WEEKLY FLIGHT 8/19 through 8/21/2021 - St. Innocent Winery

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  • By Mark Meissner
WEEKLY FLIGHT 8/19 through 8/21/2021 - St. Innocent Winery

Happy Thursday,
 
Starting this afternoon, we are showcasing a Willamette Valley house favorite - ST. INNOCENT. Founder Mark Vlossak conceived of the winery back in the early 1980s and learned from one of Oregon's greatest pioneers, Fred Arterberry. I first met Mark back in 2015 at Oregon's trade-only, "Pinot Camp" and you'll find my photo below taken while on a hike with Mark to the top of Temperance Hill overlooking the Eola-Amity AVA. Early on, we became smitten with Mark's St. Innocent wines, because they are true, varietally-correct wines which unabashedly show the purity of Oregon's terroir. Read on and join us for a special tasting of four St. Innocent wines tonight, tomorrow and Saturday.
 
The weather outlook this week certainly has changed and the sun is out! But with the positive weather, we also learned this week of the mandatory mask mandate. As of yesterday, all indoor establishments are required by the county to comply. The proclamation mandates that face coverings be worn in any indoor public place, business, or establishment within the City of Charlotte and across Meck County. So kindly pull out your favorite mask when you visit the store and tasting room. We also ask that if you're planning to join us for a tasting, please let us know you've been vaccinated. It's likely we'll ask you and hope you'll receive the question with positive intent for the overall well-being and safety of you and other patrons in the tasting room. Thank you for your commitment to help us all stomp out COVID 19.
 
We have some really fun wines to show you this week! And here are some of our upcoming tasting room events, please make note:
 
  • ST. INNOCENT OREGON PRODUCER PROBE AUG 19-21
  • FOCUSED 'VARIETAL VIEW' OF SAUVIGNON BLANC AUGUST 26-28
  • CÔTE DE BEAUNE VS. CÔTE DE NUITS SEPT 2-4
  • FOXEN-SANTA BARBARA PRODUCER PROBE SEPT 9-11
 
Come taste with us anytime Thursdays and Fridays from 5pm to 7:30pm and all day Saturday afternoons from 1 to 7:30pm. It's always changing every week as we focus on regions, grapes and producers to further your own personal wine journey.
 
With much gratitude,
Mark
 
 
This week's focus:
ST.INNOCENT WINERY, Oregon's Willamette Valley
Flight of 4 wines: $24 tasting
Here is the lineup:
 
 
St. Innocent Winery "Freedom Hill Vineyard"
Willamette Valley Pinot Blanc 2017
$20/btl retail
 
St. Innocent Winery "Temperance Hill Vineyard"
Eola Amity Hills Pinot Noir 2016
$47/btl retail
 
St. Innocent Winery "Momtazi Vineyard"
McMinnville Pinot Noir 2017 
$47/btl retail
 
St. Innocent Winery "Shea Vineyard"
Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir 2016
$67/btl retail
 
$24/flight of three
Full 2.5 oz, half glass pours
 
 
THURS/FRI Aug 19-20: 5-7:30pm
SAT Aug 21st: 1-7:30pm
 
 
Mark Vlossak is the Founder, President, and Winemaker of St. Innocent Winery in Jefferson, Oregon. During his university training, he developed a love for Champagne. After reading an article in 1983 on American sparkling wine in Bon Appetit magazine, he was inspired to become a winemaker. Andre Tshelishev was quoted: "the greatest sparkling wine in America will be made in Oregon, not California, because it is the right place to grow Pinot noir and Chardonnay, the grapes of Champagne." During his training, he apprenticed with Fred Arterberry, Jr., the first Oregonian to make sparkling wine. Fred also produced the first vineyard-designated Pinot noirs in Oregon, something Mark would soon become famous for producing.
 
Mark has always made the wines, oversees the vineyards, and represents St. Innocent in the national marketplace. The winery has grown from 600 cases in the first year to their current production of roughly just 6,200 cases. Each wine is still handcrafted.
 
