ABC – Anything But Chardonnay? Not Any More!

Check out these brilliant new releases from Walter Scott, X Novo and more

As quick and easy as doing basic research has become thanks to Artificial Ignorance, there is information tucked away in long out of print books that cannot be found anywhere else. I went looking through some old books on Northwest Wine in search of recommended Chardonnay producers back in the day. I wanted to get a sense of how the wines were perceived back when Napa Valley produced such classic Chards as those from Grgich Hills, Chateau Ste. Jean ‘Robert Young Vineyard’ and Chateau Montelena.

The tasting notes on many 1980’s era Northwest Chardonnays strained to be kind, but didn’t pull any punches. Some sample critiques: “Thin, charmless”… “Bitter and medicinal”… “soft and oaky, at times too oaky”. A more positive spin was a brief “Simple and clean” on an otherwise boring wine. The highest praise was given to Chardonnays that were trying out barrel fermentation and lees stirring, techniques dribbling in following winemaker visits to Burgundy. Apart from the lukewarm Chardonnay reviews, the most striking takeaway from books such as “Northwest Wine Country” (published in 1986 by Ron and Glenda Holden) and “Northwest Wines” (published in 1993 by Sasquatch Books) is that by far the vast majority of the wineries listed are long out of business.

Growing good wine grapes is exhausting, hand-in-the-dirt work. Making good wine requires the skills of a chemist, a mechanic and an artist. Selling wine is a relentless and at times humiliating task. All of it is expensive and unpredictable. And that was true long before the current administration ran a chainsaw through supply lines and trade agreements.

What does the evolution of Northwest Chardonnays have to tell us about all this? Forty years ago French Chardonnays were considered to be the finest achievement of white winemaking, and were admired and copied and aspired to by this region’s young strivers. Just a decade later, burned out on heavy, flabby, oaky, palate-tiring Chardonnays from California, consumers turned against them, tagging the grape with the ABC moniker, meaning give me Anything But Chardonnay.

Starting about 20 years ago crisp, dry, high acid white wines became stylish, and Chardonnay was that oaky stuff your parents drank. In recent decades a handful of winemakers in the Pacific Northwest have worked their way into making sophisticated, terroir-reflective, consumer-pleasing Chardonnays. The best of them have achieved a level of quality only rarely found anywhere. And with hats off to France, the Chardonnays from the Willamette Valley in particular have put a unique regional stamp on the flavors.

If you have given up on Chardonnay you are missing out on what, in the right hands, can be the greatest white wine in the Pacific Northwest. Time to jump back in!

At Walter Scott, there are 10 Chardonnays among the brand new 2023 releases. I’ve spent the better part of a week tasting and re-tasting eight of them. My experience with Walter Scott wines goes back a half dozen vintages, and my reviews from the beginning have lavished praise on them.

Many wineries, especially small start-ups, offer a vast range of different wines. The winemakers are curious, excited, experimental, and all of that is fine. But I can think of no startup putting out a dozen or more different varietal wines and blends that nailed more than one or two. In contrast, a winery such as Walter Scott, with a laser focus on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, has chosen to do their experimenting with different vineyards and winemaking techniques, adding valuable information about specific sites with each new vintage. It’s no accident that these are among the very finest examples of Chardonnay from anywhere. My notes:

Walter Scott 2023 Witness Tree Vineyard Chardonnay – A familiar name, the vineyard was replanted in 2017 due to phylloxera, and is now making its first appearance as a vineyard select for Walter Scott. It’s tight, restrained and compact when opened, with suggestions of lemon and grapefruit, orange zest and a dash of peppery jicama. Though all these Chardonnays are listed at 13% abv, this seems lighter than some of the others, young and sharp and focused. 100 cases; 13%; $80 (Eola-Amity Hills) 91-92/100

Walter Scott 2023 Sojeau Vineyard Chardonnay – Sojeau is a cool site, here planted to a pair of Dijon clones on a rock-strewn 2.2 acres. It has a striking saline note framing lemon curd and other citrus highlights. These young wines, planted in 2014, produce a sharply-etched, mineral-driven wine, showing balance and elegance more than depth and power at this evolutionary stage. 150 cases; 13%; $80 (Eola-Amity Hills) 92/100

Walter Scott 2023 Cuvée Anne Chardonnay – This is the winery’s blend of grapes from the Justice, Koosah, Witness Tree, X Novo and Sojeau vineyards. It’s a full-bodied, well-rounded wine built upon canny barrel selections. The mix of fruits rolls through Meyer lemon, Key lime, tangerine and pineapple, with a finishing kiss of vanilla wafer. This beautifully-proportioned wine packs in juicy flavors from its bold start to its lingering finish. 2^nd day: Full, rich and resonant, more pronounced spice, firm through the finish, clean and refreshing. 650 cases; 13%; $50 (Eola-Amity Hills) 93/100

