually you’ll hear about this vineyard for its reds, like Quilceda Creek and their 100 points from Robert Parker. Darryn was able to get his hands on this special portion of Chardonnay: just one ton, planted in Travis’s birth year, 1979. From there, we made the first neutral barrel fermented, non-ML Chardonnay in the state of Washington. At least we believe we did/do.

Hence the name of our wine, “Desolation”: named after both its style and location (Champoux Vineyard is out in the middle of nowhere—make sure you fill up on gas before heading out). We make about 100 cases of this wine, because that’s all we can get for now. It might not be for everyone, and it might not be able to reach everyone. And we’re sorry for that. We’re making Chardonnay that we love and treasure and, if nobody did buy it, we’d drink it all ourselves. No problem. Fortunately, we are at the point of always selling out and having a waiting list, so others must feel like we do about how to produce an intensely pleasurable, nuanced Chardonnay. All hail to the mighty, magnificent, yet ever so subtle and tender god of the white grapes! There’s nothing else like Chardonnay.

[Travis Scarborough and Darryn O’Shea are co-winemakers O’Shea Scarborough Winery in Washington state. At their Seattle-based winery, they work with grapes from Eastern Washington. They made their first vintage of wine for themselves but it turned out so well they decided to start their own winery and share their passion for winemaking with others, especially with Chardonnay grapes.]