Winemaker Notes
Fruit from Five Mountain is fermented in small, temperature controlled steel tanks, hand punched down twice daily, and barreled in French oak barrels. After 10 months of aging, only the barrels that are most representative of the Five Mountain profile are carefully blended to create a rich, earthy Oregon Pinot Noir.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Supple and handsomely structured, this Pinot is plum with polished raspberry and cherry flavors accented by cinnamon and orange peel. Finishes with fine-grained tannins.
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Decanter
From a historic site in the foothills of the Cascade Range and the Laurelwood District AVA, the aromas are soft and elegant, With sweet red berries, smoky rose petals, and notes of black tea. The palate is concentrated with ripe fruit, candied raspberries, black cherry flesh, and a finish of spicy black plums.
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Wine Enthusiast
Walking through a garden after a much-needed summer rain might give you a sense of the Five Mountain’s earthy pleasures. Additional aromas of sweet red raspberries and a walnut scone are merely icing on the earthy cake. This is a balanced wine, with gentle acidity and silky tannins accompanying flavors of tart pie cherries, cacao and cinnamon.
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James Suckling
The 2022 Pinot Noir Five Mountain, grown on Laurelwood soils, is scented of raspberry, red cherry jam, cinnamon, mushrooms and orange peel. The light-bodied palate is silky and refreshing with understated, floral fruit and a long, spicy finish.
One of the founding wineries of the Willamette Valley, family-owned and operated Elk Cove Vineyards was the first vineyard in what is now the Yamhill-Carlton AVA. Second-generation Owner/Winemaker and fifth-generation Oregon farmer Adam Campbell sources fruit from Elk Cove's six 100% estate-grown, sustainably farmed vineyard sites located across the northern Willamette Valley, specializing in Pinot Noir and cool-climate white wines. Elk Cove is named for the local herd of Roosevelt elk and the protective bowl shape of the property. Its tasting room is tucked into the foothills of the Coast Range, with spectacular views of the surrounding vineyards and mountains.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
The Chehalem Mountains is a northwest-southeast span of several distinct mountains, ridges and peaks in the northern part of the Willamette Valley. Of all of Willamette Valley's smaller AVAs, it is closest to the city of Portland. Its highest summit, Bald Peak at an elevation of 1,633 feet, serves to generate cooler air for the rest of the AVA and its hillside vineyards. The region covers 70,000 acres but only 1,600 acres are planted to vines; soils of the Chehalem Mountains are a mix of basalt, ocean sediment and loess.