St. Innocent Pinot noir Shea Vineyard 09

Winemaker Mark Vlossak did not hold back on his 09 Shea Pinot. The smoky fruit on the nose is followed by a layer of perfectly seared steak across the taste buds. Little 'ka-pows' of dark raspberry fruit traveling up and down are the key ingredient to a finish that lasts and lasts and lasts. Cellar 3-10 years - Andy

2009 Wine Advocate - 93 points - The 2009 Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard has the best aromatics of this portfolio. It displays an impressive perfume of spicy black fruits, sandalwood, and exotic spices. This is followed by an opulent, plush offering unusual for its richness in this more elegantly styled vintage. This lengthy Pinot will offer prime drinking from 2012 to 2021. - Jay Miller

This Pinot noir complements entrees with complex, layered flavors. It is especially good with lamb, duck, and other game birds. When served young, this wine is best decanted or allowed to breathe for several hours. It is drinkable at release and will benefit from aging up to 10 years. - the winery

2008 Vintage Tasting Notes

Its nose is complex with a potpourri of red raspberry, black raspberry and blackberry fruits, fresh and dried red roses and carnations, and hints of sweet spice and white pepper. In the mouth it is full of intensely rich raspberries, black raspberries, a dense floral perfume with hints of sweet herbs and an undertone of forest floor. Complex texturally, it is captivatingly interesting in the mouth.

The '08 Shea is structured for long term aging. Its level of concentration, perfect ripeness, and backbone of acidity will evolve slowly over the next 6-12 months and will probably peak in 12-18 years. This is a wine for those who seek Pinot noirs with multiple layers of flavor and aroma while revealing the details of this great terroir. - Mark Vlosak

2007 Vintage Tasting Notes

Seamless layers of wild dark berries and a bead of sweet cherry entice your taste buds. Like the 2006, the 07 Shea has a rich texture and excellent weight. The finish stays fresh, with a violet-mint lift. St. Innocent's 07 Shea shows nicely with a little decanting, and has the balance and integration to age for 8-10 years. Highly recommended.

Shea Vineyard is dark ruby and denser in hue than the other St. Innocent Pinots. The nose is complex and layered, beginning with dark, sweet spices, black raspberries, dusty dried flowers. Anise, plum, violets and dark rose petals follow with red fruits underneath. The wine is very broad on the palate with huge dark fruit, Asian spices, licorice, green peppercorn, and hints of black truffle spreading across your mouth. Its spectrum of complexity is expressed broadly and supported by ripe skin tannins. Its acidity is well balanced and supports the wine into a long finish dominated by dense spice and dark fruit.

The '07 Shea is structured for mid to long term aging. It will evolve significantly over the next 6-12 months and improve over a decade. This is a wine for those who revel in Pinot noirs with multiple layers of flavor and aroma that reveal the details of their terroir. - the winery

Previous Vintage Tasting Notes

2006 Vintage Tasting Notes

St. Innocent Shea Vineyard Pinot noir 2006 received 94 points from Parker's Wine Advocate: "The 2006 Pinot noir Shea Vineyard is a candidate for Shea of the vintage as well as my choice in this portfolio. It is the richest, most concentrated, and complex as well as the best balanced, nicely concealing enough structure to evolve for 4-5 years, about as much as one can expect from this vintage. It should be at its best from 2012 to 2021."

The St Innocent Shea Vineyard Pinot noir 06 impresses with its intense, fruit-driven, flavor-laden, big-bodied nature. The color is a dark, saturated garnet-ruby, and texturally, the wine is fleshy and concentrated. As with the best 2006 Oregon Pinot noirs, this is a succulent, opulent wine, immediately impressive and well worth cellaring.

In keeping with the Shea Vineyard style, the St Innocent Shea Vineyard Pinot noir 06 is velvety smooth with dense notes of earth, pipe tobacco and fresh ripe blackberries. Supple layers of boysenberry and wild cherry add to the melange of rich flavors. Mark Vlossak consistently produces one of our favorite Shea Vineyard bottlings.

Winemaker Mark Vlosak says:

"This Shea is a dark ruby color. Its nose is layered with dark spices, wild flowers and black fruit aromas with hints of tar and wet earth. You are immediately struck with the intensity of dark sweet fruit and very intense raspberry extract flavors. Texturally this wine is extremely dense, in keeping with the essential nature of '06 Oregon Pinot noirs with loads of sweet, ripe tannins. This is a powerhouse wine dressed in Escada. A soft and fresh acidity carries the bright fruit layers into the finish. I expect it to develop for more than a decade. 2005 Vintage Tasting Notes

Make no mistake, this is a big wine but with grace. Incense, Asian spices, classic Shea violets, and dark fruit waft from the glass. Loads of dark, creamy fruit—blackberry, plum, black cherry—are complemented by toast and lively acidity. It’s tasty now, but if you can wait another year or two you’ll be rewarded. If you like Shea wines (and we do), this is a must-have. - Marcus

Mark says: "This Shea is a dark ruby color. Its nose is layered with dark fruits, orange peel, and dark flowers with spices underneath. The initial flavors rich with red and black raspberries, dried flowers and spice. With air, the '05 Shea reveals substantial layers, depth and density. Texturally, ripe tannins coat your tongue with hints of oak and fresh acidity that carries the fruit layers into the finish. I expect it to develop for over more than a decade." - Mark Vlossak, winemaker

Previous Vintages Tasting Notes

Wine Advocate 93 points for 2003 vintage

I ended up with four pages of notes on this wine when we tasted it at the store. Unheard of- but it's soooo good.

Starting off, the wine has an opaque, dark ruby color. Not quite as dark as the 2003 vintage. Immediately after opening (and this is a young wine) the scent filled the air. Crushed fresh fruit, black cherry, raspberry, black currant, fresh marionberry, a bit of fresh strawberry and hints of fresh saddle leather and just a smidge of toast make up the initial scent impression. And under all the scent elements, that Shea Vineyard characteristic, a dark violet floral perfume.

Flavors are bold and clearly still young, with lots of room for even more complexity. Big black cherry and berry fruit, sweet cherries and plum, black currant, and that Shea undercurrent of dark violets persisted in the flavor as well as the scent.

The finish is quite long, and the tannins are very fine, present in good balance for cellaring purposes but not obtrusive. In the finish there are pleasant notes of vanilla, a tiny bit of spice, cedar, and some barrel toast, around which the dark violet perfume and dried rose petal flavors circle.

For customers who enjoyed the Shea Wine Cellars Block 23, now sold out, here is a similar offering with the same forward fruit and violets in the initial impression. The midpalate of the St Innocent Shea is a bit more delicate than the Block 23, with more transparency in the layers of flavors, and lots of spicy cherry and cola in the midpalate. Throughout the impression of the St Innocent, the sweetness of the fruit is balanced by a fresh, uplifting acidity enmeshed with black raspberry.

The St Innocent Shea 04 complements sweet meat entrees such as lamb chops, fillet, and grilled salmon When served young, it's best to decant and allow the wine to breathe for several hours before drinking. The wine is drinkable now and will benefit from aging up to 8 years.

Harvested at 1.9 tons/acre, destemmed grapes were fermented in two small tanks after a few days of cold maceration. The wine aged for 16 months in 41% new French oakbarrels and was bottled after a light gelatin fining.