It is my pleasure to share the wines of Walter Scott, founded by Erica Landon and Ken Pahlow. Walter Scott honors two important men in Ken’s life: Walter, Ken's grandfather, who was a flight engineer for Trans World Airlines and Scott, and 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. I have really enjoyed these from my personal cellar and they age so gracefully.
Just as good as the ‘22s, the ‘23s were incredibly consistent across the board. The ‘23s show a touch more flamboyance and fleshy character than the ‘22s — yet they maintain beautiful freshness. Check out the 2023 Walter Scott ‘X Novo Vineyard’ Chardonnay (OB, 97) which for my palate leaves no doubt that this is one of the great white wines made in North America. Learn more at https://www.walterscottwine.com Here are my tasting notes from the beautiful new lineup of Walter Scott wines.
2023 Walter Scott ‘X Novo Vineyard’ Aligote- A really unique wine, this 2023 Aligote comes from the famed X Novo Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. It offers beautiful reduction and nutty tones on the palate, with wet stone and serious texture and verve. Melon and baking spice laced pastry crust flavors mingle well with citrus zest accents. This is going to cellar beautifully for at least another eight years. Drink 2025-2035- 94
2023 Walter Scott ‘Cuvee Anne’ Chardonnay- The really good 2023 ‘Cuvee Anne’ comes from a range of sites across the Willamette Valley. It is dense and rich on the palate, showing great minerality and flavor density. Heady melon and nectarine fruits parade with orange zest, salty soils and shades of pie crust on the palate. The length and weight of this wine is really good at the entry level. Drink 2025-2032-93
2023 Walter Scott ‘Koosah Vineyard’ Chardonnay- Sourced from this stony site, the 2023 ‘Koosah Vineyard’ is a complex and delicious bottling that is up there with the greats in Oregon wine. Crushed oyster shells and lemon zest all combine with suggestions of marzipan, wet stone and nutty accents on the nose. The palate is dense and delicious with a fabulous mineral background. Very nervy and mineral-laden, enjoy this beautiful wine for the next ten plus years to come. Drink 2025-2039- 96
2023 Walter Scott ‘Justice Vineyard’ Chardonnay- The 2023 ‘Justice Vineyard’ is sourced rom this older site, set on marine sedimentary soils and owned by the Casteel family. This is marvelously reductive stuff with wet metal and rocky tones on the nose alongside lemon blossom, pink grapefruit and suggestions of salted peach. The palate is plush and laden with minerality, with a fat mouthfeel. The glorious length brings you back to the glass for more enjoyment. Impeccably balanced, this is drinking marvelously in its youth. Drink 2025-2035- 96
2023 Walter Scott ‘Hyland Vineyard’ Chardonnay- Coming from this older location in the Dundee Hills AVA, the 2023 ‘Hyland Vineyard’ was stored in only 35% new French oak before bottling. Japanese pear and flinty tones mark the palate, alongside loads of tension and mouth-watering acidity. Jam-packed with finesse, depth and weight, this is another glorious edition of the ‘Hyland’ that will live on for at least another decade. Drink 2025-2035- 96
2023 Walter Scott ‘Freedom Hill Vineyard’ Chardonnay- This 2023 ‘Freedom Hill' Chardonnay comes from a 140 acre property that is set on marine sedimentary, uplifted seabed. Stored in roughly 50% new French oak, this offers buttered French bread and Key lime flavors that mingle well with honeydew melon, cashew nut and salty minerals. Smooth on the mouth, with terrific verve and weight, enjoy this beauty now and over the next ten plus years, Drink 2025-2039- 96
2023 Walter Scott ‘X Novo Vineyard’ Chardonnay- One of the finest Chardonnays you will taste in Oregon, the very flinty 2023 ‘X Novo Vineyard’ Chardonnay is a total head-turner that has a long way to go in the cellar. On the nose this shows orange blossom and lemon rind tones that combine with rich melon fruits, nutty accents and shades of wet pavement. Very reductive and fat on the mouth, with a dazzling sense of tension and great mid-palate weight, it has some serious power that would make you shocked that it comes from a slightly cooler vintage. Drink 2025-2040- 97
2023 Walter Scott ‘Witness Tree Vineyard’ Chardonnay- The 2023 Walter Scott ‘Witness Tree Vineyard’ Chardonnay that has an ancient oak that apparently served as a surveyers' landmark over 160 years ago. This is dense and flinty — wonderfully reductive. Yakima cherry and rich melon flavors meld well with salted Macadamia nut, baking spice laced pie crust and wafts of juicy nectarine on the palate. Very saline-driven and delicious, this is nothing short of a stunning showing now. Drink 2025-2037- 96
2022 Walter Scott ‘Sojeau Vineyard’ Chardonnay- The absolutely ebullient 2023 ‘Sojeau Vineyard’ Chardonnay comes off wonderfully stony on the nose with baked apple, toasty French bread and mango notes. The palate is dense and soft with a terrific tension and salinity that runs through a deep core of citrus and melon fruit flavors. Vibrant and nervy, with a silky mouthfeel and glorious length, enjoy this beauty now and over the next fifteen plus years to come. Drink 2025-2040- 96