Walter Scott 2023 Koosah Vineyard Chardonnay – Planted in 2016 at the highest elevations in this AVA, this young site is part of the Résonance vineyard group. It delivers pungent, intense aromatics that feel as if your nose has just hit an especially fine pillow-top mattress. Lemon oil and juice flavors abound, accented with toasted hazelnuts and striking minerality. Clean and deep, with exceptional intensity, this screams for oysters or scallops or your freshest trout. 2^nd day, as intense as ever, clean, riveting, electric style. 250 cases; 13%; $80 (Eola-Amity Hills) 95/100

Walter Scott 2023 Justice Vineyard Chardonnay – Going through the Chardonnay lineup from Walter Scott it’s striking how distinctive each and every wine is in relation to the entire group. This puts the lie to the notion that this is a rather dull, generic grape. It can be, for sure, but not in the hands of those who have the skill, the patience and the experience to suss out the particular strengths of grape and vineyard. Lime and apple, white pepper and rosewater, even a hint of stainless steel are all in play. Tight focus through the finish, with a hint of chalky minerality. This is a special, splendid wine that should age beautifully. Retasting on the second day proves the point – it’s in fine drinking condition, spicy, focused, still fresh and compact, with great penetration and length. 150 cases; 13%; $80 (Eola-Amity Hills) 95/100

Walter Scott 2023 Freedom Hill Vineyard Chardonnay – The blocks used here vary from 10 to 30 years of age. Supple, rich and juicy, this exceptional wine takes full advantage of the strengths of this much-loved and sought-after site. The seamless mix of fruits runs from citrus to apple to green banana, with accents of fresh-picked spring herbs. Half the barrels were new, and frame the long, lingering finish with a lick of caramel. The vivid acids prevail, keeping the wine fresh and lively as it trails gracefully out. Based on how well it showed on second and third day tastings, this will age beautifully for 15 – 20 years. 425 cases; 13%; $80 (Mt. Pisgah) 96/100

Walter Scott 2023 Hyland Vineyard Chardonnay – This iconic vineyard dates from 1971, here contributing fruit from a single block planted in 1979. As with old vine reds, the thing to look for here is texture. The flavors weave together as more of a tapestry than an painting, more three dimensional than two dimensional. Threads of citrus zest and flower, lemon verbena and lemon squares, crisp apple with a hint of cinnamon roll across and down through the palate, lighting it up along the way, never fading nor turning simple. The wine trails out generously until you must reach for that next sip. But the more patient you are, the more you will taste the absolute refinement and detail embedded here. 2^nd day – the floral aromas are still very much in evidence, and the overall elegance and power of this wine continue to impress. Dense, packed flavors invite concentrated attention, rewarding the taster with delicate notes of pollen, dried herbs and honeycomb. Still good on day four. 120 cases; 13%; $80 (McMinnville) 98/100

Walter Scott 2023 X Novo Vineyard Chardonnay – The original Craig Williams Eola-Amity Hills vineyard mixes 20 clones of Chardonnay densely spaced within a small 2-acre block. Walter Scott sources fruit from the oldest vines planted in 2010. The field blend grapes are harvested together and co-fermented massale style. The complexity of this wine is off the charts, powerfully running across a vast spectrum of orchard fruits and exotic tropical flavors. Bold and rich, it holds tight to that intensely fruity core as it sails into a long finish layered with candied pineapple, Key lime pie and a bite of caramel apples. If the Hyland selection is like a refined and elegant musical protégé, this X Novo is its younger brother who is the quarterback of the football team. 385 cases; 13%; $100 (Eola-Amity Hills) 98/100

X Novo

The most sure-fire way to discover a brilliant new vineyard is when winemakers from a significant number of top tier wineries start featuring the grapes in vineyard designated selections. This is how I stumbled upon X Novo a number of years ago.

Among those purchasing these grapes – Chardonnay and/or Pinot Noir – are Morgen Long, Abbott Claim, Corollary (for sparkling wine) and Violin. They are also prime components in blends from Soter, Big Table Farm and North Valley. Although the vineyard was first planted back in 2010, there were no estate wines made until much more recently, and this month I had my first look at X Novo wines from the 2021 and 2022 vintages.

