Walter Scott vs. Burgundy

A single blind tasting of Walter Scott library releases purchased from WineBerserkers BD16, versus various Burgundy producers. A trite and perhaps overused comparison, but interesting to benchmark styles and contrast.

• 2012 Walter Scott Chardonnay Vojtilla 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Tasted in a single blind – Walter Scott v. Burgundy - purchased from WineBerserker's BD16 auction.
  
  Erica's notes: 1 acre of 1990 vine planted from the same vine stock as Seven Springs. Tucked in Parrett Mountain in the Vojtilla’s front yard manicured as precisely as a bonsai tree. 50 cases bottled.
  
  Tasting notes: The bottle was surprisingly advanced. The cork broke on opening, and it didn’t feel like DIAM based on the texture/density of what I've typically opened? It doesn’t seem like it was premoxed (it was still drinkable), but just not as fresh as we were expecting. Quite interesting to observe the stylistic evolution of Walter Scott’s Chardonnays as well. This didn’t feel like it had the reductive quality of the later wines but perhaps age has to do with it as well.
  
  Blinded against 2010 William Fevre Bougros - tied/mixed outcome, not quite sure there was a clear winner here.

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• 2010 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Bougros 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis Grand Cru

  Quite lean and approachable on opening (pale straw yellow). The first year that Fevre switched to DIAM for the Bougros, and it was quite impressive how fresh/sharp this bottle remained despite being older than the Votjilla.
  
  Given that there are not a lot of data points on older DIAM bottlings in the market, I think this is a positive one in terms of still allowing for wines to age (albeit at a slower pace), and that it’s much less of a Russian Roulette where you don't have to worry about premox.

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• 2022 Coche-Dury Chardonnay Bourgogne 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Bourgogne

  Coche….. is Coche. Despite being just a Bourgogne Blanc, this is very complex and layered – concentrated white peach both on the palate and on the nose. Oak feels very deft/restrained despite being at a young age, and just continues to hum along even a few hours in. The white wine of the tasting and perhaps not a fair comparison here since this is significantly priced above any of the comparable wines tasted. The level of complexity here is significantly above what the name belies. I brought a gun to a knife fight?

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• 2019 Walter Scott Chardonnay The Rock Salt 91 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills

  Erica's Notes: A single 350-liter barrel bottled for its mineral, salty quality. Freedom Hill Vineyard with extended lees contact at 16 months in barrel and 2 months in tank. 37 cases bottled.
  
  Tasting Notes: Compared to the normal Freedom Hill barreling, this is surprisingly less reductive on a relative note. There is clearly minerality and salinity here though – less concentration and complexity than the Coche, but this is very much delicious in its own right. Still quite fresh and vibrant with no real signs of advanced aging.

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• 2011 Domaine Rossignol Trapet Chambertin 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Chambertin Grand Cru

  Meant to blind this with the 2011 Dumb Ox, but I accidentally swapped the bottle but I don’t think it would have shown any differently. Tight as nails on opening – slow oxing in the bottle (and then in the glass) helped to expand it, but this didn’t feel ready for business yet. With time it might get there since there is a lot of stuffing here, but was outclassed by Walter Scott today.
  
  If you open this now, give this more air (and probably a decant) - slow oxing for several hours didn't seem to move the wine much.

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• 2014 Walter Scott Pinot Noir Clos Des Oiseaux 93 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills

  Erica’s notes: 2.8 acres of mixed clone block that Ken farmed personally with the support of Stirling Fox. The site sits between X Novo and the Cristom Jesse block in arguably the best neighborhood in the Valley. 275 cases bottled.
  
  Tasting Notes: The red wine of the day out of all of the blinds – this was mature, and open from the get and go. Incredible concentration of strawberries on the palate and a wonderful balance between primary fruit and secondary notes. The tannins have integrated fantastically well and it was silky smooth. The table uniformly voted this as the wine out of the pairing, and quite a few votes for wine of the day. With some air/time in the glass, there is some barnyard/notes of brett, but very mild and not negatively impacting the wine at all. Would love to get my hands on more of these.....

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• 2011 Walter Scott Pinot Noir Dumb Ox 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills

  Erica's Notes: Single block of un-grafted Pommard planted in 1994. The block, nicknamed Dumb Ox, was named after Thomas Aquinas, a theologian philosopher known as both “brilliant” and “enigmatic”, Just like the few Pinots we were able to make from this site before the vines were pulled out.
  
  Tasting Notes: Surprisingly, this didn’t feel as approachable as the Clos de Oiseaux in the previous flight – almost as if this wine is slightly shut down right now. Notes of earthiness/forest floor here, but fruit had receded more than what I would have expected. This still feels quite structured and perhaps tannins slightly rougher than the Clos de Oiseaux.
  
  Meant to pair with the 2011 Rossignol-Trapet Chambertin but mixed them up in the chaos - maybe I am the Dumb Ox here... but found it ironic that both this/Rossignol-Trapet (from the same vintage) are showing to be quite shut down right now.

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• 2016 Jean-Marie Fourrier Vosne-Romanée Aux Réas Vieille Vigne 90 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Vosne-Romanée

  Tasted more of the Fourrier style here than the vineyard – very intense cherry, slightly drying finish, but oak doesn’t feel intrusive. Not much of the Vosne spice here – perhaps slightly overshadowed by the style of the house, but still a good bottle.

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What a fun experience. I don't think there is a clear winner between Burgundy and Walter Scott, but Walter Scott is much better value for your money... the wine that outclassed Walter Scott was least triple the price (but not triple the deliciousness).