“The 2022 Pinot Noir La Bohème, from grapes planted in 1985, has pure, alluring aromas of pomegranate, blueberry, mushroom powder, iron and desiccated flowers. The light-bodied palate is chalky and refreshing with understated yet complex flavors and a long, perfumed finish.” – Erin Brooks
“The 2022 Pinot Blanc is scented of white peach, yogurt, bread dough, cashew and spice. The light-bodied palate is rounded and soft, with generous, ripe, floral-laced flavors and a long, gently leesy finish.”- Erin Brooks
“The 2022 Pinot Noir is composed of fruit from all six of Elk Cove’s estate vineyards and was matured in 15% new oak. It’s bursting with cranberry sauce, blackberry preserves, cinnamon, underbrush and bitters on the nose. The medium-bodied palate is just as generous, offering concentrated layers of spicy fruit. It has a silky frame, fireworks of acidity and a long, spicy finish.” – Erin Brooks
“The 2022 Pinot Noir Clay Court, grown on volcanic Jory soils, has wonderfully spicy aromas of cinnamon, tea leaves, mossy bark and mushrooms complementing a core of raspberry and red cherry jam. The medium-bodied palate features concentrated, spicy fruit. It’s structured by fine, grainy tannins and bright acidity and has a long, bitters-laced finish.” – Erin Brooks
“The 2022 Pinot Noir Five Mountain, grown on Laurelwood soils, is scented of raspberry, red cherry jam, cinnamon, mushrooms and orange peel. The light-bodied palate is silky and refreshing with understated, floral fruit and a long, spicy finish.” – Erin Brooks
“The 2022 Pinot Gris is scented of poached pears, almonds, meringue and bread dough. The palate is broad and creamy with generous, ripe, spicy fruit tempered by bright acidity and a long, flavorful finish.” -Erin Brooks
“The 2022 Riesling Estate has scents of yellow peach, pineapple, honey, ginger and bread dough. The light-bodied palate features full, ripe, tropical flavors and spicy accents. Its racy acidity is balanced by nine grams of residual sugar, and it has a long, flavorful finish.” -Erin Brooks
An aromatic mix of briar fruit matches up with tangerine and hyacinth aromas. The wine’s flavors are tart and bright, with rose hips, lemon and not-quite-ripe blackberries battling it out. Immense tannins are matched by laser beam-like acidity. Great value here.
“A lovely, delicate white, this blooms with fresh apricot blossom, nectarine and honeysuckle accents while gliding along the crisp finish.” – Wine Spectator
“Brilliant red fruit aromatics, with sweet candied raspberries coming to the fore, buoyed by notes of fresh mint. The palate is fleshy and offers plenty of tannin and structure, fresh red and black bramble fruits interplaying with savoury herbal notes, and finishes with a gravelly mineral tone.”
“Plump and generous, with raspberry and cranberry flavors that are accented with forest floor, clove and other dusky spices, finishing with refined tannins. Drink now through 2032.” – Wine Spectator
The quaffable 2022 Elk Cove Pinot Gris also contains slight amounts of Gewurztraminer and Muscat and gifts a bright, light lemon core with a watery rim in the glass. It is wonderfully floral on the nose, giving up notes of sweet green melon, kiwi fruit, white flowers, and sea breeze on the palate. Medium-bodied with a lovely floral note that hits the mid-palate on the finish, this one should drink well for the next 5-6 years.
The 2022 Elk Cove Pinot Blanc comes from old vines that are up to nearly 30 years of age. This was stored in stainless steel before bottling. Once on the nose this takes on delicious kiwi and starfruit tones that mingle well with stony accents. The palate is soft and inviting with a smooth texture and generous melon fruit flavors. This is really good in its mineral-driven youth. Drink 2023-2027
The least planted of the Pinots in the Willamette Valley, Pinot Blanc offers fresh floral goodness, and this bottling from Elk Cove delivers. Sweet white floral aromas of gardenia and English Hawthorne swirl around notes of lychee and early-season apricot. The palate is light, bright and fruited with sweet peach flesh, mandarin and candied lemon peel. The wine finishes with an incredible mineral streak of wet slate and ample acidic lift.
Richly complex, this is not a simple sipping Pinot Gris. The aromatics are floral and fruit-centred, with plenty of jasmine, ripe pear and toasted almond. The palate is surprisingly rich and complex, with lanolin, beeswax and sweet stone fruit flavours. Textured and rich with candied ginger, honeyed pear and apricot to finish. This is a lot of vinous complexity for less than $20.