Elk Cove Big Guns 2023
Elk Cove 2021 Single Site Pinots - Only Three dozen each for
Australia - VINTAGE 2021 was an outstanding year at Elk Cove. ADAM
CAMPBELL
Adam Campbell's parents, Pat and Joe, were very early to the Willamette Valley game; in 1974, they established Elk Cove in Gaston and have steadily expanded it to its current 400 acres of vineyards. That is simply massive by the region's standards, especially for a producer making wines in the upper quality tier. Adam came on board in 1995, and the wines have been on a continuous ascent ever since. The lineup... is consistently excellent, and the wines are showing extremely well now, which will please the impatient or fruit-craving Pinot lovers out there. But I would exercise some restraint, as they are also well-concentrated and balanced, with solid backbone that will help to see them easily past their first decade. JOSH RAYNOLDS, Vinous
25 Great American Pinot Noirs. "… Elk Cove is one of the best known and most respected Oregon pinot producers thanks to their classically crafted wines. FORBES
Yeah...I like Elk Cove. I like the cut of their jib. These are examples of Oregon fermented grape juice that exude precision, freshness, intensity and for want of a better word, sheer drinkability. These are the kind of wines that I sample professionally but leave thinking how much I would just like to abscond with them and share them with friends. Winemaker Adam Campbell is a dab hand at not just Pinot Noir but also white varieties… His Pinot Noirs were extremely consistent across the entire range, a winemaker who frankly did not seem to let the ball slip once throughout the season. This was certainly one of my most impressive tastings during my visit: a combination of old vine stock and careful winemaking by a skillful winemaker. NEAL MARTIN
VINTAGE 2021 was an outstanding year at Elk Cove. Cool weather during bloom and moderate temperatures during most of the growing season brought forth an ample harvest of intensely concentrated fruit.
The timing of weather events was key to our success in 2021. Rainfall during bloom raised expectations for a small, high-quality crop.
Harvest 2021 was not only of high quality but also surprisingly bountiful. For red Pinot Noirs, expect intense color and flavors bursting out of the glass, while white wines and rosés are fruit-forward with great acidity and balance. ADAM CAMPBELL
I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it, I'm about to lose control and I think I like it….
By now everyone who is receiving this should already by aware that we have recently taken on a few, genuinely, iconic Oregon wine estates. You have probably caught the general tone of our offers about them. These are all estates we had been buying for years from the previous importer and now are extremely happy to bring them in to the Prince fold as part of our little wine family.
On a recent trip to the States, Alex and I spent some goodly time in the Willamette visiting the various producers we knew and also looking at a number of others. Only my second time in the region, it is a lot to take in. A complex and diverse area with numerous soil profiles, aspects and other influences, make it quite challenging to begin to get your head around what happens where and why. I can't wait to get back and delve a little deeper in to a region that I have previously said may produce the best Pinot in the New World. I know that call is going to get some heckles up. Sorry.
I digress though. Elk Cove is the focus today. We have already offered some 2019 Goodrich 2021 Gris. This will offer includes their extraordinary range of single site Pinots from a vintage the locals regard as one of the greatest in their region's history, 2021.
Before I move on I want to make a very quick, but very important point. There are no reviews for these wines yet. Now, one only needs to look at the previous press surrounding these wines to know that the plaudits are due and they will be huge. See, the wines weren't technically released until last week. Hell, I didn't even know they were on the same boat as the Gris and 19 Goodrich. I believe they let us ship them early so they could make the boat with the rest of the wines.
For now you will need to trust us. My notes are below, a little brief by my standards, apologies for that. I can expand on any if anyone has any questions.
The really sad part is we only have three dozen each for retail. Yeah, 36 bottles of each. So we are only offering them to a small group of VIPs for now.
With all that being said, lets look at the winery, briefly touch on the two AVAs and eventually the actual wines.
