St. Innocent, Pinot Gris Vitae Springs, Willamette Valley

A single-vineyard Pinot Gris made with fruit sourced from two parcels: Home Block planted in 1986 and Inwood Block planted in 1999. Harvested on 30th of September, aged on the lees for 6 months in stainless steel tanks and bottled in June 2015. 13,5% alcohol. Total production 770 cases. Tasted blind. Pale and quite neutral lemon-yellow color. Surprisingly, the wine has no nose. Like, whatsoever. No matter how much you look for, you really can't smell anything - maybe apart …

2014 vintage

Green apple that has a sweet and bitter combination that I somehow both like but also find a bit too extreme.

2014 vintage

I put this wine in the cellar for a few years just as an experiment. Interesting results. The wine has definitely evolved. Rich golden color. Very tropical - toned fruit like lychee, pineapple, grilled pineapple, and maybe even a little banana. The one little part of it that makes me feel like it didn't really need to age (and probably shouldn't) is that it has this kind of roasted nut finish that is incongruent with the tropical fruit component. Nevertheless, …

2014 vintage

Great melon an apple, always a perennial favorite

2014 vintage

Clean, lively, and quite gritty, with appealing weight and texture. Very nice!

2014 vintage

Crisp and clean, apples, melon, almost ripe apricot and a soft finish with some glycerin texture.

2014 vintage

Just stellar for the price. Melon, peach, not tropical. Really like it. Delicious.

2014 vintage

Just a hint of sweetness and prominent secondary malo on nose and palate. Nice weight on the palate - much more than expected from a pinot gris.

2014 vintage

Pale gold color. Drank 2 glasses over 90 minutes. Not quite as lively as expected. Citrus, lime, mineral, not a lot of complexity. Decent but forgettable.

2014 vintage

Medium nose shows lime peel, green apple, pretty white flowers, honeycomb, hint of spice. Palate shows candied orange peel, honeycomb, yellow apple skin, rich mouthfeel, kind of a tart note as well, acidity medium, alcohol medium, for Pinot Gris pretty decent finish. Nice style.

2014 vintage

Notes of green apples, honey dew, and herbs. There's a vibrant minerality/bitterness to the wine that begs you to have it with food. medium bodied, light straw in color. I'd like to see this in a few years to see how it develops.

2014 vintage

Very nice fresh cantaloupe and peach aromas and flavors with subtle floral notes in background. Still nicely fresh, very well done and easy to enjoy.

2010 vintage

Light to medium bodied, with pleasant creaminess. Blossoms on the nose, slightly funky notes of old barrel, and some salinity; minerally on the palate, with citrus notes and some musty funk on the backpalate that could also appear as plastic-like with certain foods (with chicken meatballs for example); nicely dry, pointed finish. An understated, versatile wine overall that I wouldn't mind drinking on a regular basis. Apparently this is was made in an old Alsacian style, with extended time (eight …

2010 vintage

Nice sipping wine. Got to just sip in the evening. Nothing special, no real "full mouth" feel, clean finish. Nice and easy!

2010 vintage

Nice and crisp

2010 vintage

Willamette Valley - Tasted at winery : A little light for my taste. Crisp, mineral.

2010 vintage

On par with last bottle on 9/2/10. Unreal how long lived this PG is as most would be over the hill by now, however they are not made by Mark Vlossak. Still fresh and lively but integrated and at peak IMO. Great Pinot Gris.

2008 vintage

Starting to fall apart a bit. Tarry nose of spearmint, herbs and nectarine. Palate is okay, minty herbs with notes of citrus and peach.

2008 vintage

Pop and pour during NFL Conference Championship games. Lovely pear and melon notes with lovely spice on the palate. I love this winery.

2010 vintage

A very pale yellow/green wine with a nice nose of stone fruit, minerals, melon, and a slight floral component. Prominent acidity on the palate makes it better w/ food. Lingers nicely.

2010 vintage

Visits to Cristom, St. Innocent, Johan, Argyle, Dobbes, Chehalem : Some squash aromas. The palate is pretty, slightly sweet, but pretty soft and nice. Very mellow but the RS is noticeable. Flat finish. Soft, and slightly sweet. No score noted.

2010 vintage

Nice solid effort from this always reliable producer of "great value" wines. I think of Mark as an Oregon version of Burgundy's Vincent Giradin value for money producer. This is a tank age wine that has a lovely mouth feel and is very easy to drink with food. Flowers and melon on the nose, enough fruit and acid to balance nicely. I buy 4-6 bottles year in and year out and its always a crowd pleaser no matter where I …

2008 vintage

St. Innocent Wine Dinner (Luci Ancora/ St. Paul) : Floral, chalk, orange peel, minerals and tropical fruit. Stainless steel fermentation. Really a nice starter wine served with Pacific red shrimp.

2008 vintage

An Evening with Mark Vlossak of St. Innocent (Luci Ancora) : Light Straw Yellow color. Consistent with previous notes in general, but drinking even better tonight. Alsatian style with pear, citrus, tropical fruits, minerality, spices. The palate has a rich mouthfeel with crisp acidity and a balanced, clean finish. One of the best U.S. Piinot Gris.

2008 vintage

Nose: Precise mineral aromas with some floral background. Palate: Great acidity and none of the frizante that existed in the other bottle drank on 6/10/10. Perhaps this bottle is more representative than the last so I retract my previous statement about the '07' being superior to the '08'. This is very much on par with the '07' and is drinking great now although has the requisite acid to go another year if desired.

2008 vintage

Wonderful example of Pinot Gris. Lively enough to pair fantastically with a chicken stir fry and has a nice touch of fruit sweetness to make it a wonderful sip on a summer patio.

2008 vintage

Artisan Vineyards/ Haskell's Tasting (Minneapolis) : Another solid effort from the critically acclaimed bad vintage (not here). Lemon and mineral with a clean finish. Simple but well made.

2008 vintage

2008 St. Innocent Tasting plus a few More (St. Paul) : One of the best Pinot Gris wines I have tasted from Oregon. Floral, mineral, orange and tropical fruit dominate the aroma and flavor of the wine. Good acidity and medium finish.

2008 vintage

St. Innocent Private Tasting (The Wine Company, St. Paul, MN) : Outstanding Pinot Gris. Wonderful balance of tropical fruits, minerality, orange peel, crisp acidity and a clean finish. Great fresh wine. 90pts.

2008 vintage

Nose: Fresh and clean aromas with slate mineral and flower undertones. Palate: Good acidity and pear flavors in this dry styled effort. At first showed some subtle frizzante and was more Grigio-like than I would prefer, but after glass air this rounded out and was a little closer to the '07'. Nonetheless the '07' is still a markedly superior wine with better fruit expression.

2008 vintage

13% alc...the nose is tropical, nectarine, ripe cantaloupe, ...zippy acidity in the mouth flinty, crisp, wow minerality, nectarine, grapefruit, then on the finish a bit of richness or lees come through - I really like the initial spritz / zip the wine has, livens the palate - the end is ok, perhaps a small letdown with that creamy back end for what I was looking for. Overall a good wine.

2008 vintage

Had this wine at Acacia midtown on Sunday, March 14, 2010 at tasting - we had it with crispy potato wrapped rose fish, duck pate, and vanilla bean scented blood orange confit. It was nice - medium bodied, not a long finish. Food combination worked. Not my favorite although others at my table bought a case to split up

2008 vintage

Canary yellow in the glass with scents of citrus and green apple on the nose. Flavors of quince and asian pear linger slightly on the short finish of this medium bodied white...

2008 vintage

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St. Innocent, Pinot Gris Vitae Springs, Willamette Valley

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