2012 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley

Deep cherry red with juicy raspberry and red cherry on the nose. The palate is bursting with dark bing cherries, ripe raspberries, baking spices and black plums. Elements of pepper, coffee and chocolate balance the intense fruit flavors while soft ripe tannins lend structure and a lengthy finish.

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“Fresh and vibrant, showing polish to its currant and blackberry flavors…”
– Wine Spectator (October 31, 2014)

Our 2012 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir was awarded a 90 points rating in Wine & Spirits Magazine.
– Wine & Spirits Magazine (August, 2014)

“If you’re after an excellent introduction to pinot from the western US, this is it.”
– The New Zealand Herald (July 10, 2015)

Vintage

2012 will go down as one of the finest in Oregon history in terms of quality of the raw materials. Mother Nature really smiled on us with not only a rain-free harvest season but perhaps more importantly with tiny berries and clusters. The small fruit size allowed us to effortlessly and gently extract the concentrated fruit and ripe tannins of the perfectly ripe grapes.

According to owner/winemaker Adam Campbell “The wines from 2012 remind me and my folks of classic vintages like 1998 and 1994. Small clusters and berries give us an amazing skin-to-juice ratio, allowing us to be incredibly gentle through fermentation and still come up with powerful concentration and ripeness of fruit.”

Early reviews of the 2012 vintage use descriptors like “Stunning”, “Amazing” & “Epic” making Oregon winemakers giddy that 2012 could go down as the best vintage in our 50 year winemaking history.

Vineyard

Our Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is made with fruit from all five of our vineyard sites: Estate, Mount Richmond, Five Mountain, Clay Court and Windhill. We also purchase a small amount of select fruit from other producers who are longtime friends of Elk Cove. These sites are comprised of both Pommard and Dijon plant material, with multiple clones represented.

Because we draw from vineyards representing all three of the major Willamette Valley soil types, we are able to pick and choose for different flavor components to make the best possible blend each year for our Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Some people call this making wine “spice rack” style, we usually just call it delicious. Our goal is the perfect version of what we believe a Willamette Valley Pinot should be : a wine with freshness of fruit, well-integrated alcohol, and great concentration of flavor.

Winemaking

To make our Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, fruit from each vineyard block is fermented separately in small, temperature controlled steel tanks, hand punched down twice daily, and barreled in 20% new french oak barrels. After 10 months of aging in 20% new oak, the wine we choose for the Willamette Valley Pinot is carefully blended to produce the most approachable, well-balanced Pinot Noir we make.

Viticultural & Enological Data

Vine Age 3-39 Years
Yield 1.9 tons/acre
Harvest Sugars 23 brix
pH 3.54
Vatting Fermentation in small open top fermentors. 10 months in French oak.
Cases Produced 17,300

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2012 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley

Accolades

90 Points and Smart Buy in Wine Spectator

2012 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir: 90 Points in Wine & Spirits