“In general, 2016 produced lush, early-drinking wines with lovely aromatics and accessible fruit, spice and floral notes. They can be aged are quite approachable in their youth.”
– Mark Vlossak, Founder & Winemaker
WINEMAKER NOTES
Shea Vineyard is located in the Yamhill-Carlton District AVA, 35 miles SW of Portland, Oregon. The grapes for this wine come from two blocks: Block 6 faces SE on a hillside of shallow sedimentary soil at an elevation of 450’ to 500’ planted with Pommard and 115. The Terrace Block is a very steep SW slope planted in 2002 with the Pommard clone.
The de-stemmed grapes were fermented in 4-8 ton stainless steel and oak fermenters with no SO2, allowing the fermentations to proceed naturally. After gentle pressing and settling, the wine aged in French oak barrels, 26% of which were new, for 16 months before bottling by gravity without fining.
FLAVORS
TASTE PROFILE
ABOUT ST. INNOCENT
St. Innocent began as an idea conceived in a moment of passion and inspiration in 1983. Mark Vlossak spent the next five years studying, taking classes, and apprenticing with Oregon wine pioneer, Fred Arterberry. In 1988, St. Innocent Winery was founded. Our goal is to produce wines that respect the quality and tradition of the Old World in one of the newest and most exciting wine growing regions on the planet: Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
ABOUT MARK VLOSSAK
Mark Vlossak is the Founder, President, and Winemaker of St. Innocent Winery in Jefferson, Oregon. During his university training, he developed a love for Champagne. After reading an article in 1983 on American sparkling wine in Bon Appetit magazine, he was inspired to become a winemaker. Andre Tshelishev was quoted: “the greatest sparkling wine in America will be made in Oregon, not California, because it is the right place to grow Pinot noir and Chardonnay, the grapes of Champagne.” During his training, he apprenticed with Fred Arterberry, Jr., the first Oregonian to make sparkling wine. Fred also produced the first vineyard-designated Pinot noirs in Oregon, something Mark would soon become famous for producing.
Mark has always made our wines, oversees the vineyards, and represents St. Innocent in the national marketplace. We have grown from 600 cases in the first year to our current production of roughly 6,200 cases, yet each wine is still handcrafted.
Winemaker Notes, About St. Innocent, and About Mark Vlossak sourced from stinnocentwine.com