So far all I can say is, everything the Dominique Laurent Bonnes Mares 2003 gives you at $115-235 a bottle, plus more elegance…quite a coffee/chocolate taste profile that does not budge…if you like that, great, if not and you want bright red fruit, move on… but what an honest wine!!! And how did they make this in the US when it tastes like a Burgundy, hot vintage, grand cru?
BTW no heat at all, just flavors coming close to roasted but finer than that…is this an Elk Cove profile?
Anyway for me personally, another piece of evidence that lying in wait out there are dozens of Oregon pinots I would really love; but I cannot trust any critic or Board member to steer me to what I would love, not even vintage wise…
Based on this and two bottles of the 2012 Thomas, though, 2012 in Oregon pinot is not an overripe, overblown, or over-anything vintage, it might be close to perfect, especially for a non-Oregon palate like mine…BUT it’s different, darker, broodier, flavors across the board
George, I agree about the 12’ vintage, for me it’s not over ripe but has a huge amount of phenolic stuffing.
There are some producers that took the wines to the extreme, but classic producers made big wines with a ton of stuffing and I bet they will age really well.
12’ isn’t 94’ or 98’ or 08’ but a completely different beast all together.
I don’t personally like the vintage as I have had many and they are not my style of Pinot but I would love to be proven wrong in 20 years, as I think these wines are 20-30 year wines.
Jason I’m not sure how much crisp red fruit we will get out of Oregon 2012, if any. But, especially given the QPR vis a vis Burgundy, there is a definite place for 2012 in my cellar. No way would I miss it.
Meanwhile my very limited experience with 2011 Oregon has been (and I am shy to say this knowing nothing about Oregon, or about Oregon 2011) thrilling. Minerality, wildness, dancing, rich but not heavy, all will be ageable into something different, nothing is as it seems…
True,
If you get a chance load up on Walter Scott ‘Combe Verte’ from 12’, the wine is pitch black but is not jammy at all, it’s crazy as it has so much stuffing, I know I’ve said this twice, but for me it’s really the only way to describe it. It’s not flattering now but I bet in ten years it will be fantastic. If any is still around it would run between $20-$30.
And… Their 13’ ‘combe’ is fantastic as well, much more as you describe the 11’ but with a bit more extraction, if you haven’t tried Walter Scott, do yourself a favor and buy as much as you can. They make about 10 different wines and all are stellar.
I mean no disrespect, but I don’t associate “a coffee/chocolate taste profile” with an “honest” Pinot. In fact, I don’t associate these flavors with Pinot at all.
I had a similar discussion with another board member on FB. I tasted through less than half of the 12’s I bought but I think muscular is a better overall descriptor than over ripe.
Jason, I agree. Very good things coming from Walter Scott. Along the same lines I’d encourage you to seek out Matello and especially the '12 Goodfellow wines. Terrific examples of vintage restraint. Burg guesses galore during a blind tasting last Friday.
Elk Cove is a totally different critter IMHO. Adam Campbell has a consistent style and a long track record. The Pinots tend to be more “unctuous” IMHO. Don’t see heavy oak as their calling card but I’ve certainly noticed it (haven’t tasted the '12 Roosevelt). Not even close to making an AFWE list. Different strokes, and the WV is better for it.
Coffee and cocoa are both flavors/aromatics I categorize as coming from a reductive style of winemaking. Not a simple reduction like H2S or a highly obvious complex form. Just compounds that evolve in a winemaking style that sees less oxidative periods.
The coffee/chocolate character can be accentuated by newer wood, but (IMHO) that is because newer barrels tend to be more reductive and impose a sweetness on the wine. Ditto riper vintages in regards to imposing a sweetness on the wines.
I don’t use much(nor any new) of heavy toast barrels, so someone else will need to speak to that.
I am a fan of Elk Cove and these are pretty consistent flavors in their wines, along with a smokey quality.
I side with Mr. Trimpi; Elk Cove makes big pinots pretty much year in and year out. I put them in the Penner Ash column of styles. Couple pommard with Yamhill with conscious efforts to go big and that is why you taste chocolate. I don’t recall ever particularly being wowed by a Yamhill-Carlton wine. Thought some were very good, but never a “wow” wine. Dundee and Chehalem for me. Just a matter of taste. I am a bit curious (and please don’t take this to be any form of attack) but why compare the Elk Cove to a Burg from 2003, a freakishly hot year in Burgundy? Also, what is the point exactly of the post, particularly the comment that you “can’t trust any board member to steer you to what you love?” IMHO, there is no such thing as a “perfect vintage”. We’re already being told that 2013 is better. Even if there were such a thing as a perfect vintage, the vineyard location, lay-out, clones, soil, irrigation, vineyard management, picking date, elevate, etc; and the winemaker is always going to have some influence on how the wine came out rendering any so-called “perfect vintage” nothing more than a “perfect canvas”.
" Even if there were such a thing as a perfect vintage, the vineyard location, lay-out, clones, soil, irrigation, vineyard management, picking date, elevate, etc; and the winemaker is always going to have some influence on how the wine came out rendering any so-called “perfect vintage” nothing more than a “perfect canvas”."
Let’s also remember this crucial fact about 2012 in the Willamette Valley:
It wasn’t a hot summer.
We were just behind a normal schedule all season long. Then at the end of September, we had dry east winds (what SoCals would call a Santa Ana) and you can taste it in the wines. Mostly not overripe. More simply concentrated, with a density that will appeal to people who typically find Oregon reds “light.” This Elk Cove sounds like it pretty much defines the vintage.
Marcus, what a coincidence to see you posting today. We’re opening a bottle of your 2011 Durant pinot noir tonight! You may not remember me, but my wife and I stopped by your tasting room in September 2013. We really enjoyed your wines, and your generosity! Happy Thanksgiving!
Hello Xavier! I definitely remember your visit and am honored you’re opening one of my wines for Thanksgiving. I haven’t pulled a cork on an '11Durant in about 5 months, so I hope you’ll let me know how it’s evolving.
I don’t know if my $0.02 will be of any value here or not. I have seen Elk Cove as a more “modern” style from the vintages I’ve had (red label & SVD) from 2002 on. However, what I don’t know is this what it takes for them to make old bones 20+ years? I had a 1990 ElkCove reserve in 2010 or 2011. It was one of the most memorable wines I’ve had next to Thomas & PG Etzel block. The 1990 Elk Cove Reserve was elegant, poised, and had great acidity & plenty of fruit for a 20+ year wine. I’ve heard the Roosevelt is the most age-worthy of their wines. Maybe it needs 15 years in the cellar first??
Thanks for posting this, Vincent. Good to have you and Marcus in this thread helping explain the vintage to folks who didn’t get to experience it themselves.
Day Five? Six? Left on the counter while I was gone. Just got home, heated up some leftovers, and had the last two glasses. My take: very similar to last week but a bit more red fruit showing amidst the darker stuff, which I still call coffee and unsweetened chocolate which I still call fruit-derived, not oak-derived. This is a wine that is stuffed. It’s like drinking Guinness. Not packed with red fruit, rather, sort of stuffed; with, I dunno, terroir or something. Drink one now over several days and put the rest away, not because it’s closed, but because it won’t change for several years. 93 points BTW.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}