2025 Pinot Blanc
Vintage
The 2025 vintage was a high quality and accelerated year that made us thankful for the dual safeguards of diverse vineyard sites and an experienced crew.
Overall, the growing season was steady and uneventful. We had ideal spring weather during budbreak and bloom led to a good fruit-set. Reasonably sized clusters meant below-average crop levels that required very little thinning. It was a moderately early summer with a few heat spells and light rains in August. During the mild September, ripening progressed at a steady pace with very low disease pressure and very few hungry birds. Harvest would come quickly.
At Elk Cove, we were able to extend harvest to a very full five weeks, allowing for additional hang-time and lessening the strain on our crew and cellar. The varied elevations, aspects, and clonal selections of our vineyards help space out ripening, so we could take our time, continuing to bring in fruit long after many of our neighbors were finished. We brought in clean fruit with great concentration due to small berries, small clusters and fewer seeds than average. Those were some very intense five weeks, so we were very thankful for our experienced vineyard crew, several of whom joined us in the cellar for harvest along with winemaking students from Germany, Brazil, Massachusetts and Portland. It was a difficult but rewarding harvest.
Expect precocious 2025 vintage wines with excellent quality and concentration alongside lush, ripe fruit flavors.
Vineyard
The fruit for this Pinot Blanc is all hand-harvested from our own estate-grown hillside vines at our Five Mountain and Mount Richmond Vineyards.
Winemaking
The Willamette Valley has an ideal climate for Pinot Blanc, a delicate grape variety – enough sunlight and warmth for ripening, with cooler night temperatures that help retain varietal character. To preserve the freshness, our Pinot Blanc is whole-cluster pressed then fermented at very cool temperatures in small stainless steel tanks, all of which accentuates aromatics and enhances the richness and viscosity of the wine.
Viticultural & Enological Data
- Vatting Whole-cluster pressed and cold fermented in small stainless steel tanks.
Adam’s Crab Cakes
It’s our post-harvest tradition to rent a boat and go crabbing at Kelly’s Marina. While we don’t always make it to the coast to go crabbing ourselves, sitting around the table shelling cooked crab from the fishmonger is also a great way to catch up while anticipating the great meal ahead, usually while savoring a glass of what we in the Campbell family call “cooking wine” (wine poured for the cooks). Dungeness crab season in Oregon runs from December to August.
These crab cakes pair beautifully with our Pinot Blanc. Cheers and bon appétit!
RECIPE
For the cakes:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 large egg
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 teaspoons minced fresh dill
3 teaspoons minced fresh tarragon
4 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
4 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
ground black pepper to taste
1 pound cooked blue or Dungeness crabmeat
2 cups panko bread crumbs (divided)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
For the Skillet:
2 tablespoons (or more) butter
2 tablespoons (or more) olive oil or grapeseed oil
For the salad:
salad greens of your choice
3tbs olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dijon
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
serve with crusty bread & hot sauce
In a large bowl, whisk ingredients the first 10 ingredients together. Mix in crabmeat, and break it up into a rough, chunky texture while feeling with your hands for any remaining pieces of shell. In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup panko with the cayenne then fold into crab mixture. Let stand while panko soaks up the liquid from the crab mixture. Place the remaining panko in a flat bottomed bowl or tray. Form crab into patties about 2.5 inches in diameter (about 12) then press both sides of patties into the panko. Chill the formed patties for 1 to 4 hours in the fridge.
To fry, add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook crab cakes on both sides for about 4-5 minutes until they are browned, adding oil as needed to the skillet.
Make a vinaigrette with any remaining herbs, tossing lightly into your greens and serving alongside your favorite crusty bread. Season if desired with lemon wedges and Louisiana-style hot sauce – Crystal is our favorite but Tabasco or Texas Pete work equally well. Cheers!
Pinot Blanc