Winemaker Notes
Mount Richmond Vineyard sits on Willakenzie soils in the heart of the Yamhill Carlton AVA. Only the barrels that are most representative of the Mount Richmond profile are carefully blended to create a big, luscious Oregon Pinot Noir.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Rich yet graceful and well-knit, with lilting flavors of raspberry and blackberry that take on clove and tobacco accents as this builds structure and polish toward fine-grained tannins.
-
Decanter
Deliciously ripe, the Mount Richmond site is secluded, sitting at the western end of the Willamette Valley with south-east-facing slopes. It’s generously aromatic with Christmas spice and clove that lead to black and red berry fruits. The palate is lushly dark fruited, fleshy ripe cherries, hints of turned earth and umami and a wonderful wild anise note at the finish.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Pinot Noir Mount Richmond, from marine sedimentary soils, has deep scents of raspberry and blackberry preserves, rose petals, mushrooms, aniseed and earth. The light-bodied palate features perfumed, spicy berry fruit. It has a silky texture, fireworks of fresh acidity and a long, nuanced finish.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Open this bottle when food is present, because it will induce hunger pangs. The temptations begin with an aromatic mix of dark raspberries, sprigs of fresh rosemary and a plate of fried plantains. Then Mount Richmond erupts with rich flavors of blackberry gelato, fried sage and a touch of orange zest.
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.”
Yamhill-Carlton, characterized by pastoral, rolling hills composed of shallow, quick-draining, ancient marine soil, is ideal for Pinot noir and other cool-climate-loving varieties. It is in the rain shadow of the Coast Range to its west, whose highest point climbs to an altitude of 3,500 feet. Yamhill-Carlton is actually surrounded by mountains on three sides: Chehalem Mountains to the north, the Dundee Hills to the east and the western Coast Range to its west, which, when it lets Pacific air through, serves to cool the region.
Vineyards grow on the ridges surrounding the two small communities of Yamhill and Carlton and cover about 1,200 acres of this 60,000 acre region, which roughly makes a horse-shoe shape on a map.