Walter Scott Aligote X Novo Vineyard 2024
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The Land
The Eola-Amity Hills sit farther south than the Dundee Hills, which should make them warmer. They are not. A breach in the Coast Range called the Van Duzer Corridor funnels cold Pacific air into these hills every afternoon, and nights run roughly 10 degrees cooler than the northern Willamette Valley. X Novo sits in Spring Valley along the Holmes Gap at 525 feet, square in the path of that wind, on extremely rocky Gelderman clay over basalt. Wind thickens skins and slows sugar while acid holds. Rocky clay restricts vigor and drains hard. Craig Williams, long the winemaker at Joseph Phelps, bought this land in 2010 to plant white grapes, and the 3.5-acre core block carries over 15 Pinot Noir and 20 Chardonnay selections. The site is farmed organically.
The Wine
Aligoté from Oregon barely exists. In Burgundy the grape is the understudy, taken seriously in one place, Bouzeron, where it makes a lean, saline white that most of France still mixes into kir. On a cold, windy, rocky site like X Novo it behaves far more like Bouzeron than like anything Chardonnay does here. The 2024 season was hard here: an April frost and a cold snap during flowering cut yields, disease pressure ran high, and ripening came slowly to a later harvest. Ken Pahlow's whites finished the year at pH 3.1 to 3.18, and he bottled early to hold onto freshness. The result is lime and lemon rind, white peach, wildflowers and wet stone, then green pear skin, salty earth, a chalky texture and a round mineral finish rather than a sharp one. This is Willamette Valley white wine with no interest in richness.
The People
Ken Pahlow and Erica Landon started Walter Scott in 2008 with 20,000 dollars out of their retirement savings. The name honors his grandfather Walter, a Trans World Airlines flight engineer, and his nephew Scott, who died young. Pahlow worked harvests at St. Innocent under Mark Vlossak, then ran Northwest sales for Evening Land, where Dominique Lafon mentored him through 2010 and 2011, and took a 2009 harvest at Patricia Green. Landon was a sommelier running wine programs in Oregon's best restaurants; the two met in 2002 when Ken was selling her wine. They built a winery next to Justice Vineyard for the 2014 harvest. Their Chardonnays ferment with ambient yeast in French oak with minimal batonnage and finish in stainless steel, a program built around tension rather than weight.
Food Pairing
Aligoté was built for shellfish. Start with cold oysters and nothing but lemon, where the salinity in the wine meets the salinity in the shell. Pan-fried trout with brown butter and capers is the classic move, acidity cutting the butter clean. Warm gougeres from the oven, or fresh chevre on grilled bread with olive oil and cracked pepper, both work on the chalky texture. For a real meal, chicken paillard pounded thin, grilled fast, finished with lemon and parsley. This is the bottle to open while you are still cooking, and the one that disappears before anyone sits down.
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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
Aligoté is a historic white grape of Burgundy, long overshadowed by Chardonnay but increasingly valued for its freshness and versatility. First documented in the region in the 18th century, it was traditionally used in everyday wines or blended with crème de cassis for Kir. Today, quality-minded producers—especially in Bouzeron, the only communal AOC dedicated to the grape—are showing its potential when grown on limestone soils and handled with care. Aligoté typically offers high acidity, light body, and flavors of green apple, citrus, and subtle herbal notes, making it a crisp, food-friendly alternative to richer white varieties.