Proprietor/Winemaker Craig Williams was kind enough to provide some excellent background on the vineyard and the wines in a series of email exchanges. His estate bottlings, he writes, “are sourced from our X Omni vineyard, which is located a short distance from our original plantings at X Novo in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA [which is] very near the DDO Roserock vineyard. X Omni has well-drained basaltic soils, principally Nekia series, with south-east and south aspect at an average elevation of 490 feet. This vineyard was planted over a series of years, beginning in 2012 through 2021, as we collected and added more selections to our foundational plantings.”

As of today there are roughly 18 acres planted at X Omni; just under five to Pinot Noir; just over 13 to multiple clones of Chardonnay. The original X Novo vineyard, planted in 2010, is located near Cristom Vineyards. Those grapes have gone primarily to Walter Scott for the past decade.

I was excited to taste these X Novo Chardonnays alongside the Walter Scott X Novo designate, though they represent a different (and younger) site and the three wines cover three different vintages. Nonetheless the outstanding quality shines through. Here is a note from Craig (edited for brevity) discussing the origins and development of his interest in Chardonnay.

CW: “Why Chardonnay? In 1999, I helped relocate and develop vineyards and a winery for Joseph Phelps Vineyards in the western reaches of the Sonoma Coast to continue the production of Chardonnay. Up until then, our Chardonnay had been sourced from an estate vineyard in the Los Carneros AVA. It was there that I greatly expanded the number of selections within a variety to further investigate the benefits of multiple selections in fermentation and wine quality.

“Our initial plan in the Willamette Valley was to take an intentional approach to growing and selling grapes exclusively. Since the valley was already widely recognized as a benchmark for Pinot Noir, we thought it would be sensible to follow that paradigm and focus mostly on Pinot Noir with a small planting of Chardonnay. And yet, we kept thinking about the fact that there were fewer than 1,000 acres planted to Chardonnay in 2010. Certainly there was notable Chardonnay being produced but in very limited quantities.

“Most influential was our location in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. When you stood on the ground and looked across the east-southeast views of the valley, the vineyard shouted ‘Chardonnay could be great here too!’ We soon reconsidered our initial plans to make Pinot the main effort and decided to plant more Chardonnay. We set about to create a distinct foundation for both grapes that began with developing two acres of Chardonnay and one acre of Pinot Noir. With 20 acres of Chardonnay now planted, we are squarely committed to pursuing more expressive, complex and distinctive Chardonnay with a Burgundian reverence for sense of place.”

Here are my notes on the 2021 and 2022 Chardonnays from this inspiring producer. Notes on the X Novo and Walter Scott Pinots will be posted next week.

X Novo 2021 X Omni Vineyard Chardonnay – This is the third Chardonnay release from Craig Williams, whose X Novo and X Omni vineyards have quickly attracted a near-cult following among Oregon winemakers. It’s a sexy, sultry wine, mouth-coating and viscous. The rich, exuberant palate is loaded with apricot and peach, pear and papaya, caramel and toasted hazelnuts. Half the barrels were new, half neutral. As with all of the best Eola-Amity Chardonnays the acids are superb, and keep the finish lively and refreshed. This is a spectacular effort from start to finish, with aging potential over the moon. 230 cases; 13.1%; $100 (Eola-Amity Hills) 97/100

X Novo 2022 X Omni Vineyard Chardonnay – The lovely aromatics pull you into an expressive and detailed wine with a head-spinning mix of citrus zest, bee pollen and wet stones. The palate is mineral-driven, laced with more citrus rind and flesh, white pepper, crisp apple, white peach and zesty radish. The acids are proportionate and supportive. The differences between the 2021 and 2022 vintages are perfectly reflected in these two wines, which offer a window on the vineyard, the region and the conditions that made the two years completely different. This wine saw 70% new oak, and finishes with a resonantly toasty frame. 309 cases; 13.2%; $100 (Eola-Amity Hills) 96/100

X Novo will be hosting a very special event on Sunday June 22nd in Portland. This Visionary Vineyards tasting will showcase X Novo and X Omni wines from nine producers, along with a discussion led by Master Sommelier Justin Moore. Get tickets here.