"The winery is named after my father, who introduced me to wine at the age of seven. Unusually, I loved it! I quickly developed a very good palate and we had a nightly wine lesson with dinner. As a hobby, he was one of the early members of the Society of Wine Educators. He was in the first group to pass the SWE certificate exam, and was the first American to earn a Lifetime Achievement Award. He had an importers license for 20 years, working for a Wisconsin wine importer / distributor, and frequently traveled to wine regions around the world. Everyone knew him as 'John I. Vlossak', as he was not fond of his middle name- 'Innocent'. I wanted to honor his influence on my palate- the one thing that can not be taught. 'John's Winery' would have sounded too boring, and 'Vlossak Winery' sounds too much like a certain pickle company, so I ultimately settled on 'St. Innocent', and the rest is history."
 
- Mark Vlossak, Founder and Winemaker
 
 
From the Winery:
 
St. Innocent Winery's produced its first vintage in 1988. We harvested 10 tons, producing 600 cases: a Pinot noir, Chardonnay from Seven Springs VIneyard, and a methode champenoise sparking wine. Our Founder and Winemaker, Mark Vlossak, apprentised under Fred Arterberry at Arterberry, Ltd. In McMInnville beginning in 1987 and the first vintage was made at Arterberry, Ltd. across the street from Oregon's original Pinot noir producer, Eyrie Vineyards. In the summer of 1989, the wines were moved to a leased warehouse in South Salem and our first Chardonnay was bottled. Production increased over the next five years, reaching 42 tons in 1993.
 
In 1994 St. Innocent Winery purchased land off of Salem Parkway and Mark built his first winery. We continued to grow through the mid 2000's,harvesting about 100 tons per year to produce about 6500 cases each year. During that time, the balance of wines changed, becoming more focused on vineyard-designated Pinot noir. In 2004, Mark began serching for a vineyard to become the winery's estate. In 2006, 18 years after St. Innocent was founded, we purchased a membership interest in Zenith Vineyard, LLC, originally founded as O'Connor Vineyard. This site produced St. Innocent's first vineyard-designated Pinot noir in 1989 and was continuously produced through 1998.
 
In 2017 St. Innocent Ltd sold its interest in Zenith Vineyard, as well as the Winery, to the Rameys and purchased 47.55 acres in the SE corner of the South Salem Hills. We planted 16 acres of Pinot noir and Chardonnay and finished the new Winery in 2019. With a full commercial kitchen and an expanded Tasting Room, we are focused on food and wine pairings and events. There are food pairings daily as well as an enticing Bistro Board with local cheeses, charcuterie and special surprises. Our Tasting Room overlooks the center of our property with its lovely ravines and pond inhabited by our geese and grey heron.
The winery was designed specifically to meet the winemaking values of our Winemaker, Mark Vlossak. It would be a place to make great wine, designed to optimizing each step in the winemaking process for both our staff and the specific wines we produce. Grapes begin their transformation into wine by being sorted inside, under temperature-controlled conditions, with perfect lighting to ensure only the best fruit is used. They move by gravity into the fermenters and presses. The fermented wines rest underground in our naturally humidified and cooled barrel room, undisturbed throughout the aging process. All our wines are racked without pumping and bottled by gravity.
 
With our move to Enchanted Way Vineyard, we decreased our production by almost 40%. We stopped producing Pinot noir from Zenith and Justice Vineyards and discontinued Pinot Gris production. This allowed Mark to begin making small amounts of Riesling and up to three sparkling wines. We now harvest about 100 tons of fruit, 70% of which is Pinot noir, producing 6200 cases of wine.
 
 
 
St. Innocent Winery "Freedom Hill Vineyard"
Willamette Valley Pinot Blanc 2017
$20/btl retail
 
Vineyard Notes: Freedom Hill is located in the foothills of the Coast Range 10 miles southwest of Salem, Oregon. The vines were planted in 1993 and 2008 on well-drained silty clay loam. It has a southwest exposure at an elevation of 475’ and benefits from heat rising off the valley floor.
 
