Walter Scott Dumb Ox Pinot noir 2010

Review:

Seductive scents of fresh blackberry mingle with an earth, floral and fir essence. Layered, creamy fruit - black berry, black raspberry, dark cherry - is supple and inviting, moving towards a finale accented by white pepper and red licorice. Killer! A March Oregon Reserve Pinot Noir Club selection.

The "Dumb Ox" block is a 22 year-old block within Eola Springs Vineyard planted to Pommard clone. Ken recently told me that his winemaking is a culmination of experiences, from selling and visiting Burgundy to working for St. Innocent and Evening Land. He is obviously one of the most promising winemakers in Oregon.

How Dumb Ox Got Its Name

Early tastings of the wines made from this vineyard, were described as "brilliant" and "an enigma".  Thus the name “Dumb Ox”. (An adjacent block is named St. Augustine.)

Dumb Ox was a nickname for the most brilliant thinker/theologian of the Middle Ages - Thomas Aquinas.  “Brilliant” because he successfully merged Aristotelian philosophy with early church thinking. "Enigma" because his huge physical stature and one huge eye dwarfing the other made him mysterious and puzzling.  We like to think of Dumb Ox fruit having similar attributes.

The thesaurus defines enigma as "something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained" and "it remains one of nature’s secrets."

Below, Thomas Aquinas