'22 Anne and La Combe Verte Chardonnays last Monday.
Both are in a great place.
'22 Anne still slightly reduced, but opened up after 15mins in glass.
1 Like
22 Koosah Chard - Very forward fruit with rippin acid that mingles well with the classic WS reduction and stony minerality. This wine is really giving young. I’ll probably open another for the holidays - delicious.
3 Likes
I totally agree on the Koosah. In fact, I’m finding all the 22 SVDs really stunning. Each showing site signature and varying degrees of reduction, but all hitting at a very high level. The Sojeau Chardonnay is right up near the top for me with X-Novo.
1 Like
Had to post thoughts on today’s ‘23 vintage barrel sample event. Very curious to gather others’ impressions as well.
First, it’s fair to say all the wines showed well, and Walter Scott continues to deliver at a very high level. Ken, Erica, and the whole team are total rockstars.
Starting with the whites… in order from favorite to least favorite
-
X Novo: still the king, and for great reason, it’s complex, long, and supremely balanced
-
Freedom Hill: No Lucille for ‘23 so all the top barrels going into the standard SVD. This site has such a clear savory personality that I love year after year. Less reduction in ‘23 relative to 22 and 21.
-
Koosah: hasn’t always been one of my favorites in past years, but love the tart fruit snd depth showing in the ‘23
-
Justice: highest reduction, which is fine by me, but the nose here leans more toward toasty popcorn skin. A very good wine, but needs some time to settle in.
-
Sojeau: a bit shut down on the nose, tighter and less concentrated than the other wines. Still good, but where this was neck and neck with X-Novo for me in 22, it didn’t quite do it for me in the 23
And to the reds…overall I felt like there were some wide differences among these stylistically, which was interesting. Some stem inclusion in ‘23 which isn’t typically the case for WS.
-
Justice: to my surprise, this was my favorite of the reds for ‘23. Smoky reductive nose with some tea notes made this feel much more Burgundian to me, and the crunchy red fruits on the palette were really fun.
-
X Novo: showing more complex fruit and awesome aromatics. This evolved the most with air and time in glass.
-
Sojeau: I really like this site for PN, and this year I see a lot of through lines to Will Hamilton’s Sojeau from the last couple years (which are always top notch). Good structure here for a long life ahead.
-
Koosah: there’s something about this site that’s super unique (brambl-ey), and I like where it’s going in the ‘23. Great acidity and balance.
-
Freedom Hill: the wine is wide open for business and probably the one to drink in the first year or two. But I’m finding it to be overly fruit forward, and missing the earthier, savory elements I seek out in PN.
3 Likes
We weren’t able to join the zoom call but my wife and I tasted later last night. I agree that all wines showed well; really good stuff and would be happy to own any of these. This was our first experience with some of vineyards (esp the PNs) so this type of tasting was fun. More wineries should do this.
Regarding the whites, my experience/ranking mirrored what you highlighted. Pleasantly surprised with Freedom Hill as it’s usually too reductive for me, but this was great.
For the reds, we thought on the palate they were actually more similar than the nose would suggest. The Justice had the most interesting nose, but unsure if I liked it or not. Would love to follow a bottle over the course of a night. Otherwise, the rest of our red rankings were the same too.
1 Like
I completely agree. Such a fun, unique experience, and (for Ken and Erica) a great way to get me to buy a lot of their wine over the course of the year. Smart.
Extracted from the Willamette Valley Wine Geek Weekend thread. This is a fun time to visit, because just about everyone is either open or doing an event.
Today, we attended the Walter Scott 2023 Futures tasting. Let me say up-front that there wasn’t a bad wine in the bunch, just a matter of preferences. I didn’t take detailed notes, but for me, the Freedom Hill, Sojeau, and X-Novo Chardonnays were my favorites, with the Koosah right behind. The Justice was a bit stinky (heavy reduction) early on, but got substantially better as the event went on. I would be happy to have any of these wines in my cellar.
I don’t follow the Pinot Noirs nearly as closely as the Chardonnays. but I thought all of them tasted very young. They had very recently been bottled, so there was likely some bottle-shock as well. For me, the X-Novo had an extra layer of complexity compared to the others, with the Justice and Koosah right behind. I’d love to revisit these in six to nine months to see how they’ve developed.
