2010 Roosevelt

Heady & rich with tons of sweet dark fruit and huge dense ripe tannins balancing out the considerable oak components.  Hints of balsalmic, fig & star anise, the 2010 Roosevelt is a complex wine that offers new experiences and layers as it is enjoyed.

Accolades

90 Points in Wine & Spirits Magazine

“Scents of beef consommé and smoke suggest a fairly oaky profile, but there’s ample fruit to carry it…”
Wine & Spirits Magazine (August, 2013)

Vintage

Vintage 2010 brings to mind some catchy phrases. The year of the birds – Hitchcock style, let ‘em hang and our favorite, and slogan for the vintage – “Hang ‘10”! Yes, harvest was later than normal. An exceptionally cold, wet spring was followed by what many seasoned producers recall as one of the shortest summers. However, 2010 was not the worst of years. The ‘attack of our feathered friends,’ whose almost unprecedented assault on valley fruit, also indicated nature’s signal that the fruit was ripe and grapes good indeed. Winemaker, Adam Campbell, comments in response to vintage nervousness, “you know, we have been doing this for almost 40 years, and it’s not the first time we’ve had slow ripening. We’re optimistic about it and we know exactly what to do.” Even science agrees. Climatologists show similarities to the great 2008 vintage; reporting lower yields, small berries and full flavor development at lower brix levels – all signs pointing to high quality wines with lower alcohols.

Vineyard

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.

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.

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.

Viticultural & Enological Data

  • Vine Age 18 years
  • Yield 1.5 tons/acre
  • Harvest Sugars 23.5 Brix
  • pH 3.72
  • Vatting Fermentation in small open top steel fermenters. 10 months in French oak.
  • Cases Produced 268