2022 Walter Scott ‘Lucile’ Chardonnay- The 2022 ‘Lucille’ comes from the Mt. Pisqah AVA and old vine plantings from the famed Freedom Hill Vineyard. This is incredibly stony and suave, with a world-class melange of melon and citrus fruits on the palate. With more air the nutty tones impress, as does the incredible length and weight. Wait for the near minute-long finish. A total heavyhitter, enjoy this beautiful wine over the next fifteen years to come. Drink 2025-2040 97
2023 Walter Scott ‘Cuvee Ruth’ Pinot Noir- A terrific wine at the entry level, the 2023 ‘Cuvee Ruth’ comes from a range of sites throughout the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. Rich red and dark fruits combine with salty soils and loads of minerals, with citrus peel accents. This is already beautifully-defined stuff, with terrific acidity and a smooth mouthfeel. Drink 2025-2031- 93
2023 Walter Scott ‘Koosah Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The now famed Koosah Vineyard was purchased by Resonance Winery in 2022 and is located 55 miles from the Pacific Ocean,as the breezes and maritime influence on this site are evident .The 2023 ‘Koosah’ offers flinty tones alongside peat moss and forest floor notes on the nose alongside dried cranberry and fresh sage. The palate is marvelous and plush, with loads of acidity that literally make your mouth water. Showing outstanding weight and length, with fabulous finesse, this is a drop-dead gorgeous edition of this wine that has a long life to live. Drink 2025-2041- 96
2023 Walter Scott ‘Sojeau Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The ‘Sojeau Vineyard’ is set in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA as vines are grown on ancient volcanic soils. This has quite a stony effect in the glass, offering wet rock and deep dark fruits on the nose which meld well with suggestions of baking spices, and pine needle aromatics. The palate is silky and refined throughout the drinking experience. It is still quite primary in terms of red fruit profile with rocky/salty accents —but the potential is absolutely here. Drink 2025-2044- 96
2023 Walter Scott ‘Witness Tree Vineyards’ Pinot Noir- The brilliant 2023 ‘Witness Tree’ Pinot Noir is sourced this site set in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. Right away this offers alluring red florals that meld well with wet rock, fragrant peaches and shades of blood orange zest water. The palate is elegant and refined, with good concentration and a great melange of red and dark fruits that mingle well with the rocky and salty nuances of the wine. A gorgeous new offering, drinking brilliantly well, watch this evolve over the next fifteen to twenty years. Drink 2025-2041- 96
2022 Walter Scott ‘X Novo Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The fat and beautiflly-textured 2023 Walter Scott ‘X Novo Vineyard’ Pinot Noir is a stunning follow-up to the ’22 from this location in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. This is dense, flinty and nervy on the mouth, with a terrific mouthfeel, salinity and beautiful sense of tension. Wafts of black truffle shavings fill the palate alongside rich red and dark fruits, with shades of Umami and herbal accents. This is a stunning wine that is quite primary now and has a really long way to go in the cellar. Drink 2025-2044- 96
2023 Walter Scott ‘Justice Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The acclaimed Justice Vineyard is a 40-acre site farmed by the Casteel family who founded Bethel Heights winery in 1977. This is marvelously reductive on the nose with gunmetal and rocky notes that meld well with pretty guava fruits and red rose water accents. The palate is plush and soft with serious tension and a great sense of salinity throughout the drinking experience. Gorgeous to enjoy now, savor this beauty over the next twenty years. Drink 2025-2045- 96
2023 Walter Scott ‘Temperance Hill Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The 2023 Walter Scott ‘Temperance Hill Vineyard’ Pinot Noir was sourced from this famed site in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. Mainly stored in neutral French oak barrels, this delivers orange rind and red rose petals on the nose with wild blackberry and shades of wet gravel. The plate is complex, offering a great push-pull between the saline and stony elements of the wine. Deep and concentrated, with a beautiful melange of red and dark fruits, enjoy this outstanding bottling now and over the next two decades to come. Drink 2025-2045- 96
2023 Walter Scott ‘Freedom Hill Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The amazing 2023 ‘Freedom Hill Vineyard’ Pinot Noir was sourced from vines that were planted all the way back in 1981. The wine was given a very small amount of whole cluster fermentation and offers a pretty melange of tart red and dark fruits on the palate, offering forest floor, Mandarin orange zest and shades of black truffle on the palate. Already delicious, this will go for at least another fifteen years to come. Drink 2025-2040- 95
2023 Walter Scott ‘Sequitur Vineyard’ Pinot Noir- The famed ‘Sequitur Vineyard’ was planted by the founders of Beaux Freres between 2012-2014. Stored in roughly 50% new French oak, this offers tart cranberry and pomegranate seed flavors on the palate with a silky texture and brisk sense of minerality. Despite being so primary with its pretty core of red fruits, this is so marvelously drinkable right now. Impeccably balanced, showing great salty nuance and length, enjoy now and over the next fifteen plus years to come. Drink 2025-2040- 96