Walter Scott Pinot Noir Cuvée Ruth 2024
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The Land
The Cuvée Ruth draws from multiple sites across the Eola-Amity Hills, giving it a breadth no single-vineyard wine can match. The Eola-Amity Hills AVA is defined by the Van Duzer corridor, the gap in the Coast Range through which cool Pacific air sweeps east across the hills through the growing season. Soils vary from volcanic basalt-based clay at elevation, which retains water and produces higher-acid, red-fruited wine, to marine sedimentary soils lower on the slope, which drain quickly and yield rounder, more textural Pinot Noir. The Cuvée Ruth is a composite portrait of the AVA rather than a close-up of any single site.
The Wine
100% Pinot Noir, assembled from Walter Scott's best barrels across their top Eola-Amity Hills vineyards. Fermented with indigenous yeasts, 5% whole cluster, 100% malolactic fermentation. 30% new French oak, 10 months in barrel, bottled unfined and unfiltered at 13.5% ABV. The 2024 opens with savory pine, mint, and fennel frond; underneath, bright cranberry, currant, and crushed slate. Clean and precise, with the lift and tension that defines the best Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir. Drinks well now and should continue to develop for five to seven years.
The People
Walter Scott was founded in 2008 by Ken Pahlow and Erica Landon, who built the winery while working other jobs and borrowing cellar space. Ken's time at St. Innocent and alongside Dominique Lafon at Evening Land shaped his approach: pick early, work with what the site gives you, keep handling minimal. Cuvée Ruth is named for Ruth and Irv Kantor, parents of Ken and Erica's partner Sue, in recognition of their belief in the project from the beginning. It is Walter Scott's most complete expression of the Eola-Amity Hills as a whole rather than any individual parcel. Imported by Grand Cru Selections.
Food Pairing
Pinot Noir at this level works across a broad range of food. Roast duck with cherry glaze, grilled salmon with beet and fresh herb salad, mushroom risotto with aged Parmesan, or a simple roast chicken with pan jus. The kind of bottle that makes a weeknight feel like an occasion.
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Weather shipping advisory: Orders placed during times of extreme heat or extreme cold will be held for no charge until more favorable weather returns.
The Willamette Valley, nestled in Oregon, is a region renowned for its cool-climate wines, particularly its Pinot Noir. While Pinot Noir is its most celebrated variety, the valley is also home to other cool climate varieties like Chardonnay and Riesling. The region's unique terroir, characterized by rolling hills, volcanic and sedimentary soils, and a maritime climate influence, contributes to the elegance and complexity of its wines. The wines of the Willamette Valley offer a delicate balance between fruit, acidity, and earthiness. Its increasingly growing reputation places it among the world’s top regions for Pinot Noir.
Oregon - Willamette Valley
Pinot Noir is a thin-skinned, notoriously difficult-to-grow, low-yielding grape that finds its ancestral home in Burgundy, France, where it produces some of the world's most elegant and nuanced wines. While Burgundy remains its spiritual heartland, Pinot Noir has since traveled the globe, finding success in other cooler climates, notably in California, Oregon, New Zealand, and Germany. This grape is a challenge for any grower, as it requires specific conditions to show its best, and yet the wines it produces are capable of such a captivating and singular character.
