As we march on another beautiful Oregon Wine Month, we share one of the great family winery stories in Oregon wine. This began in 2008 with the leap of faith that Erica Landon and Ken Pahlow made following the recession, forming Walter Scott Wines. Many years in the making, the name Walter Scott honors two important men in Ken’s life: Walter, Ken's grandfather, was a flight engineer for Trans World Airlines and Scott, Ken's nephew who passed away young and reminded both Ken and Erica that life can be exceedingly short. Their first vintage was produced in 2009 at Patricia Green Cellars and in 2011, Walter Scott began making Chardonnay, which was met immediately with seriously good critical acclaim. The rest has been history.
Despite the challenges of the vintage, the wines show good depth, concentration and flavor density. Some Oregon wineries with creating wines with good richness due to the rains at harvest in 2019 but this was not an issue with Walter Scott. The 2018 and 2019 Walter Scott wines are quite divergent which is pretty impressive. The ’18 wines show broader shoulders overall and are more geared towards opulence. The 2019 wines have plenty of viscosity but are about as close to Burgundy that you can get out of the Willamette Valley. They are brighter, more linear wines, as the Pinots show gobs of crunchy and tart red fruits while the whites are filled with finesse.
An amazing value, their 2019 Walter Scott ‘Cuvee Anne’ Chardonnay (OB, 92) has good verve, with a very long finish. This has some marvelous cellaring potential. I am enamored once again by the 2019 Walter Scott ‘X Novo Vineyard’ Chardonnay (OB, 95) which drinks like a beautifully flinty top Chablis, minus the diatomaceous earthy aspect. Quite simply with its bright beam of salinity, this wine is all its own. Learn more at https://www.walterscottwine.com Here are my tasting notes from the beautiful new lineup of Walter Scott wines.
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2019 Walter Scott ‘Cuvee Anne’ Chardonnay- The delightful 2019 ‘Cuvee Anne’ is a barrel select wine that was sourced from the Justice, Seven Springs, Sojeau and X Novo Vineyards. The wine is salty and savory on the palate with lovely Gravenstein apple lemon zest, ash and stony undertones on the palate. Fresh and layered, with a polished texture, this is gorgeous stuff to savor now. Drink 2021-2031- 92
2019 Walter Scott ‘Rock Salt’ Chardonnay- A new wine in the Walter Scott lineup, the ‘Rock Salt’ blends Freedom Hill, Justice, Seven Springs and Koosah Vineyards. True to its name, the wine comes off flinty and salty with gorgeous lemon/lime flavors alongside minerals, Japanese pear and unripe melon undertones. Fresh and vibrant, with a soft mouthfeel, this has a long life ahead of it. Drink 2021-2033- 93
2019 Walter Scott ‘Seven Springs Vineyard’ Chardonnay- One of the storied sites in the Willamette Valley, the famed ‘Seven Springs Vineyard’ is the estate site for Evening Land. The resultant wine is very Montrachet meets Eola-Amity Hills. The nose shows smoke and flinty tones alongside bright Bartlett pear and honeydew melon. The palate is fresh and vibrant with an insanely good veil of tension. The wonderful length and sense of salinity add to the enjoyment as this stunning bottling will provide drinking enjoyment for the next fifteen years. Drink 2021-2036- 94
2019 Walter Scott ‘Sojeau Vineyard’ Chardonnay- The 2019 ‘Sojeau Vineyard’ Chardonnay is sourced from the steepest and rockiest portion of this vineyard. The stony tones really impress, as Japanese pear and nutmeg tones mingle with shades of wild mushroom and forest floor on the nose. The palate is fresh and elegant with good weight and an almost oily texture. Salty orchard fruits greet you with wet stone, minerals and smoke on the palate. This is seriously refined stuff. Drink 2021-2036- 94
2019 Walter Scott ‘Freedom Hill Vineyard’ Chardonnay- The outstanding 2019 ‘Freedom Hill Vineyard’ shows off smoky and flinty tones that march on with pear, gooseberry and kiwi on this beautiful bouquet. The palate is beautifully textured with scintillating length and poise. Baking spices and white truffle dance with rich orchard fruits and wet stone on the palate. Drink 2021-2036- 94
