Elk Cove Vineyards — Attraction in Forest Grove

OK, to be upfront here, we’re almost “regulars” in terms of visiting Elk Cove Vineyard. We enjoy it very much and between bringing visitors for a tasting at Elk Cove, picking up our twice a year wine orders [we’re members of their Roosevelt Wine Club] and normal visits, we get there fairly often. It’s a Happy Place for us!

On Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, we brought out a group of six- friends from our home state of Wisconsin and their adult children- who were all in the area because of a family wedding. My wife and I ordered a bottle of their Pinot Noir Rose and the rest of the group placed their orders. We also ordered two of the provisions boards- each with three different cheeses, several meats, olives, mustard, jam, dried cherries, crackers, and more. $30.00 each and very good. They also offer a cheese board [which comes with many other items] for $20.00. While we had all had lunch earlier, it’s still good to have something to nibble on while you’re wine tasting!

Most of our group had the Estate flight- which is “No Charge” for Roosevelt Club members and two people shared their Reserve flight option- consisting of their Reserve wines and also including one more wine to taste- for a higher price. They also offer a sparkling wine tasting option. Our server was Shane- one of our favorites at Elk Cove. He is very knowledgeable about Oregon wine and the Elk Cove operation- and he’s also personable, very nice, and has a good sense of humor. In fact, I learned some things from Shane about the history of Elk Cove that I hadn’t heard before, even though we’ve been members there for quite a few years. We sat outdoors so we had a nice view of the vineyard while enjoying a perfect temperature. There were a few pesky hornets, so we made use of paper napkins to shield the charcutier plates.

After we finished a rather leisurely tasting, we ordered three different bottles of their excellent Pinot Noir wines to take back to our home in the Portland area. As we walked back to our cars, we took time to enjoy the spectacular views looking west, along with checking out the grape vines to see how they’re doing. Harvest time is not far away!

To summarize, if you enjoy wine, I highly recommend Elk Cove. The service is top notch, the wines are all excellent and the views and atmosphere...

I really wanted to love this place, but it was possibly the most poorly managed tasting I've done. To start, I should say that this tasting was done in a tent on a the property due to construction issues. They are slated to have the tent for the next 12 days from the date of this review. I don't knock them for the tent, you have to do construction sometime. But the management of our tasting was so bad, that I have serious concerns about the quality of the tasting inside the tasting room. We were ignored for the vast majority of our tasting appointment. It wasn't until we were literally the only customers that we received adequate attention. They set their tasting at 70 minutes for 5 wines because it's going to take a long time to get your next pour. That's fine if you're there with a group and hanging out, but if you're just a party of two clearly experienced tasters, the serving staff should be able to adjust. I came very close to just leaving after my first pour be cause it took close to 20 minutes for them to realize we hadn't had our second, despite me staring at them with a very empty glass in front of them. The excuse given was that it was their second day serving in the tent and they weren't used to it, but to be honest, that excuse fell pretty flat with how few customers they actually had (there was 5 other groups when we arrived, none by the time we got to wine 4 of 5). They honestly should have just closed for the weeks that their tasting room was unavailable if it was going to be this bad. All of that said, their wines are good. I would avoid this place until their tasting room is actually available again, but even then, I would hesitate to do a repeat tasting with the other quality experience wineries that are in the area. Yes, they're an original. But they are completely phoning it in with...

I really want to give Elk Cove a 2.5

Their location is very pretty. Their tasting room views felt like you could see a 360° of the property. Their wine are fruit forward and not really dry, so if that's what you're into, you'll have a great time.

However, if be their tasting room has more than a few small groups it becomes too loud. With Oregon reading weather it means patrons will congregate only inside. With everyone's charter it becomes difficult to talk with staff.

Let's talk about the staff. At first it was fine when we were attended by one of the younger male staff, but he left me and my partner halfway through our tasting. There is a serious lack of communication between the wine tasting staff as I saw each and every staff member look at me, look at another staff, and assume everything was okay. Even after I had gone to the counter to have my next tasting the staff who poured me the wine only did that. He poured the wine looked at me and then walked away to talk to another patron. He gave no infirmation on what the wine was or any notes. After what seemed to be 30 - 40 minutes our original staff member helping us walked out of the back and only washed dishes. I understand it could get busy and multiple staff can help patrons but when the front of house staff is 5 and none of them even asked if everything was okay, that left a sour taste in my mouth.

Overall it was a slightly below average experience and if I'm honest, I don't plan...