Our first Pinot noir was produced in 1988. In 2007, St. Innocent produced six vineyard designated and two blended Pinot noirs.
Our 2007 "Villages Cuvée" Pinot noir was released in March 2009. The 'VC' is primarily from a blend of new and old Pinot noir blocks at Vitae Springs Vineyard. There are two slightly different lots of the Villages Cuvée. In Oregon and through the tasting room, the 'VC' is entirely Vitae Springs Vineyard. The VC sold in other US markets contains 80% of the above lot, 10% estate fruit (Zenith Vineyard) and 10% of a lot mixed from Freedom Hill and Vitae Springs vineyards.
Five 2007 Pinot noirs were released at the 2009 Memorial Day Open House: Temperance Hill, Shea, Justice, White Rose Vineyards, and our estate wine, Zenith Vineyard.
The final two 2007 Pinot noirs were be released September 1, 2009: Momtazi and a new wine, the Winemaker's Cuvée. The Winemaker's Cuvée is a blend of Freedom Hill young vines and older plantings from Vitae Springs Vineyard. Customers that purchased 2007 Pinot noir Futures will have those wines available for pick-up after 9/1/089. Shipments of those wine will begin as the weather cools off.
In most vintages, St. Innocent produces a 'tete de cuvee' Pinot noir representing the best Pinot noir of the vintage. The best lots of Pinot noir are fermented in one of our traditional open top, French oak fermenters. A severe barrel selection from that lot (usually 2-4 barrels) is offered each fall as a future and these wines are named the "Special Selection" series.
Our current 'futures' offering include 2007 Special Selection Pinot noirs from both Momtazi and Shea Vineyards. Both are sold out. Our 2008 Pinot noir Futures will be available Thanksgiving 2009.
All of St. Innocent's Pinot noirs are produced in a style to first reveal the nuances of their terroir. Working in the vineyard with individual growers, we fine tune the viticultural practices with the goal of achieving a balance between the canopy and fruit. Most of the vineyards are grown in a sustainable way and qualify for LIVE certification. Temperance Hill Vineyard is farmed organically. Momtazi Vineyard is farmed Biodynamically. Target yields are between 2 and 2.7 tons/acre (30-42 HL/HA). Picking time is determined by the mouth of the winemaker.
In April 2006, St. Innocent purchased an interest in Zenith Vineyard (formerly O'Connor Vineyards) in the Eola-Amity Hills of the northern Willamette Valley. We produced a small lot of Pinot noir (167 cases) in 2006 from block 5-C. In 2008 we finished re-planting the original Pinot noir block, block 1, at Zenith and now have a total of 13.5 acres of Pinot noir planted at our estate vineyard for St. Innocent's exclusive use (Zenith also sells fruit to other Oregon and CA wineries). That will allow St. Innocent to produce 1800 cases of Estate Pinot noir by the time those blocks are in full production in 2012. We moved into our new winery located at Zenith Vineyard in late September 2007 and did the 2007 harvest in the new winery. We opened our tasting room to the public in February 2008.
Adjacent to our new winery is an Event Center for conferences, weddings, parties and other meeting activities. For information, call Kari Ramey at 503-932-3540, e-mail to kari@zenithvineyard.com, or visit their website at www.zenithvineyard.com
In the winery, all the fruit is destemmed, minimally crushed with 30-40% whole berries, and fermented in 5-8 ton fermenters with no SO2 (unless there is rot). There is a 1-4 day cold soak. All punch-downs are by hand and occur once or twice daily. After fermentation, the must is removed from the fermenter and pressed gently. Time of pressing and degree of pressing is determined by taste. The new wine is settled for several days and then racked to barrels for 16-20 months. The specific coopers, forests, and percent of new wood is matched to the individual vineyards. Our wines are rarely fined, racked, or filtered.
Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc
St. Innocent began producing Pinot gris in 1992. The style was initially modelled after the Pinot gris from Italy's Friuili region. After visiting Alsace in the spring of 1998, Mark became fascinated by the riper, more textural wines produced in Alsace. We now produce a Pinot blanc in addition to Pinot gris.
The Pinot blanc is fermented partially in stainless steel-to preserve the fruit component, and partially in mostly neutral barrels to add textural complexity. After eight months of aging on the lees (in contact with its inactive fermentation yeast), it is bottled. The Vitae Springs Pinot gris are fermented entirely in stainless and also bottled after eight months of lees aging.
Our 2008 Pinot gris, Vitae Springs Vineyard and 2008 Pinot blanc, Freedom Hill Vineyard were released September 1, 2009. In 1999, we made a one-time only vendages tardive (VT) from Shea Vineyard Pinot gris. Picked at 26.1 degrees brix and fermented almost dry, it is a lovely match for blue-veined cheeses, fois gras, and patés.
Chardonnay
Chardonnay from Seven Springs Vineyard, re-named Anden in 2001, was produced between 1988 and 2006. A mineral dominated Chardonnay from Freedom Hill Vineyard fruit was added in 1992. Between 1993 and 1997, the original California clone 108 vines were removed from both vineyards and replaced with Chardonnay clones from Burgundy. These clones ripen much earlier, achieving optimal ripeness in Oregon's cool climate. Beginning with the 1999 vintage, both vineyards produce Chardonnay from 100% Dijon-clone vines.
Chardonnay clusters are whole cluster pressed, settled overnight, and barrel fermented in French oak barrels. The Anden Chardonnay sees approximately one-quarter new oak and the Freedom Hill is fermented entirely in used barrels. The lees are stirred weekly for 3-4 months and the wines are left on their lees for one year. Malolactic fermentation (ML) is complete, however the effect is limited due to the small amount of malic acid present at harvest. The style is similar to white Burgundy with an emphasis on balanced ripeness, complexity, texture, and acidity. Both wines are incredible with food, especially seafood and small birds.
Our final Chardonnay from Anden Vineyard, the 2006 Chardonnay, Anden Vineyard was released 2/1/08 and is sold out. The 2007 Chardonnay, Freedom Hill Vineyard was released March 1st, 2009 and is also sold out at the winery. Our next release, the 2008 Chardonnay, Freedom Hill Vineyard, will release in March 2010.
Sparkling Wines
St. Innocent has produced vintage dated methode champenoise sparkling wines from 1988 through 2000. The Brut 2000 was released in March 2005 and was our last large, commercial release of sparkling wine. The 1998 Demi-Sec Reserve was released in February 2007 and is sold out. We began making a small lots of vintage dated, Blanc de blanc again with the 2006 vintage; that wine will release in late 2013.