Production Notes: This Pinot Blanc is produced in a style to accentuate texture and ripe fruit flavors. The must was fermented 25% in barrel and 75% in tank and aged for 8 months on the lees. Vintage Notes 2016 was the third in a string of warm summers and early harvests. It produced the smallest crop of the three. The harvest began with a bit of heat and dehydration in the fruit. This immediately resolved with cooler temperatures and the rest of the harvest produced well-balanced fruit with lovely flavors and ripe tannins. We finished picking at the end of September, producing a total of 10,200 cases. In general 2016 produced lush, early-drinking wines with lovely aromatics and accessible fruit, spice and floral notes. They can be aged and are quite approachable in their youth.
 
Tasting Notes: This Pinot Blanc has ripe pear, Asian pear and kiwi with hints of nutmeg and white pepper. On the palate these fruits are mirrored by a lovely backbone of fresh acidity with baked pear, hints of meringue and an almost flinty minerality.
 
 
 
St. Innocent Winery "Temperance Hill Vineyard" Eola Amity Hills Pinot Noir 2016
$47/btl retail
 
Vineyard Notes: Temperance Hill Vineyard is located in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, ten miles NW of Salem, Oregon, and is organically farmed. This exposed, cool high altitude site ripens later than surrounding vineyards. Our Pinot Noir grapes come from three blocks planted on thin weathered basalt. The East Block planted in 1984 is on a steep hill rising to 870’. The “R” and Pump House Blocks face south.
 
Production Notes: The de-stemmed grapes were fermented in 4-8 ton stainless steel and Burgundy oak fermenters with no SO2, allowing the fermentation to proceed naturally. After gentle pressing and settling, the wine aged in French oak barrels, 29% of which were new, for 16 months before bottling by gravity without fining.
 
Tasting Notes: The nose of the Pinot Noir Temperance Hill boldly walks the line between ripe cherries and raspberries. A signature of this wine is the smoky quality that is a classic feature of its terroir. This year it veers toward fresh spruce balanced by purple iris and wisteria. The mouth is immediately generous with very sweet fruits including wild strawberry and plum. True to 2016, you can crack this bottle and it will be a delight.
 
 
 
St. Innocent Winery "Momtazi Vineyard"
McMinnville Pinot Noir 2017 
$47/btl retail
 
Vineyard Notes: Momtazi Vineyard is located in the McMinnville AVA, 7 miles west of McMinnville, Oregon. The grapes for this wine come from four blocks at the top of the vineyard on steep, exposed and windblown hillsides. Planted in 1999 and 2004 on thin, poor soils, the vines have a south and SW exposure at an elevation of 680-760'. The vineyard is certified biodynamic by Demeter.
 
Production Notes: The de-stemmed grapes were fermented in 4-8 ton stainless steel and Burgundy oak fermenters with no SO2 allowing the fermentation to proceed naturally. After gently pressing and settling the wine aged in French oak barrels, 27% which were new, for 16 months before bottling by gravity without fining.
 
Tasting Notes: The 2017 Momtazi has aromas of deep dark berry and roasted spice with hints of smoky clove, sweet tobacco and peat moss. Roasted eastern spices, dried blueberry and blackberry fruit flavors stream across your mouth and carry into an extended finish of complex blue fruit and sweet spice. It is remarkable that this level of concentration is seamlessly integrated.
 
 
 
St. Innocent Winery "Shea Vineyard"
Yamhill-Carlton Pinot Noir 2016
$67/btl retail
 
Vineyard Notes: Shea Vineyard is located in the Yamhill-Carlton District AVA, 35 miles SW of Portland, Oregon. The grapes for this wine come from two blocks: Block 6 faces SE on a hillside of shallow sedimentary soil at an elevation of 450’ to 500’ planted with Pommard and 115. The Terrace Block is a very steep SW slope planted in 2002 with the Pommard clone.
 
Production Notes: The de-stemmed grapes were fermented in 4-8 ton stainless steel and oak fermenters with no SO2, allowing the fermentations to proceed naturally. After gentle pressing and settling, the wine aged in French oak barrels, 21% of which were new, for 16 months before bottling by gravity without fining.
 
Tasting Notes: The 2017 Shea has intense dark aromas of dried flowers, white pepper, dried blackberries and earth. Supple while pervasive flavors of raspberry, black cherry and dried strawberry are intertwined with cola, dark chocolate and ginger root. The ample tannins blend effortlessly with the sweet acidity, fading gently into the finish.