So I took advantage of the Walter Scott offers over on the “Berserker Quarantine Relief” forums and with fast shipping, the wines arrived last week. Sunday afternoon I found some time to open a pair of them. I believe the “Rock Salt” spent more time on the lees and potentially more time in barrel but I don’t have the original text from WS (its been deleted). But you can see the richer golden color and it has a nice mouthfeel to match (left) versus the 12 east 12 on the right. Grassl Liberte on Left and Grassl tasting glass on the right.
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2018 Walter Scott Chardonnay The Rock Salt - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills (3/24/2020)
This one is coiled tight in a significant way. This note was written on Day 3. Wine evolved and opened over three days, but this is just a baby.
Its pale gold in the glass and bright, but not as brilliantly clear as the '17 Walter Scott 12 east 12 sitting next to it. The nose is wet rocks, light citrus, with a layer of flinty goodness. The palate is lean citrus, minerals, flint again, hint of yeast? and sharp acidity. Great medium mouthfeel, and the finish is quite long and dominated by the minerality and acidity. Only the slightest hint of oak on the nose and don’t get any on the palate. Overall, right in my style zone for chardonnay. This one reminds me more of the X-Novo than any of their other Chardonnays. The rock salt is brighter and more acidic and maybe just more tensioned than X-Novo. It’s a very refined and delicious wine. Kudos to the folks at Walter Scott for sharing some stash.
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2017 Walter Scott Chardonnay 12 East 12 - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (3/24/2020)
The Walter Scott 12 east 12 chardonnay is pale yellow-green in the glass. It’s very bright and sparkly in the Grassl glass. This note was written on day 3 although most of the wine was drank on day 1. On pop and pour, this one was ready to drink. On the nose, it leads off with inviting ripe citrus, minerals, and sweet light toast caramel. Very inviting nose. By day 3 the nose shows more acidity and barrel. On the palate, it leads with the great fruit, and then the texture and acidity start on the mid-palate and it all dances around to a long finish. By day 3, the fruit and the caramel notes are more subtle, and lemon and acid come to the forefront. It was very approachable on day1, but somehow I like the day 3 version more. The lemon and the caramel seem to dominate more on day3. Very nice wine. It’s not as exciting as the Rock Salt. I’ve been comparing it against, but it was meant to drink now, and the rock salt was not. It seems to have enough structure to age for a few years, and I will try to hold on a few. Overall this will be a famous drinker at my house over the next year.
