Walter Scott
I am pleased to offer wines from Walter Scott Wine and winemaker Ken Pahlow. I first tasted Ken’s impressive wines in 2011 and have tried to offer them ever since. However, his small production and high demand have made this challenging.
Ken has over 20 years of wine-making experience in the Willamette Valley, working with prominent wineries and vineyard sites. He has also studied with top wine makers in Oregon and beyond, including Dominique Lafon of Domaine des Comtes Lafon, with whom he still works.
Ken is creating authentic and expressive Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines. These wines are likely to become harder to find as word spreads, so be sure to click the Collection button at the bottom of this newsletter to secure yours now.
If you would like to learn more about the wines and the vineyards they come from keep reading. I give more information on Vineyards and tasting notes. All of the wines were tasted several hours after opening and showed very bright and fresh. In some cases there was very slight reduction in the Chardonnays which is done to help the wines age more effectively. All wines tasted 04/18/19
Walter Scott Cuvee Anne Chardonnay Willamette Valley Oregon 2017
Bright Primary fruit, lemon curd, lime pith, white flower, smoke. 91 Points drink now to 2021
Walter Scott Ex Novo Chardonnay Eola-Amity Oregon 2017
Soft Gold in the glass it starts off with a bold and generous attack, moving to a creamy and elegant mid with a bright and balanced finish, exotic spice, pear, toast. 92 Points drink now to 2025
About the Ex Novo Vineyard
Craig Williams is best known for his tenure at Joseph Phelps Vineyards in Napa Valley where he was responsible for innovative viticulture and winemaking. He garners tremendous respect throughout the international wine community. Under Craig’s direction, Joseph Phelps Vineyards has been awarded many exceptional accolades.
In 2010 Craig and his family came to Oregon where they purchased land and began planting vineyards. They turned heads as they established two incredible east facing sites in the Eola-Amity Hills and planted them with a notably diverse clonal selection of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. X Novo is comprised of just over 3.3 total acres of vineyard: 2 acres of Chardonnay and 1.3 acres of Pinot Noir. For being a tiny site, X Novo is one of the most unique vineyards in Oregon, if not the entire West Coast.
Walter Scott Freedom Hill Chardonnay Willamette Valley Oregon 2017
As always Freedom hill is a great Chardonnay, without a doubt one do the top vineyards for Chardonnay in the Willamette Valley. Slightly lighter and more focused than others in the lineup. Generous aromas of apple flowers hazelnuts lemon baking spice. 92 Points drink now to 2024
Walter Scott Freedom Hill Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Oregon 2017
Dense and structured. Black cherry, blackberry, tobacco, cocoa, cloves. 91 Points drink now to 2023
About Freedom Hill Vineyard.
Owners Dan and Helen Dusschee planted the iconic Freedom Hill Vineyard in 1981. Their son, Dustin, has recently taken over the farming responsibility in yet another generation of sustainable stewardship and maintaining family legacy. Located in the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range, Freedom Hill Vineyard is planted on Bellpine loam soil. The soil, coupled with meticulous farming, creates consistent, structured and powerful Pinot Noir and taught, precise Chardonnay.
Ken worked with the Dusschee family throughout his time at St. Innocent and has always considered Freedom Hill and its stewards to be some of the best in our business. In 2012, we were thrilled to gain access to a single block of Pinot noir and Chardonnay from this vineyard. Today, we have been granted the opportunity to work with two blocks of Pinot Noir and three blocks of Chardonnay with varied vine ages and clones.
Walter Scott Justice Vineyard Chardonnay Eola-Amity Hills Oregon 2017
Light-medium weight, white pepper, apple earth, anise. 90 Points drink now to 2023
Walter Scott Justice Vineyard Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills Oregon 2017
Spice, dark chocolate, black cherry, delicate flower aromas, sassafras, wet earth, brilliant acidity. 92 Points drink now to 2021
About Justice Vineyard
The Casteel family founded Bethel Heights winery in 1977 and immediately began contributing to their community. The Casteel pioneers profoundly impacted the Willamette Valley wine industry as a whole, and specifically shaped the development and progress of their home in the Eola-Amity Hills. Pat Dudley helped to create the International Pinot Noir Celebration and the Oregon Pinot Camp, while Ted was crucial to the development the LIVE (Low Impact Viticulture) certification. The next generation of the Casteel family have made their own marks on our valley and share in the commitments to progress initiated by their parents.
In 1999 Ted, Pat and Barbara purchased a stunning 40-acre piece of land adjacent to their winery, Bethel Heights. This purchase gave Ted the opportunity to plant Justice Vineyard and use all the latest clones, rootstocks, vine spacing and trellising he had discovered over the previous 20 years while farming the contiguous Bethel Heights Estate vineyards. Ted committed to producing the best grapes possible by farming the vines with the utmost care, maintaining biological diversity and fostering ecological balance on the whole estate. After years of Ken and Erica hounding the Casteel family for their iconic grapes, Ted finally conceded. Now Walter Scott has the good fortune of getting both Pinot Noir & Chardonnay from this great site, which is literally in our backyard.
Walter Scott Seven Springs Vineyard Chardonnay Eola-Amity Hills Oregon 2017
Bright With notes with Key lime, Meyer lemon, anise, apple, butter, hazelnuts, pear and a touch of vanilla, beautiful earthy mineral backbone, elegant with brilliant acidity to carry the finish out for 15 plus seconds should be long lived drink now to 2026. 94 Points drink now to 2026
Walter Scott Seven Springs Vineyard Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Oregon 2017
Black cherry, blackberry, cloves, coffee, earth, mace, floral perfume. 93 Points drink now to 2023
About Seven Springs Vineyard
Seven Springs was planted in 1983 by Al Macdonald and his family. Early on, the vineyard was shared between some of the best wineries in the Willamette Valley. This collaboration contributed to some of the most outstanding wines to come out of the region and solidified the Willamette Valley’s reputation for producing exceptional fruit. Over the years this site became devastated by phylloxera aphids. The land was due for an update on its farming methods. In 2007 the vineyard was leased to Evening Land Vineyard and completely revitalized. The Evening Land team replanted vast sections of dying vines, trellised the strong sections to vertical shoot positioning and began farming biodynamically.
As one of the few wineries given access to this vineyard, outside of Evening Land, we are honored to be given an opportunity to work with this famed vineyard. Thank you to Raj and Sashi for believing in Walter Scott and trusting us with this fruit. We sources one acre of Pinot Noir planted on the East Ridge and 1.7 acres of Chardonnay on the south ridge. Today, the site is farmed by Jessica Cortell alongside a team led by Daniel Lomelli who have been working with the site since 2007.
Walter Scott Sojourner Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Oregon 2017
Bright red cherry, earthy minerality, pomegranate, beautifully made. 91 Points drink now to 2023