Seth Morgen Long is causing quite a stir in the Oregon wine industry. A restaurant professional from a young age, in 2009 he began working with influential winemakers in New Zealand, Oregon, California and most importantly in Burgundy at Domaine de Montille. He returned to Oregon and began producing his own wine in 2014 with a clear vision to produce site sensitive Willamette Valley Chardonnay, ONLY. In 2014, he began in earnest with one vineyard. In 2016, he expanded to three sites; in 2017, he worked with six sites. In 2020, the number of Willamette Valley Chardonnay sites has expanded to eight.
With a singular focus on Willamette Valley Chardonnay, Morgen Long is crafted with great reverence to history, grape, time and place. Fruit is hand picked according to the vintage, and is pressed uniquely, taking into consideration the site’s pedigree, yield and vintage character. After pressing, the juice is carefully moved into barrel or stainless steel with an appropirate amount of solids for fermentation. Fermentation is with indigenous, ambient yeasts when possible and takes place in new and neutral 114L, 228L, 350L, 500L French oak barrels; sometimes fermentations start in stainless steel tanks before being moved into oak. Lees are only stirred as needed, typically once or twice towards the end of primary fermentation, while CO2 is still present. Malolactic always occurs. Once primary and malolactic are complete, the wines age with minimal effective sulfur. After one year in barrel in a cold cellar, the wines and lees are transferred to stainless steel with inert gas to blend and integrate for a second winter. Fining may occur with bentonite. Filtration may occur prior to bottling, which is between 17-20 months.
