Our first Pinot noir was produced in 1988. In 2005, St. Innocent produced seven vineyard designated and one blended Pinot noir.
We are offering two 'futures' currently: 2006 Pinot noir, Seven Springs Vineyard, Special Selection and 2006 Pinot noir, Anden Vineyard, Special Selection (both available 9/08).
Our 2006 "Villages Cuvée" Pinot noir was released in mid-January 2008. The 'VC' is a blend of three small lots of Pinot noir, about 20% from young (< 5 years) vines at Freedom and Temperance Hill Vineyards. The rest comes from Vitae Springs Vineyard in the South Salem Hills.
Five 2006 Pinot noirs will be released at the 2008 Memorial Day Open House: Temperance Hill, Shea, Justice, White Rose Vineyards as well as our first 'Estate' wine, the 2006 Pinot noir, Zenith Vineyard.
The final three 2006 Pinot noirs will be released September 1, 2008: Momtazi, Seven Springs, and Anden Vineyards. Customers that purchased 2006 Pinot noir Futures will have those wines available for pick-up after 9/1/08. Shipments of those wine will begin as the weather cool off.
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 (200 cases) in 2006 and are actively planting at Zenith to produce 1800 cases by 2012 (15 acres). We moved into our new winery at Zenith Vineyard in late September 20078 and will open 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 503-363-1185, e-mail to kari@zenithvineyard.com, or visit their website at 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 manually removed from the fermenter and pressed gently. Time of pressing and degree of pressing is determined by taste. The new wine is settled 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.
The best lot(s) of Pinot noir is fermented in one of our two traditional wooden French fermenters (cuve de chene). A barrel selection from that lot is offered each fall as a future. Only the amount sold to our futures customers is bottled the following year and that wine is referred to as our "Special Selection" series. St. Innocent does not offer traditional 'futures'.
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 and two vineyard designated Pinot gris.
The Pinot blanc is fermented 75% in stainless steel-to preserve the fruit component, and 25% 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. The last O'Connor Vineyard Pinot gris was produced in 2000.
Our ripest and lowest cropped Pinot gris comes from Shea Vineyard. This steeply terraced south slope of Willakenzie soil produces intensely flavored and very textural Pinot gris. The must is fermented in stainless steel and it is aged on its yeast lees for 14 months. The last Shea Pinot gris was produced in 2005 was released February 1st 2007.
Our 2006 Pinot gris, Vitae Springs Vineyard and 2006 Pinot blanc, Freedom Hill Vineyard were released September 1, 2007. In 1999, we made a 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. A small amount is available in half bottles.
Chardonnay
Chardonnay from Seven Springs Vineyard, re-named Anden in 2001, has been produced since 1988. 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.
The 2006 Chardonnay, Anden Vineyard and the 200 Chardonnay, Freedom Hill Vineyard were released 2/1/08.
Sparkling Wines
St. Innocent has produced vintage dated methode champenoise sparkling wines every year since 1988. The Brut 2000 was released in March 2005 and is our last large, commercial release of sparkling wine. The 1998 Demi-Sec Reserve was released in February. We began making a small lot of vintage dated, Blanc de blanc in 2006, which will release in late 2012.