Walter Scott “La Combe Verte” Pinot Noir – Willamette Valley

In our profession, we taste a lot of wine, every day, all day, and it’s rare for something to stop us in our tracks. My visit to Walter Scott on my Oregon trip did exactly that. An unexpected delight. While every single vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are absolutely worth seeking out (I fell hard for them), La Combe Verte is the perfect first step into what Walter Scott does so brilliantly: wines of tension, clarity, and quiet confidence. 2024 marks a special vintage for La Combe Verte. It is composed entirely of single vineyard quality fruit from sites like Freedom Hill, Sojeau, Witness Tree, Temperance Hill, and X Novo, the kind of selections normally reserved for higher tier bottlings. When you have vineyards like these, you show them off, and Walter Scott does so with humility and precision. In the glass, the wine opens with bright notes of red raspberry, black cherry, boysenberry, and fragrant summer flowers, all lifted by hints of thyme, hibiscus, and sandalwood. The palate is lithe and silky, with an undercurrent of understated power: dense fruit wrapped in succulent tannins, juicy acidity, and a long, savory finish that shows off volcanic energy and marine sedimentary depth in equal measure. It is lively, fresh, and instantly welcoming, the kind of Pinot you rediscover every time you open a bottle. The Walter Scott team likens 2024 to the graceful 2012 vintage, and I agree. There is a glowing core of fruit, brilliant clarity, and that seamless balance of power and finesse that defines great Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Walter Scott has always embraced Becky Wasserman’s belief that you can judge a domaine by the quality of its Bourgogne style bottling. La Combe Verte is their proof of concept, crafted with the same care, intention, and detail as the single vineyard wines. Native fermentations, minimal intervention, meticulous farming, and a deep respect for terroir all come through here. Loaded with charm and built to evolve, this is a bottle you can drink now with absolute joy, or follow for the next several years. If you already love Walter Scott, it is a no brainer. If it has been a minute since you have tasted La Combe Verte, this vintage is your moment of rediscovery.