Sometimes you can take a sip of wine and be transported to a special place and time. Kind of like when you hear your favorite song from your freshman year in college that would immediately send you dancing around your dorm room. Or your favorite movie you and your friends saw in high school that till this day still makes you laugh.

I had that moment of reminiscing the other evening, immediately transporting me to Willamette Valley tasting wine with my dear friends from Portland, Deb and Craig. There is something uniquely special about the Chardonnay wines of Willamette Valley.

Cool climate Dijon clones thrive in the volcanic soils of the region’s Dundee Hills, home of Domaine Serene. Gary and I do enjoy a lot of Chardonnay wines from all over the world, but the Willamette Valley selections are consistent favorites.

This one, aged a bit from a purchase made on a trip we did several years ago, highlights the ability for well-made Chardonnay to age in the bottle, rounding out the flavors and adding a bit of extra texture to the wine. Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve 2015 Chardonnay ($65) melds baked apple pie with cream brulee, toasted hazelnut, and vanilla. Rich and complex, with a nice balance of acidity. Though the bit of bottle age enhanced some of the orchard fruit characteristics, bringing in a subtle honeyed caramel note, the wine still had a beautiful freshness, with a lengthy, lovely palate.