2018 La Bohème
Big, dark cherry and chocolate shavings lead into violet, cola and leather on the nose, followed by a rich palate of more cherry, black walnut, and rosemary. Dense and lingering, powerful yet silky.
Big, dark cherry and chocolate shavings lead into violet, cola and leather on the nose, followed by a rich palate of more cherry, black walnut, and rosemary. Dense and lingering, powerful yet silky.
“Spice-laced red and dark berry, cherry cola and floral pastille scents take on a smoky mineral quality with air. Shows a hint of musky earth on the palate, which offers appealingly sweet red and blue fruit, mocha and black tea flavors and a touch of allspice. Gains energy with air and repeats the floral note on an impressively long, gently tannic finish. 36% new oak.”
– Vinous (August, 2020)
VINTAGE 2018’s growing season started hot and dry through spring and summer, but relief was just around the corner. A hearty rain weeks before harvest and cool temperatures in September and October slowed ripening and gave the fruit additional hang-time. Harvest came late with small, intensely flavored berries with a high skin-to-juice ratio. After a slow start, the second half of harvest saw the simultaneous ripening of multiple blocks and a veritable “crush” in the fermentation hall. Once again, we were thankful for the added capacity of our 2013 cellar expansion and a crew of seasoned pros in the vineyard and the cellar.
These are wines of ample flavors and high maturity levels. The Pinot Noirs are bold and fruit-forward with higher than average tannins. In the white wines, expect more tropical fruit aromas in addition to the classic stone-fruit aromas. This is a great vintage for those who appreciate boldness in cool-climate varietals. 2018 wines are highly intriguing, their intense richness balanced by lifted tones, coming from a warm growing season that thankfully concluded in a cool autumn.
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 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!