Elk Cove is one of the oldest estates in the region. Founded in 1974 by Pat and Joe Campbell, the current winemaker is their son Adam. They set up their tiny little plot, in what is now the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. It remains one of the highest in the region.
While their family had long roots in Oregon agriculture this was a new venture and Adam tells the story about the day they arrived, after packing up their home, and driving to the empty property. Apparently his sister asked "where is the house?" and was informed it was the trailer behind where they were standing. He and his siblings grew up on that land and helped work it from a very young age. It is quite a story.
You think that would be enough to ensure you never wanted to work in a vineyard or winery again but for Adam (I think I'll call him Ads) this life drew him in and held him tight. Not only has he continued his family's legacy but he has built on it. Substantially increasing their holdings across predominately the Yamhill-Carlton and Chehalem Mountains AVAs and acquiring some of the best vineyards within the region.
As mentioned their original plantings were based at their home in what is now the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. Here the vineyards sit at the foothills of the gorgeous Coast Range. The vineyards here are sheltered by the Chehalem Mountains to the North and Dundee to the east. The soils of the original blocks are some of the oldest in the region, comprised of degraded, free draining marine sediments.
Adam and his folks extended that site but also ventured in to new vineyards as well. I am not entirely sure but I believe the next planting was the Roosevelt, just south of the winery, site which they planted to very high density vines, some 2100 vines per acre. The sandstone derived soils here are more loamy and friable. This is widely regarded as one of the region's premier sites.
In 1996 they acquired the Mount Richmond vineyard, also in the YC AVA. There is a good bit of Pommard clone planted around the Willamette and it seems to thrive here. With that in mind the family took cuttings from their Roosevelt site and propagated them as planting material for this new venture with similar high density plantings. The site is situated a little lower and more sheltered.
One of the older sites in the area the Five Mountains vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains AVA, perhaps the most famous of the districts, was planted in 1978 and acquired by the Campbells in 2005 and is now the home vineyard of Adam. The family had been sourcing fruit from this site for a long time, but as part of Adam's focus to have control of the sites they utilise they set out to purchase the property from which some of the best fruit they typically brought came from.
Now home to Adam's folks the Clay Court vineyard also lies within the CM AVA and was planted to a mix of clones in 2001. As the name may suggest the soils here are richer in clay, a dark red soil. However, the name refers to his parent's tennis court on the property not the soil type, though I guess since the court is clay then it is in a way.
Back to YC for the final site on offer the, now much sought after, Goodrich vineyard. This was a parcel, not insubstantial in size the family acquired in 2014. The soils are said to be near identical to the Mount Richmond site, those sandstone derived Willakenzie dirts. While it may be their youngest site, planted in 2007, Adam believed the fruit was of such magnificent quality that they immediately began bottling portions in their single site offerings.
Winemaking here is pretty simple, no more than a third new wood, but that oak is judiciously handled and there is no set recipe. I guess one of the keys to the success of Elk Cove is that they, by Willamette standards, have quite substantial holdings and so are able to declassify and blend at will. The wood, across their entire range of reds, is slick and beautifully managed.
Bunches play a part here, again though there is the thoughtful and careful hand of Ads behind all the decisions. I cant profess to know this fella well but you get a sense from him that he is pretty switched on, contemplative but also with a very established idea of what he wants to achieve with his wines. A style he is aiming for, within the context of his own vineyards. A part of that proposal is the ability for the wines to not only age but to mature. Two things that we tend to lump in together but don't always go hand in hand.
From our chat, from what I have tasted in the past, and from what I have seen in these recent releases, the wines are indeed built on a foundation of solid muscularity and structure. Pinot that are crafted to ensure they will not just hold in the bottle but expand and develop, ultimately delivering more for the patient.
The fruit in these 21s, and the 19s, are bold, the wines beautifully shaped and well defined. As a bracket there is a sense of sumptuousness to the underlying material but they are a little reserved. Quite tightly stuffed in to their packages with all the requisite structure to keep them somewhat compact for a while. To varying degrees, of course, but thematically they are built for the cellar not immediacy.
