Elk Cove Vineyards

2001 Willamette Valley
Pinot Gris

Nobody I’ve talked to, or reviews I’ve read, have had a flawed word to say about this wine. It’s kinda weird when a wine is this popular…

Make friends with this Elk, and you’ll be a better person for it in the long run. Hell, you may even fall in love with it. I’m talking about the Pinot Gris in the bottle my friend; get your mind back in focus, you sicko.


This wine takes its place in the top tier of Pinot Gris’ from the leading Pinot Gris region in the west. Pretty much the best of the best. If you need to side step your expensive Chardonnay habit and jump into a $16.00 bottle that has “mucho bang for the buck” like few others, step up to Elk Cove Vineyards. 8000 cases were produced from the 2001 vintage and reviews across the board, coast to coast, have been superb.

Nobody I’ve talked to or reviews I’ve read have had a flawed word to say about this wine. It’s kinda weird when a wine is this popular, this well received, this heralded (multiple vintages in a row), this gawked at and all around loved. No backlashes at all by me or any others regarding price, availability, food friendliness, taste structure, balance, fruit composition, acidity, aromas, or any other geeky quality. It’s all good in the neighborhood. Some wines (and winemakers) just know what they are doing and go for the gusto.

This Pinot Gris is light straw in color with crystal clear integrity in the glass. Full-bodied whiffs of pear and floral hints blend with tangy back woods dusty smoky aromas to give this wine an A+ on the nose. Everything is nice so far and now I’m THIRSTY. The first few tastes bring out brisk tangerine and ripe peach flavors that really gets the mouth-watering juices flowing. Some kiwi blends with a slight hint of residual sugar to make this not so delicate wine take on a bit of a tropical fruit style.

The medium bodied grip brings this Gris up into the “solo drinking” category; it works well with food but also has enough depth and character that it can stand alone anytime. Luxurious but lite spice and pear team up to make this multi-dimensional puppy (I mean Elk) stand-up and demand some time in your mouth. Long finish, intense flavors and Willamette Valley pedigree put this at the top of the Pinot Gris pack. Should be ready to break out of this price range soon.

I just went to an “Old World vs. New World” wine tasting hosted by my local wine super store and this Pinot Gris was one of the two west coast U.S. wines they chose to include in their intimate 60 person tasting. It was very popular with the crowd and I’m sure many cases were sold that night after everyone was impressed by the tasting. I tried my bottle a few days before and knew it was going to be a winner.

This wine is whole cluster pressed and fermented at very cool temperatures and over seen and perfected by the current winemaker Adam Godlee Campbell. Adam is the son of the owners and took over in 1995 as winemaker and has really had everybody talking about his wines since. It is a family affair that should continue to pump out great stuff year after year.

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