Walter Scott is one of those tiny Oregon winery projects we hear rumors of but rarely get to actually taste. Their California distributor never has more than a few cases to spread around each vintage and, until we begged loud enough, they were never spread around as far as Dublin. This year, though, we were finally been able sample a few of their Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs and have discovered exactly what all the fuss is about! Better late than never, right? Yes, Walter Scott Wines is the real deal! The passion project of Ken Pahlow and Erica Landon, everything they do is driven to honor the people who have helped make this small winery a success and the wonderful vineyards in which they work. Walter Scott is as hands-on in the vineyards as it gets and about as hands-off as it gets in the cellar. That being said, the wines we tried were meticulously made and truly gorgeous reflections of their Eola-Amity Hills roots. Although they make a dizzying array of single vineyard Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs, we found ourselves gravitating more to their Reserve-style blends- a Chardonnay named Anne, though not after my wife, but after Erica’s mom- a consistent supporter of her daughter’s labor of love since its beginning back in 2008, and a Pinot Noir named Ruth, named after another parental supporter of this true family affair. These two wines show an amazing amount of pedigree and class and are great windows into one of the most dynamic small winery projects we’ve seen in many years! We only have a few cases of each so please don’t wait to add some of these to the cellar for drinking this summer and for next five or six summers as well.

2023 Walter Scott Wines Chardonnay ‘Cuvée Anne’ Eola-Amity Hills  $54.99 with shipping included on 6 bottles or more (mix and match with the Pinot)

Above all else, I think this Walter Scott is a Chardonnay house, and Cuvee Anne is the perfect way to discover just how good Oregon Chard has become in recent years! A Reserve barrel

selection from Ken and Erica’s best Chardonnay sites in the Eola-Amity Hills, the vineyards, Justice, Koosah, Sojeau, Witness Tree and X Novo, are all dry farmed, organic and some of the most highly-considered sites for the grape in the region. The fruit from each parcel was fermented and aged separately in 500- and 350-liter barrels (45% of which were new) for twelve months and finished in stainless steel for four more months before being painstakingly assembled to make 650 cases of sleek, stylish Chard. We were very impressed at the wine’s effortless blend of richness and bright, natural acidity- a balancing act one normally doesn’t see this side of Chassagne-Montrachet! In fact, the wine does pay more than a passing resemblance to Chassagne’s gravitas, lemon-lime complexity and stony finish. The fact that Ken made Walter Scott for two years at Evening Land Winery under the tutelage of Dominique Lafon is not lost on us. We think that French connection definitely figures in this really special Chardonnay’s DNA. Lovely, lovely wine. Drink now and over the next five years. Maybe longer!

2023 Walter Scott Wines Pinot Noir ‘Cuvee Ruth’ Eola-Amity Hills $54.99, mixes with the Chardonnay for included shipping

Cuvée Ruth is the winery’s barrel selection Reserve label for Pinot Noir, and is also sourced from a who’s-who of Eola-Amity nobility: Bracken, Koosah, Sojeau, Temperance Hill and X Novo. Like the Cuvee Anne above, each of the vineyards is harvested and vinified separately. About 5% of the ferment consisted of whole clusters and no additional yeast was added to start the proceedings. The finished wines were aged in 228-liter barrels, 40% of which were new, for ten months before the best barrels were chosen and married together. This is an Oregon Pinot all about precision. It gets its oomph from pure, clearly expressed fruit that leans towards the ripe red cherry, mulberry and red currant and we loved the lifted violet, cinnamon and mineral notes. There’s no excess weight or alcohol here- just lovely, elegant, mineral-driven Pinot that shows that bigger is not always better with this variety, especially in the Willamette Valley. This will be lovely with grilled salmon, poultry or mushroom dishes. Save some to enjoy in a few years too. Only 650 cases were made and we only have a couple to share.