Adam Campbell's parents, Pat and Joe, were very early to the Willamette Valley game; in 1974, they established Elk Cove in Gaston and have steadily expanded it to its current 400 acres of vineyards. That is simply massive by the region's standards, especially for a producer making wines in the upper quality tier. Adam came on board in 1995, and the wines have been on a continuous ascent ever since. The lineup... is consistently excellent, and the wines are showing extremely well now, which will please the impatient or fruit-craving Pinot lovers out there. But I would exercise some restraint, as they are also well-concentrated and balanced, with solid backbone that will help to see them easily past their first decade. JOSH RAYNOLDS, Vinous
25 Great American Pinot Noirs. "… Elk Cove is one of the best known and most respected Oregon pinot producers thanks to their classically crafted wines. FORBES
Yeah...I like Elk Cove. I like the cut of their jib. These are examples of Oregon fermented grape juice that exude precision, freshness, intensity and for want of a better word, sheer drinkability. These are the kind of wines that I sample professionally but leave thinking how much I would just like to abscond with them and share them with friends. Winemaker Adam Campbell is a dab hand at not just Pinot Noir but also white varieties… His Pinot Noirs were extremely consistent across the entire range, a winemaker who frankly did not seem to let the ball slip once throughout the season. This was certainly one of my most impressive tastings during my visit: a combination of old vine stock and careful winemaking by a skillful winemaker. NEAL MARTIN
VINTAGE 2021 was an outstanding year at Elk Cove. Cool weather during bloom and moderate temperatures during most of the growing season brought forth an ample harvest of intensely concentrated fruit.
The timing of weather events was key to our success in 2021. Rainfall during bloom raised expectations for a small, high-quality crop.
Harvest 2021 was not only of high quality but also surprisingly bountiful. For red Pinot Noirs, expect intense color and flavors bursting out of the glass, while white wines and rosés are fruit-forward with great acidity and balance. ADAM CAMPBELL
I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it, I'm about to lose control and I think I like it….
By now everyone who is receiving this should already by aware that we have recently taken on a few, genuinely, iconic Oregon wine estates. You have probably caught the general tone of our offers about them. These are all estates we had been buying for years from the previous importer and now are extremely happy to bring them in to the Prince fold as part of our little wine family.
On a recent trip to the States, Alex and I spent some goodly time in the Willamette visiting the various producers we knew and also looking at a number of others. Only my second time in the region, it is a lot to take in. A complex and diverse area with numerous soil profiles, aspects and other influences, make it quite challenging to begin to get your head around what happens where and why. I can't wait to get back and delve a little deeper in to a region that I have previously said may produce the best Pinot in the New World. I know that call is going to get some heckles up. Sorry.
I digress though. Elk Cove is the focus today. We have already offered some 2019 Goodrich 2021 Gris. This will offer includes their extraordinary range of single site Pinots from a vintage the locals regard as one of the greatest in their region's history, 2021.
Before I move on I want to make a very quick, but very important point. There are no reviews for these wines yet. Now, one only needs to look at the previous press surrounding these wines to know that the plaudits are due and they will be huge. See, the wines weren't technically released until last week. Hell, I didn't even know they were on the same boat as the Gris and 19 Goodrich. I believe they let us ship them early so they could make the boat with the rest of the wines.
For now you will need to trust us. My notes are below, a little brief by my standards, apologies for that. I can expand on any if anyone has any questions.
The really sad part is we only have three dozen each for retail. Yeah, 36 bottles of each. So we are only offering them to a small group of VIPs for now.
With all that being said, lets look at the winery, briefly touch on the two AVAs and eventually the actual wines.
Elk Cove is one of the oldest estates in the region. Founded in 1974 by Pat and Joe Campbell, the current winemaker is their son Adam. They set up their tiny little plot, in what is now the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. It remains one of the highest in the region.
