2022 Windhill
Brimming with scents of blueberry pie, ripe cherry and fresh cracked pepper, this wine unfolds gradually with Italian plum and cranberry supported by sturdy tannins with notes of tobacco and cedar.
Vintage
In VINTAGE 2022 Mother Nature kept us on our toes with unusual weather at each end of the growing season. A wet, cold spring led into a long, temperate summer followed by a very sunny fall that brought us much-needed ripening.
What a surprise to have snowfall on April 11th, our region’s latest significant snow since 1942! Most of our vines had not yet leafed out and their tight woolly buds were well-protected. However, frost damage did mean a smaller crop at our Clay Court Vineyard. Other vineyard sites set a healthy crop, which we thinned heavily to increase intensity and encourage ripening. August and September were unseasonably warm, but the nights remained cool, helping us retain varietal character. Worries of late-season botrytis (rot) meant extra passes of hand-work in the vineyard pulling leaves to improve sunlight penetration and airflow. Thankfully, October welcomed a long string of sunny days and just exactly the hang-time and ripening we needed to bring grape sugar (brix) to ideal levels.
Harvest began in late September, with most fruit harvested during two very intense mid-October weeks. Many of our blocks achieved peak ripeness at the same time, so we are very thankful for our incredible crew for all of the early morning picking sessions in the vineyard and long days in the cellar. Expect complex, fruit-forward wines from this vintage.
Vineyard
Elk Cove has produced single vineyard pinots from this beautiful hillside vineyard in Banks, Oregon since 1979. Windhill Vineyard was planted near the Hartwick Resevoir in 1974 by the Reece family, Oregon winegrowing pioneers, and was purchased by Elk Cove in 1996. South-facing slopes, volcanic soils, mid-level elevation (500 feet) and low yields make Windhill a superior vineyard site. We have farmed this vineyard using completely organic practices since 1999. Our Windhill Pinot Noir is produced from 4 acres of the oldest Pommard clone Pinot Noir vines on the property.
Winemaking
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.
We produce this single vineyard wine using only pommard clone Pinot Noir grapes from our Windhill Vineyard. The wine is fermented in small, temperature controlled steel tanks, hand punched down twice daily then aged for ten months in French oak. Finally, our winemaking team blends only those barrels most representative of the spicy character and herbal tones of Windhill’s classic pinot noir fruit.
Viticultural & Enological Data
- Vine Age 24 years
- Harvest Sugars 24 brix
- Vatting Fermentation in small open top steel fermenters. 10 months in 25% new French oak.
- Cases Produced 200
