88 Points “The round, generous style has spicy, ripe plum and currant flavors, lingering nicely on the oak-accented finish…. “
– Wine Spectator (June 15, 2005)
89 Points. Buying Guide.
– Wine Enthusiast (July 31, 2005)
93 Smart Buy! “Complex and very deep…”
– Pinot Report (November 30, 2005)
2003 was an incredibly warm year in Oregon, which meant great physiological ripeness for the grapes. (This was particularly true for our higher elevation, own-rooted sites.) A very long growing season also gave balance and acidity to the sweetness seen in the grapes at harvest. All of Elk Cove Vineyards’ 2003 Pinot Noirs will be full, juicy, balanced wines for drinking upon their release but further cellaring time will bring out additional nuances not to be missed with a little patience.
Mount Richmond Vineyard sits on Willakenzie soils in the heart of the Yamhill Carlton AVA. The site was purchased in 1996 as a partnership between winemaker Adam Campbell, his wife Carrie, and Elk Cove founders Pat and Joe Campbell.
The motivation for planting Mount Richmond was to emulate the wine quality from sites such as our esteemed Roosevelt vineyard. The vineyard now holds the honor as the largest vineyard holding of Elk Cove, totaling 105 planted acres.
Mount Richmond sits at 300-500 feet elevation, lower than the vineyards planted at the winery, which allows for earlier ripening. Planted in a high-density format (2100 vines/acre), similar to Roosevelt, Mount Richmond sits in rolling hills just outside the town of Yamhill just East of the Coast Range Mountains. In addition to the old vine pommard selection, planted from select cuttings off of Roosevelt Vineyard, the blend now also includes equal parts of Dijon clones 115 and 777.
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 Mount Richmond is fermented in small, temperature controlled steel tanks, hand punched down twice daily, and barreled in 50% new french oak barrels. After 10 months of aging in barrels, only the barrels that are most representative of the Mount Richmond profile are carefully blended to create a big, luscious Oregon Pinot Noir.
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