St Innocent Pinot noir Villages Cuvee WV 08
St Innocent Pinot noir Villages Cuvee WV 08 -
Nicely perfumed with dusky, Pinot-funky notes that quickly turn to savory red cherry, rose petal and toast scents. The palate has a great melding of high and low notes - bright red cherry, berry and citrus meshes with blackberry, toast, peppery spice and fine tannins. In fewer words: balanced and integrated. - Marcus & Adrienne
The 2008 Villages Cuvée Pinot noir has a lovely nose of bright red fruit and sweet spices. Cherry and red berry flavors are layered with pie spices and a hints of flowers. Deep ruby and quite rich for Vitae Springs, the '08 reflects the vintage's more concentrated and robust, layered structure. Bottled in November '09, it will benefit from being opened 1-2 hours and can be aged up to 6 years to gain complexity. This is a beautiful bottle from one of the greatest Oregon vintages in the past 30 years. - Mark Vlossak, winemaker
2008 was an exceptional vintage, made exceptional by being quietly ordinary. Bloom was very late in variable weather. The result was smaller clusters with fewer berries. The summer passed quickly with veraison occuring earlier than expected, leaving the false impression that there was more crop hanging in the vineyard than there really was. Final ripening took place in endless cool, sunny days in an atmosphere of calm that I have never experienced, but hope to again. The fruit was picked clean and perfectly ripe. The only downside was the very small crop, our smallest in ten years.
The 2008 Villages Cuvée is a blend of new and old Pinot noir blocks at Vitae Springs Vineyard. The older blocks are planted with Pommard and the 115 Dijon clone in the Inwood block at Vitae Springs. The younger vines are clone 777 and 115 in the Hare and Caleb blocks.
Previous Vintage Tasting Notes
2007 Vintage Tasting Notes
St Innocent Villages Cuvee Willamette Valley 07 - Think of a bowful of fresh picked wild berries. Now put a dollop of fresh cream on top and you have an idea of the yumminess of St. Innocent's Villages Cuvee 07. A light essence of smoke and rosemary rounds out the finish of succulent fruit. While labeled as a cuvee, the 07 is made exclusively from Vitae Springs vineyard grapes. As always, among the finest values in Oregon Pinot.
Pinotfile gave the St. Innocent Villages Cuvee their "highest commendation" and top honors in their recent newsletter. In the article, Rusty Gaffney reviewed 42 Oregon Pinots priced at $25 or less.
Pinotfile says: "Winemaker Mark Vlossak is at the top of his game. The wine's aromatics build in the glass and really erupt over time, always a sign of a superior wine".
"The nose offers scents of fresh cherries and raspberries kissed by oak and spice. Cherry driven flavors with a floral and citric accent are offered in an elegant style that is light and harmonious".
"The winemaking pedigree shows through in this very good wine that will hold on and drink well for another 4 or 5 years. At $252 a case, this is a perfect choice for recession slumdogs".
MORE INFORMATION
2006 Vintage Tasting Notes
Nose: Lots and lots of red fruit scents like red raspberry, tart red cherry, red currant, and red plum. HInts of soft toast, blackberry, vanilla, and smoke.
Flavors: Sweet, juicy red cherry is the initial impression, refreshing and balanced. As the wine opens in the mouth, the midpalate finds intense, bold, darker fruit and barrel toast notes- these darker tones add weight and depth to the otherwise juicy, fruity wine.
Finish: The tannins are silky, present in perfect balance, seamless and lushly textured. One is left with a sense of balanced, juicy, refreshing Pinot noir.
As the wine opens and breathes with time (decanting is a great idea for this wine), more impressions of different fruits and other flavors appear, ranging from tart pie cherry through blackberry, black currant, and hints of smoky, toasty oak.
Food Pairings
As Amy, Avalon's newest team member says, "Acidity is the friend of food", and she immediately suggested salmon as an ideal food to pair with this wine. The acidity of this juicy wine cuts through the luscious fat flavors of the fish. She suggests grilling or pan searing the salmon. An alternative to salmon could be grilled pork, cooked simply.
2004 Vintage Tasting Notes
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. One of the really super under $20 Pinots each year, the 2004 is a truely exceptional value. The fruit for this wine comes from Freedom Hill Vineyard, Temperance Hill Vineyard, Shea Vineyard, Justice Vineyard (owned by Bethel Heights) and Vitae Springs Vineyard. Rather than make a Freedom Hill Vineyard designate in 2004, Mark chose to put all the Freedom Hill juice into this kick a** Pinot.
The 2004 Willamette Valley begins with intense scents of soft smoky toast, raspberry, pie cherry, and just the tiniest hint of strawberry (carbonic maceration?). Flavors are - wow- really nice- sweet fruit, and so well complemented by a streak of just-right acidity and fine tannins- what a difference for 2004- cooler summer yielded a lot more balanced acidity and tannic structure.