Catching up on highlights from recent tastings…

Bryn Mawr Vineyards

Bryn Mawr 2018 Blanc de Noirs – This is the first vintage of a méthode champenoise sparkling wine from Bryn Mawr. The grapes come from the Fender’s Rest vineyard, presumably Pinot Noir but maybe some Pinot Meunier also. Good citrus fruit, lively mousse, sharp acids and a full body. A good first effort. 240 cases, 11.8%; $85 (Willamette Valley) 90/100

Bryn Mawr 2022 Estate Chardonnay – Tart, tangy, loaded with bright citrus and wonderfully full-bodied despite its low alcohol, this elegant wine saw 15% new French oak for 16 months. It’s definitely an acid-lovers’ wine, and count me in when that acidity makes for such a lively, concentrated and delicious Chardonnay. Meyer lemon, fresh cut pineapple and a twist of lime; all good. 300 cases; 12.2%; $50 (Eola-Amity Hills) 93/100

Bryn Mawr 2022 Pinot Noir – A mix of estate and purchased grapes go into this mid-priced blend. Strawberries and pie cherries, brambly raspberries, plenty of acid, all nicely woven in an accessible, unpretentious, well-structured Pinot Noir. There’s a touch of new oak, but it’s really the fresh fruit and acid that shine brightly here. 3500 cases; 13.5%; $30 (Willamette Valley) 91/100

Bryn Mawr 2022 Estate Pinot Noir – Smooth and aromatic, this brings brambly berries, mixed herbs, hints of fungus and clean earth into a well-balanced, estate-grown wine. Aging in one quarter new French oak adds a toasty note, just enough to frame, not dominate the fruit. Winemaker and Vineyard Manager Rachel Rose brings a gentle hand to the wine, softening any rough herbaceousness, accenting the pretty fruit, and building wines that beautifully express the assets of the estate. 1250 cases; 13.6%; $50 (Eola-Amity Hills) 92/100

Bryn Mawr 2022 Zenith Vineyard Pinot Noir – I’ve long admired fruit from this vineyard, and here’s a well-structured example of its strengths. Full-flavored berry/cherry fruit, proportionate acids and firm, balanced tannins conspire to make a drink-now-or-later style of Pinot Noir. Fresh, lightly earthy, with brambly berries and a hint of compost, this is a well-managed wine that had one third whole clusters in the ferment, and was aged 14 months in one barrel (out of eight) that was new. 200 cases; 13.3%; $50 (Eola-Amity Hills) 92/100

Division Winemaking Company

Division 2022 Syrah – Rather light for a Rocks District Syrah, with accents of grain around blackberry fruit. It’s fruity rather than funky, fresh and forward, with good balance through the finish. 75 cases; 14%; $39 (Rocks District) 91/100

Soos Creek

Soos Creek 2022 Southwind Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon – This high elevation SeVein vineyard is owned by Sagemoor. Principally Cabernet Sauvignon, this includes 15% Merlot in the blend. I found significant bottle variation, with the first bottle seemingly disjointed, with a cracker flavor and tough and chewy tannins. A second bottle did not show these problems; it was a sturdy, tannic, lightly herbal wine with good body and medium length. Flavors of blueberries and cherries, astringent tannins with dried tea leaf flavors. 75 cases; 14.1%; $35 (Walla Walla Valley) 90/100

Soos Creek 2022 The Pugilist at Rest Red Blend – This excellent Bordeaux blend is sourced from Southwind and McKinley Springs. Only two Soos Creek wines were made in this vintage due to a climbing accident suffered by winemaker Dave Larsen during harvest. This was aged in half new French oak, bottled unfined and unfiltered, and soaks the palate with classic Cabernet flavors of cassis, espresso, dark chocolate and traces of briary herbs. The tannins are astringent and trail out leaving flavors of toasted walnuts. This surely can be cellared, but drinks nicely already with ample aeration. 75 cases; 14.3%; $35 (Columbia Valley) 92/100

Note to Wineries – Let me be blunt. It’s no secret that many small wineries are struggling against a rising tide of anti-alcohol sentiment, shrinking sales, tariffs etc. One valuable asset that may be under-used is savvy pro-wine journalism. By savvy I mean experienced, knowledgeable and committed. You might expect such coverage to be costly. You might ask yourself where can I find it? By my count, there are just four writers who live in the Pacific Northwest, meet the criteria and have a national following. The other three do excellent work, but I am the only one who has written or contributed to over a dozen best-selling books about the region; who has no editors hovering over every word so as not to offend advertisers; and who charges no fees of any kind for wine reviews. Honestly, doesn’t it make sense for any small Northwest winery to support my efforts? Sign up for a free subscription. That’s all. You will not be spammed or bothered with solicitations. If you don’t want the weekly emails you can discontinue them. I just want the numbers of subscribers to continue to grow. So please subscribe. Have every one of your employees subscribe. Have all of your distributors and retail clients subscribe. It will make a huge difference, for you and for me. Thank you!