While their family had long roots in Oregon agriculture this was a new venture and Adam tells the story about the day they arrived, after packing up their home, and driving to the empty property. Apparently his sister asked "where is the house?" and was informed it was the trailer behind where they were standing. He and his siblings grew up on that land and helped work it from a very young age. It is quite a story.
You think that would be enough to ensure you never wanted to work in a vineyard or winery again but for Adam (I think I'll call him Ads) this life drew him in and held him tight. Not only has he continued his family's legacy but he has built on it. Substantially increasing their holdings across predominately the Yamhill-Carlton and Chehalem Mountains AVAs and acquiring some of the best vineyards within the region.
As mentioned their original plantings were based at their home in what is now the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. Here the vineyards sit at the foothills of the gorgeous Coast Range. The vineyards here are sheltered by the Chehalem Mountains to the North and Dundee to the east. The soils of the original blocks are some of the oldest in the region, comprised of degraded, free draining marine sediments.
Adam and his folks extended that site but also ventured in to new vineyards as well. I am not entirely sure but I believe the next planting was the Roosevelt, just south of the winery, site which they planted to very high density vines, some 2100 vines per acre. The sandstone derived soils here are more loamy and friable. This is widely regarded as one of the region's premier sites.
In 1996 they acquired the Mount Richmond vineyard, also in the YC AVA. There is a good bit of Pommard clone planted around the Willamette and it seems to thrive here. With that in mind the family took cuttings from their Roosevelt site and propagated them as planting material for this new venture with similar high density plantings. The site is situated a little lower and more sheltered.
One of the older sites in the area the Five Mountains vineyard in the Chehalem Mountains AVA, perhaps the most famous of the districts, was planted in 1978 and acquired by the Campbells in 2005 and is now the home vineyard of Adam. The family had been sourcing fruit from this site for a long time, but as part of Adam's focus to have control of the sites they utilise they set out to purchase the property from which some of the best fruit they typically brought came from.
Now home to Adam's folks the Clay Court vineyard also lies within the CM AVA and was planted to a mix of clones in 2001. As the name may suggest the soils here are richer in clay, a dark red soil. However, the name refers to his parent's tennis court on the property not the soil type, though I guess since the court is clay then it is in a way.
Back to YC for the final site on offer the, now much sought after, Goodrich vineyard. This was a parcel, not insubstantial in size the family acquired in 2014. The soils are said to be near identical to the Mount Richmond site, those sandstone derived Willakenzie dirts. While it may be their youngest site, planted in 2007, Adam believed the fruit was of such magnificent quality that they immediately began bottling portions in their single site offerings.
Winemaking here is pretty simple, no more than a third new wood, but that oak is judiciously handled and there is no set recipe. I guess one of the keys to the success of Elk Cove is that they, by Willamette standards, have quite substantial holdings and so are able to declassify and blend at will. The wood, across their entire range of reds, is slick and beautifully managed.
Bunches play a part here, again though there is the thoughtful and careful hand of Ads behind all the decisions. I cant profess to know this fella well but you get a sense from him that he is pretty switched on, contemplative but also with a very established idea of what he wants to achieve with his wines. A style he is aiming for, within the context of his own vineyards. A part of that proposal is the ability for the wines to not only age but to mature. Two things that we tend to lump in together but don't always go hand in hand.
From our chat, from what I have tasted in the past, and from what I have seen in these recent releases, the wines are indeed built on a foundation of solid muscularity and structure. Pinot that are crafted to ensure they will not just hold in the bottle but expand and develop, ultimately delivering more for the patient.
The fruit in these 21s, and the 19s, are bold, the wines beautifully shaped and well defined. As a bracket there is a sense of sumptuousness to the underlying material but they are a little reserved. Quite tightly stuffed in to their packages with all the requisite structure to keep them somewhat compact for a while. To varying degrees, of course, but thematically they are built for the cellar not immediacy.