Greg Higgins of Higgins restaurant in Portland, OR, came up to cook dinner last night at The Willows on Lummi Island, and Adam Campbell (winemaker and son of founder) of Elk Cove Winery, one of Oregon's first wineries, was along to pour his wines in accompaniament. We attended with some friends.
With trays of Greg's fabulous home-cured meats, Adam served a 99 Elk Cove Sparkling Wine, a 100-case labor of love project they don't have the equipment to produce on a larger basis and therefore pour only at special events. Made from an 80/20 pinot/chardonnay blend, the wine didn't show it's age and was perfectly en pointe with fine, pin-prick effervescence and mild yeasty character. Surprisingly good, considering that I never expect to be impressed with new world bubbles.
A 2006 version was poured with fresh oysters on the halfshell (Kumamoto, Olympia, Belon and Virginicus) that was accompanied by a seriously fabulous granite of red carrot and habanero pepper. In the future, I want this with every oyster I eat. The wine was clean and crisp, but perhaps a bit bland after the aged bottling.
With wood-fired oven roasted Alaskan ling cod wrapped in pancetta with Greg's house-made savoy choucroute and nettle puree picked from The Willows' gardens that morning (I loved this course), a dish that nods to the Alsatian culinary traditions Greg worships, Adam poured the 2006 Elk Cove Pinot Gris. A dusty floral nose was inviting over pure pear fruit with just a touch of nutmeg. Oak free stainless steel fermentation gives the wine a terrific purity. Soft acidity was it's only drawback, but the choucroute made up the deficit and the wine and food on the whole were well balanced.
With a pinot noir braised daube of beef with leek and Jerusalem Artichoke polenta, the 2006 Elk Cove pinot noir and 2006 Elk Cove "Mt Richmond" pinot noir were served. Mt. Richmond is a 50-acre estate parcel, where grapes for the 'regular' blend come from a combination of organically viticultured estate grapes plus fruit from Shea and Lemelson. The first wine showed plums, violets and lots of potpourri spice, and was easily my favorite of the two. The Mt. Richmond was a bit more monolithic with a less giving nose and more concentrated black cherry core, and though very good and garnering many fans at the table with it's size, size was mostly what it had to offer--though, mind you, these aren't heavy, over-extracted wines. By 'bigger', I don't mean huge. The wines were 14.2% and 14.9% abv respectively.
For dessert, a chevre tart with blood orange marmalade, we had a 2006 Elk Cove "Ultima" dessert wine, a blend of riesling, gewurz, and muscat made from frozen grapes and fermented in stainless steel. I'm not a sweet wine lover, but I adored this wine: it tasted of all three grapes, was not overly sweet, and had perfect acidity. Dessert wines don't get lighter or fresher than this.