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2007 Elke BLue Diamond Tasting Notes

2009 Elke BLue Diamond Tasting Notes

Old World-Style Pinot Noir

1997-2012

Elke Vineyards
Donnelly Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir

The Blue Diamond is born of tradition. Every year, we make this wine from the same combination of three Pinot Noir clones, from specific blocks of our Donnelly Creek Vineyard. Year after year, we de-stem and crush the grapes in the same way, we use the same strain of Burgundian yeast, the same French cooperage for barrels, the same proportion of new barrels, the same aging time in those barrels, and we bottle the wine unfined and unfiltered. The result is consistently elegant, Old World-style Pinot Noir that speaks of the vineyard.

The Blue Diamond reveals classic Pinot Noir characteristics: layers of red fruit, balanced by earth and minerality, wrapped in velvety tannins, followed by a long, long finish. However, careful tasters will be rewarded with something more: hints of cedar and spice intermingled with deep savory notes. We believe that these elements derive from the two Pinot Noir clones in this wine that are unique to Elke Vineyards – we do not know of any other vineyard growing them.

The Blue Diamond is a wine made for aging, which is why we usually wait an additional year after bottling before releasing it. Although it drinks well now, it will also benefit from five to ten years in your cellar.

(It is also worth noting that since we keep most of the Blue Diamond winemaking variables constant from year to year, the differences that you may taste from one vintage of Blue Diamond to another are the clearest possible expression of the differences that occurred in the growing seasons for the grapes.)

2011 Croppy Fetcher Wine Tasting nOTES

New World-Style Pinot Noir

2011 Croppy Fetcher Anderson Valley Pinot Noir

This wine opens with aromas of red currants and blueberries, and on the palate it reveals confected cherry, cranberry and sweet floral notes.  The finish elegantly layers the fruit and floral flavors with caramel and baking spices.  We describe this wine as pretty and delicate, because it has less of the deep earthy and savory flavors that you may find in our other Pinot Noirs.  In many ways, we are establishing a new tradition with this wine.

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Elke-Style Pinot Noir

2011 Mary Elke "Boonville Barter" Pinot Noir

This wine has humble beginnings. We started making it, using excess grapes, as a simple Pinot Noir for our family (because we were drinking too much of our more expensive wines). We also used it for bartering in the nearby town of Boonville, hence the name. But a few years ago, we realized that this humble wine was expressing something quintessentially Elke, year after year, so we began to include more of our best grapes and use more of our best oak barrels in making it. Yet we are careful to ensure that this Pinot Noir remains solidly Elke-style, both in terms of taste and in terms of value. Although this wine will see less new oak than our Mary Elke Pinot Noir, it is still produced using the same traditional, hand-crafted approach.

2011 Mary Elke Pinot gris Tasting Notes

Elke-Style Pinot Gris

2011 Mary Elke Pinot Gris

Our goal for this wine is to showcase the best of our Pinot Gris grapes: crisply aromatic, with ripe fruit tones (honeydew melon, citrus, and pear), luxurious texture in the mouth, and intriguing hints of almonds and ginger spice. This is Pinot Gris with real character, yet it pairs beautifully with complex foods. Nonetheless, our favorite pairing for this wine is sublimely simple: freshly-shucked oysters.

2011 Mary Elke CHARDONNAY Tasting Notes

Food-Loving Chardonnay

2011 Mary Elke Chardonnnay

Our minimalist winemaking reveals the natural energy and delicacy of our cool-climate Chardonnay grapes. The wine opens with intense wet-stone minerality, Meyer lemon, tart green apple and pennyroyal. That fresh, mouth-watering fruit note continues throughout, providing an elegant counterpoint to the creamy texture on the palate and a hint of pie crust on the finish. This is Chablis-style Chardonnay, so it is not an oaky, buttery, or high alcohol Chardonnay. It shines when paired with sushi, cooked shellfish dishes, or cuisine involving mustard or cream-based sauces. 

Party-Loving Brut

Mary Elke Pinot Brut NV

For more than two decades the Elke family has grown Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to be made into sparkling wine by Mumm Napa, and more recently by Roederer Estate. Naturally, we have become aficionados of sparkling wine, and when the opportunity arose to have some made under our own label, we jumped at it. This Brut is made from grapes grown in select Mendocino vineyards. It is produced using the méthode traditionelle, and is 40% Pinot Noir (for structure and power) and 60% Chardonnay (for richness and finesse). This non-vintage Brut is aged en tirage for seven months, resulting in a crisp and yeasty sparkler that will complement almost any food.