Winery Estate
Our first Vineyard, site of Elk Cove’s winery, was founded by Pat and Joe Campbell in 1974, when there were only a handful of winegrowers in Oregon. We have since added 45 acres to our original 5 acres of Pinot Noir, Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Chardonnay (since grafted over to Pinot Gris).
The Winery Estate is one of the higher vineyards in Oregon, reaching an elevation of 750 feet. The steep slopes of marine sedimentary soil (Willakenzie) are well-drained and primarily south facing, ideal for vine-health and concentration of flavors.
Our Winery Estate represents three generations of Pommard, the Northwest’s classic Pinot Noir clone. We took cuttings from the best vines planted in 1974 to plant our La Bohème Vineyard on the west side of the property in 1985. In 1993 we selected the best vines from La Bohème to plant Roosevelt Vineyard just south of the winery. We continue to use this technique of “selection massale” to perfect our newest vineyard sites.
Roosevelt and La Bohème are two of our best vineyard blocks and are used to create our most coveted Single Vineyard Pinot Noirs – proof that the Campbells chose a phenomenal location to plant those first vines.
La Bohème
We planted La Bohème Vineyard in 1985 by selecting the very best vines from our original Estate Pommard plantings. Pat and Joe Campbell named the vineyard after the family who sold them the property – and their favorite Puccini opera. This picturesque vineyard overlooks the winery and the coast range mountains and rises to 800 feet, making it one of the highest elevation vineyard sites in the Willamette Valley. La Bohème was planted using cuttings from vines selected for small cluster size and intense flavors, hallmarks of the world’s finest Pinot Noirs. We prune and cluster-thin La Bohème heavily to limit yields and to maximize ripening and flavor concentration.
Roosevelt
Roosevelt Vineyard was planted in 1993 and has quickly become Elk Cove’s most prized vineyard site. A four-acre high-density (2100 vines per acre) planting situated just south of the winery on Willakenzie soils, Roosevelt’s south-facing hillside slopes to a steep precipice overlooking the magnificent Williams Canyon.
Roosevelt undergoes extensive pruning and cluster thinning to limit yields and maximize ripening to concentrate the fruit and is managed using completely organic practices. All of these elements combine to consistently produce one of Oregon’s finest Pinot Noirs.
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