2019 Walter Scott ‘X Novo Vineyard’ Chardonnay- The gorgeous 2019 ‘X Novo Vineyard’ Chardonnay literally screams terroir with wet gravel, white truffle oil and lemon zest tones that all brilliantly come together on the nose. The palate is fresh and vibrant with a brilliant beam of tension. Lemon oil, kumquat, white peach and stony tones all collide on the palate. The extremely long finish lingers. Gorgeous to enjoy now, this captivating Chardonnay will provide drinking enjoyment over the next fifteen years or more. Drink 2021-2036- 95
2019 Walter Scott ‘Cuvee Ruth’ Pinot Noir- The gorgeous 2019 ‘Cuvee Ruth’ is a barrel select wine entirely sourced from the Eola-Amity Hills. Aged for ten months, this saw 20% whole cluster fermentation. The wine has good flavor density with tart red fruits that collide with baking spices, blood orange zest and suggestions of salted meats. I think this will become considerably earthier with time in the bottle. Drink 2021-2033- 92
2019 Walter Scott ‘Sequitur Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- Founded by Oregon wine pioneer Mike Etzel, the ‘Sequitur Vineyard’ is located in the heart of the Ribbon Ridge AVA. The wine takes on great aromatic range from forest floor and wild mushroom to cran-cherry and wet stone in this evocative bouquet. The palate is elegant and rich with pretty red fruits and red rose water tones that collide with minerals, smoke and stony undertones. While not a particularly dense wine, the flavor range imparted is downright thrilling. Enjoy this fantastic new bottling over the next fifteen years. Drink 2021-2036- 94
2019 Walter Scott ‘Sojeau Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The ‘Sojeau Vineyard’ was planted by Denny and Thelma Peseau, and is set at 650 feet at the southern part of the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. Salted red fruits mingle with smoke, tilled soils and shades of cardamom on this beautiful bouquet. The palate is silky smooth, with an air of elegance. Loaded with tart red fruits, this has plenty of depth and flavor density, with peat moss, kumquat rind and flinty undertones. Complex and delightful to savor now, this will deliver plenty of drinking enjoyment over the next fifteen years. Drink 2021-2036- 94
2019 Walter Scott ‘X Novo Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- Also located in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, the esteemed ‘X Novo Vineyard’ is set on rocky clay soils and set at 525 feet, located near the ‘Seven Springs Vineyard.’ A touch lighter in color than the ‘Sojeau’ bottling, this shows off more stony and flinty tones aromatically with shades of pine needles and ripe red cherry and red currant tones. The palate is not quite as dense as the ‘Sojeau’ but has even more elegance and earthy tones that connect with shades of wet gravel and white truffle shavings. Seriously good now, this has a long way to evolve in the cellar. Drink 2021-2036- 94
2019 Walter Scott ‘Temperance Hill Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The ‘Temperance Hill Vineyard’ is one of the great older sites in the Eola-Amity Hills Vineyard, as Walter Scott sources from a vineyard site set on volcanic soils. One whiff and the dusting of volcanic earth is quite apparent, with tart red fruits and citrus rind accents rounding out this awesome nose. The palate is very elegant, as this would pass for a top class Burgundy. Very pretty red fruits collide with minerals, wet stone and smoky flavors. The range here is seriously good. Gorgeous to savor now, this has plenty of years ahead of it. Drink 2021-2036- 93
2019 Walter Scott ‘Freedom Hill Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The ‘Freedom Hill Vineyard’ is set on ancient marine sedimentary soils and is located in a new sub-AVA, Mt. Pisgah. Intriguingly the nose comes off quite stony with flinty and earthy tones aca[tyivating alongside a good core of red fruits. The palate is silky and refined with elegant tannins that frame a core of wild strawberry, pomegranate seed and blood orange zest, and charcuterie alongside stony undertones. Drink 2021-2036- 94