VINTAGE 2023 required experience and patience that was rewarded with essential hang-time and ripening. The growing season started cool, then May sunshine brought an average bloom in mid-June followed by a glorious summer. We enjoyed many classic 80-degree Willamette Valley days, with nighttime highs staying down in the 50s even in August, typically the warmest month here in Oregon. The only exception to these consistent diurnal swings was a single big heat spike in mid-August. We anticipated picking in early September. However, some fortuitous rain events allowed us to push back harvest and we were thankful for the additional hang time.
Harvest came early, but not too early. We brought in beautiful fruit and we were pleased to still be picking Pinot noir into early October. When you have fast accumulation of fruit sugars, cool weather can be a welcome respite with even small amounts of rain helping the grapevines regulate and slow ripening. One of the reasons why Oregon Pinot Noir is so prized is for its freshness of fruit, and you can only get that vibrancy when it’s under 50 degrees during picking.
2023 brought amazing fruit quality, but our production was down, especially on cool climate white wines like Pinot Gris. Being an estate grown winery, we must follow Mother Nature’s lead as we cannot buy fruit to increase production. Smaller yields do mean a smaller crop and less wine, but we embrace vintage variation. Another great benefit of being estate grown is that it’s our decision exactly when to pick. Rather than rushing to bring fruit into the cellar, in 2023 were able to play the odds and wait out the rain on blocks that needed additional hang time to get the flavor development we needed.
We only produce our Riesling Late Harvest in years when we can allow the fruit to ripen fully on the vine. In Oregon, this depends both on the timing of both harvest and the fall rains.
Our Late Harvest Riesling is made from very ripe fruit with 5-20% botrytis (noble rot) which adds an earthy honey character to the wine. The grapes are whole-cluster pressed and fermented at very cool temperatures in small stainless steel tanks to retain the freshness of the Riesling grapes. Some of the original sweetness is always retained in the final wine, without sacrificing structure and acidity.
This is the best late harvest I’ve ever had. Got married at elk cove back in Aug 2000 and each anniversary we celebrate with a bottle of late harvest
The wine of wines! In 1988 Adam and a friend were at Seafood and Wine festival in Newport. He talked a non wine drinker into trying this wine. The rest is history. Been drinking it ever since. Thank you Adam!!
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