PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Forty-seven years in the making, a Willamette Valley wine earned Oregon its first-ever perfect score from Decanter.

Decanter awarded Oregon's first 100-point review to the 2023 Bethel Heights The High Wire Chardonnay from the Eola-Amity Hills AVA.

In a press release announcing the historic rating, the Willamette Valley Wineries Association, the rating marks “the only 2023-vintage Chardonnay in the world to receive a perfect score from Decanter, with the review written by esteemed North American Editor Clive Pursehouse.”

“I’m of the opinion that perhaps the 100-point score is too freely given, and frankly, I wasn’t sure that I’d ever be on the delivering end of the triple-digit number in my role at Decanter,” Pursehouse wrote. “I had given three 99-point scores, all to Oregon Pinot Noirs, from Abbott Claim, most recently Martin Woods and a 2018 from White Rose Estate. These were three incredible wines—among the best I’ve ever tasted.”

Pursehouse also credited Bethel Heights Co-owner and Winemaker Ben Casteel and the vineyard's Wente clone -- a wine grape used to make Chardonnay.

“I know that Ben Casteel is one of the Valley’s top winemakers (making him one of the country’s top winemakers) and certainly have given his wines high scores. As I tasted this wine, it seemed like the complexity never stopped," Pursehouse explained. "There are some great Chardonnays being made right now in Oregon, and many of them have some fairly heavy reduction, which I do love. This wine, though, had a clarity that some of those wines don’t have right out of the gate, in their youth. The layered complexity and nuance were allowed to shine; maybe it’s the Wente clone. Ben did a brilliant job layering fruit, minerality, and savoury depth, and the texture stole the show. I haven’t tasted a better wine,” Pursehouse added.

While the Willamette Valley is known for its Pinot noir, the region is also seeing Chardonnay gain more attention, Willamette Valley Wineries Association noted, crediting Oregon’s cool climate with long daylight hours and crisp nights.

“My family is overwhelmed and deeply grateful to Decanter and to Clive Pursehouse for this tremendous honor,” said Bethel Heights Co-owner and Winemaker Ben Casteel. “It feels like a fitting and bittersweet bookend for our Wente Chardonnay clone, planted in 1977 and soon to be replanted this fall. When my family purchased the property in 1978, these vines were just a year old—fragile sticks in the ground. Ripening them was a challenge every vintage, spanning my late father’s entire career and the first eight years of mine. Over the years, they had every chance to replant with an earlier-ripening variety, but they chose patience. That patience is what brought us to this moment, 47 years later.”

Pursehouse highlighted Bethel Heights' history, adding, “It’s a wine that speaks to that family’s legacy and importance. The challenges of the Wente clone early on, and the sweet spot that it is clearly sitting in now, all of that background context—it all came together to make what is, in my opinion, a perfect bottle of Oregon Chardonnay. And if you know what I think about the Willamette Valley and its Chardonnay, then you know it doesn’t get much better than that where I’m concerned.”

The High Wire will be available to the general public starting September 1, 2025, and can be purchased through the Bethel Heights website.