93 Points Hot Wines. “Firm, focused and distinctive…”
– Wine Spectator (August 18, 2010)
93 Points “Bright ruby-red. Youthful, pungent aromas of dark berry and cherry skin, spicecake, pipe tobacco and dried rose…”
– Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar (July 1, 2010)
91 Points “…Elk Cove Vineyards’ 2008 collection is first rate.”
– Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (October 31, 2010)
There is a quiet kind of excitement in the Willamette Valley after harvest 2008. Phrases and clichés keep rolling on such as classic cool climate, vintage conditions that are only dreamt of, potential to show the best of what Oregon has to offer. Add to this, repeated references to perhaps one of Oregon’s best vintages, 1999 and understandably many in the valley are smiling. Oregon’s 2008 growing season started late, with bud break on average ten days to two weeks behind schedule and followed with a relatively cool growing season. Thoughts of the recent wet and cool harvest of 2007 had many aggressively thin vineyards to concentrate fruit and speed up ripening and ward off disease pressure. Yet as in 1999, a beautiful Oregon autumn saved the day! Fall was spectacular with sunny days and cold nights, producing the tiny berries and small clusters not seen since the 1994 and 1998 vintages, laying the foundation to produce extraordinary wines.
Roosevelt vineyard was planted in 1993 and has quickly become Elk Cove’s most prized vineyard site. A four-acre high-density (2100 vines per acre) planting situated just south of the winery on Willakenzie soils, Roosevelt’s south-facing hillside slopes to a steep precipice overlooking the magnificent Williams Canyon.
Roosevelt undergoes extensive pruning and cluster thinning to limit yields and maximize ripening to concentrate the fruit and is managed using completely organic practices. All of these elements combine to consistently produce one of Oregon’s finest Pinot Noirs.
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.
This reserve level pinot noir is produced exclusively from grapes from our Roosevelt Vineyard. The wine is fermented in 70% new oak and only the best barrels are selected to create what many consider Elk Cove’s finest Pinot Noir.
Join our mailing list for the latest updates & special offers from Elk Cove. We send around 1-2 emails/week.
You may unsubscribe at any time.
