WTN: Collaboration

[David M. Bueker]

• 2022 Massican x Walter Scott Willamette Valley - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (1/10/2024)
  My first bottle from the 2022 Massican collaboration series, this is a blend of Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, and Gamay Blanc. Frankly I can’t recall the last time I had wine that included Gamay Blanc.
  
  Anyway, it’s bright, refreshing, appealingly fruity, and has both a bracing acid finish, and an appealing touch of reduction that implies the wine will open up further with some bottle age. I don’t know the Walter Scott wines, so can’t comment on the style merge, but this does feel like a Massican wine, as it’s expressive and food friendly, which is what I have been buying Massican wines for the last ten years.

Never had a Massican, though they always sound good. Have liked Walter Scott.
So Massican has a series of bottlings that are collaborations with other wineries? Great concept.

[David M. Bueker]

Never had a Massican, though they always sound good. Have liked Walter Scott.
So Massican has a series of bottlings that are collaborations with other wineries? Great concept.

Yep. The first one was a 2021 with Sam Bilbro of Idlewild. It's a lovely wine, but majority Sauvignon Blanc, so not really up my alley. I have close friends who love SB, and they adore the wine. So that works out.

For the 2022 vintage he did four partnerships. The Walter Scott wine is one of them, and there is also a follow up collaboration with Sam Bilbro (only 20% SB thankfully, along with 40% Tocai, 20% Ribolla, and 20% Malvasia), as well as two more with other winemakers. One is a collaboration with Mayam Ahmed (don't know much about her) that is 80% Muscat and 20% SB, and the other is with Tyler Thomas of Star Lane, and consists of 38% SB, 38% Chenin Blanc, and 24% Chardonnay. That last one sounds like a Hardy Wallace blend!

I'll be trying the other three wines soon. Hopefully Tom Hill doesn't beat me to the punch.