Elegant and pure, this wine opens with candied black cherry and cedar that lead into dusky wafts of briar patch, warm cinnamon, clove and violet. The lush and complete palate features candied orange peel, tawny port and a firm salinity.
“Pale to medium ruby-purple, the 2017 Pinot Noir la Boheme opens with sweet spices, vanilla, tree bark and citrus peel aromas over black berries, black cherries, aniseed and dusty earth. It’s medium-bodied with an intense core of spicy fruits, a grainy frame and seamless freshness, finishing long and spicy.”
– Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (April 23, 2020))
VINTAGE 2017 was a classic Oregon vintage with plenty of sunny days and refreshingly cool nights. It was also the first year since our wines were 100% estate grown, created entirely from grapes we own and farm. We now have full control as we care for our vineyards and soils for generations to come. “Estate Grown” is now proudly displayed on each of our labels.
After three early harvests in a row, 2017 brought us back to what many consider “classic Oregon weather.” A wet, cool spring led to a late start to the growing season with an early June bloom. Dry, hot weather in July and August meant great ripening as we thinned clusters to protect quality. Worries of smoke taint during the Columbia Gorge fires proved unfounded in our area, but hazy skies slowed September ripening slightly.
We began bringing in fruit in mid-September but were interrupted by rain a few times in late September and mid-October. With 40+ vintages under our belts and hillside vineyards at diverse elevations, we were able to choose the right windows to pick beautifully ripe fruit from each block. Sometimes this meant pulling long hours: in fact, October 9th was our biggest day on record, with 110 tons landing on the crush-pad. Expect ripe tannins, fully developed flavors and classic cool climate freshness in these 2017 vintage wines.
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.
All of Elk Cove’s delicate Pinot Noir fruit undergoes the same gentle handling through our gravity flow system. This allows us to achieve the elegance, texture and luscious quality that are the hallmarks of exquisite Pinot Noir.
Fruit from the La Bohème vineyard is fermented in small, temperature controlled steel tanks, hand punched down twice daily then aged for ten months in 36% French oak. Our winemaking team then selects the very best barrels to represent the silky, lush flavor profile that exemplifies La Bohème pinot noir.
So bring stuck at home these past several months we finally broke into our Elk Cove stash and opened a half dozen bottles at the same time of different Pinot Noir’s and doing a bottle against another bottle. After a week La Boheme was the clear winner.
Now I need some more :-)
Thanks for your review Ken – we’re so glad you enjoyed our La Bohème Pinot Noir!