1 Like
No detailed notes from me for the Zoom tasting, but my order of favorites:
Chardonnays: X-Novo = Koosah, Sojeau = Justice, Freedom Hill
Pinot Noirs: Sojeau = Koosah, X-Novo, Freedom Hill, Justice
I opened a 2022 Freedom Hill chard this past week and enjoyed it more than the 2023 barrel sample, FWIW. I think FH benefits from a little more reduction which the 2022 had more of. I’ve never had Justice before trying the 2023 and thought it had the most “Burgundian” profile, especially on the nose.
Koosah continues to grow on me as a special site, no matter who the producer is making wine from there. The depth of the minerality in Koosah chardonnay really impresses me and I think that speaks to the vineyard site rather than producer (got the same impression from the 2021 Morgen Long Eola-Amity Hills, 2021 Walter Scott Koosah, and 2021 Martin Woods Koosah).
Regarding @Bweiss comment on the Freedom Hill PN, I agree this one was the most pleasant out of the gate if you like more fruit-driven pinot. And I wholeheartedly agree about the through line to Will’s Sojeau PN.
2 Likes
BTW, at the event, we started with a glass of the 2022 Cuvee Anne, and it was superb.
1 Like
I might have missed this (my dog was acting up during the Zoom) but did they talk about the Witness Tree wines at all? How are these compared to the wines tasted?
Not a ton of info on the other sites (with the exception of Sequitur). I want to say witness tree has historically been a big part of the Cuvee Anne and La Combe Verte blends.
Sorry to have missed the tasting this year. What a treat.
I did open a 2021 Walter Scott Freedom Hill Chardonnay last week. It was spectacular. Nice flint strike reduction, opening to wet stone minerality, bright citrus, a hint of crisp asian pear, unbuttered popcorn, sea spray, and as the taste fades, a lingering bite of spice like ginger.
Beautiful wine. So exactly my kind of chardonnay. Loved it.
4 Likes
Your description is spot on from my experience. I’m a big fan of Freedom Hill Chardonnay.
I have to follow up with a revised assessment of the 2023 Sojeau Chardonnay…
I didn’t love this one during the tasting event. It was pretty shut down aromatically and showed less concentration on the palette. I put half the tiny bottle back in the fridge, and opened again tonight (day 3), and it’s truly night and day (err, day and night in this case).
No longer shut down on the nose, the wine has blossomed into an awesome mix of fresh citrus and tangerine peel. On the palette, things have also improved. Greater density, more sense of concentration. Beautiful minerality and more. Awesome wine.
4 Likes
Was just reading through your posts on the tasting - did they happen to mention why no Lucille in '23?
Lucille left (and picked a fine time to do it).
3 Likes
They only do Lucille if a barrel or two stands out from everything else from Freedom Hill. This year, it didn’t. BTW, Lucille is their daughter, and I don’t think she’s going anywhere.
2 Likes
That’s good to know, because I’ve got four hungry children and a crop in the field.
2 Likes
2022 Walter Scott Chardonnay Justice Vineyard
Decanted for 60 minutes before pouring into a Grassl Cru glass. Slightly lactic and Bandaid nose, with a layer of matchstick reduction atop a core of dried white florals, green apple skin, iodine, and smoky minerals. Full-bodied and bright, this wine glides across the palate, carrying with it a nice concentration of Meyer lemon, grapefruit, and almond skin flavors before transitioning into a long saline-infused finish. The racy acidity provides a nice tension to the wine, and while a little prominent on the edges of the palate I expect this will integrate better with some bottle age. Citrusy and salty, a rock head’s delight but needs some time to quiet down.
2 Likes
I had a 22 koosah last night that a fellow WB opened up. Its one of the best chards ive had in 2024. I was quite surprised how good the wine was. It exceeded my expectations. You get the eola lemon/lime. But the cut on the wine is extraordinary. The wet rocks/stone nuinance you get is quite amazing. I was truly enamored by this wine.
4 Likes