Elk Cove La Bohéme Pinot Noir 2001

I couldn't get enough turkey over Thanksgiving so after spending the T-Day with friends (who brought out an amazingly complex 9 year old Napa cabernet), I cooked a turkey and trimmings for myself the next day. I was drinking a white wine while I was cooking all afternoon, but opened up one of my library wines to celebrate the dinner. The menu included turkey, the Powell special cranberry sauce, maple glazed roasted brussel sprouts with turkey bacon, and sourdough stuffing with italian sausage & mushrooms. And for the wine...

Elk Cove La Bohéme Pinot Noir 2001
Country of origin: USA
State: Oregon
Appellation: Willamette Valley
Varietal: Pinot Noir
Stats: 13% ABV
Cost: Unknown, purchased at winery in 2003

Appearance: Medium brick-red, good legs, clear, lightly translucent
Aroma: Dark cherries & vanilla, complex notes of leather, tobacco, & tar.
Taste: Silky smooth with muted dark fruit flavors of cherries & cassis. Finishes with complex layers of leather, tobacco, and cocoa.

Wow--that just about sums up this Oregon Pinot Noir. Amazingly complex & wonderful. Flavors that I'd normally associate with a cabernet sauvignon. The kind folks at Elk Cove Vineyards are nice enough to have historical tasting & viticulture notes on past vintages so we can glean a little more of how this wine was made. The 17 acre La Bohéme Vineyard was planted in 1985 on steep, south-facing slopes of well-drained Willakenzie soils with cuttings from the original estate Pommard vines. The vines are extensively pruned and cluster thinned to limit yields. Indeed, the 2001 harvest was a mere 1.9 tons/acre with Brix = 23.8 and total acids = 0.80%. After fermentation and aging in French oak, the wine was bottle with a total acids = 0.65% and pH = 3.62. Only 484 cases were produced. For those who keep track, this vintage received a score of 90 points from Wine Enthusiast magazine in 2003.

I visited Elk Cove in 2003 while I was on vacation. It was my first visit to the Oregon wine region and I fell in love with their pinot noirs. I visited a number of wineries on that trip, but I distinctly remember Elk Cove because it was the last winery of the visit. It's located in the hills of the northern Willamette Valley way off the beaten track. But it is well worth the trouble of getting there. The winery/tasting room was situated on the top of the hill overlooking the vineyards--an absolutely gorgeous spot as the sun was beginning to go down over the western hills. Elk Cove wines are pretty widely distributed, at least their larger base lines, and I've found them to be pretty consistent over the years since 2003. You may not be able to find the La Bohéme, but definitely try any of their wines that you can find.

Salute,
a Wine Student.