2023 Walter Scott Freedom Hill Vineyard Chardonnay

Walter Scott's 2023 Freedom Hill Vineyard Chardonnay is a single-site expression from 35-year-old Dijon-clone vines rooted in ancient basalt and marine sedimentary soils in the Willamette Valley's Eola-Amity Hills. Ken Pahlow and Erica Landon produce this wine using reductive, oak-restrained techniques modeled on white Burgundy, prioritizing vineyard expression over winemaking intervention. It stands apart from the fuller, warmer profile common to most West Coast Chardonnays, built for tension rather than richness. Ken Pahlow and Erica Landon founded Walter Scott in 2009 after working harvests in Burgundy and Oregon, and that dual training shows in the production method. Fruit is whole-cluster pressed, fermented in neutral French oak with native yeasts, and aged sur lie without bâtonnage to preserve the wine's mineral drive. The Eola-Amity Hills appellation sits in the rain shadow of the Coast Range, where cooling Pacific winds and volcanic bedrock combine to produce wines with pronounced acidity and saline minerality. Freedom Hill Vineyard remains the backbone of Walter Scott's Chardonnay program, one of the most respected sites in the valley. The 2023 vintage opens with high-toned aromatics of lime zest, struck flint, toasted filberts, and a distinct coastal salinity that recalls wet stones after a rainstorm. On the palate, boisterous acidity lifts flavors of apricot, white peach, and a subtle thread of lemon verbena tea, finishing long and chalky with minimal oak imprint. This is a wine for oysters, fritto misto, or any preparation of Dover sole, and it benefits from a slight chill to keep the energy taut. It's also an excellent match for any Ivy album. In stock at Off Premise in Lincoln Park.