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2008 Pinot Noir, Zenith Vineyard
Release Date: 5/28/10
Retail Price: $36.00
Availability: 241 cs.
Production Notes
Zenith, our estate vineyard, is centrally located in the Eola-Amity Hill AVA eleven miles northwest of Salem, Oregon. The grapes come from Pinot noir block 5C planted with the 777 clone. The vineyard slopes to the SW and SE on well-drained silty loam at an average elevation of 280'.
The destemmed grapes were fermented in a small tank after two days of cold maceration. The wine aged for 16 months in 30% new French oak barrels and was bottled by gravity without fining.
Crop Level: 1.7 tons/acre
Harvest: 10/19/08
Bottled: February 2010
This Pinot noir complements a wide variety of foods and is especially good with sweet meat entrees - grilled salmon, lamb chops, and filet. When served young, this wine is best if allowed to breathe for 1-2 hours. It is drinkable at release or will benefit from aging up to 5 years.
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Winemaker Notes
St. Innocent began producing wines from this site in 1989 when it was known as O'Connor Vineyard. We produced vineyard designated O'Connor Pinot noir for ten years, ending in 1998 when the vineyard was leased to Willamette Valley Vineyards. One of our customers, Tim and Kari Ramey purchased the vineyard in 2002. In early 2006, St. Innocent purchased a membership interest in the LLC and Zenith Vineyard, LLC and St. Innocent agreed to build a joint building. One part of the new facility would be an Event Center owned by Zenith and managed by Kari Ramey. The other part would be a new winery owned and operated by St. Innocent Winery. The winery portion was completed just in time for the 2007 harvest. The Event Center began operation in March 2008.
Zenith has been in the process of re-planting post-phylloxera. A total of 13.5 acres of Pinot noir has been planted for St. Innocent, with two acres currently in full production. The remaining acres will begin producing in 2009 and achieve maturity in 2012.
2008 was an exceptional vintage, made exceptional by being quietly ordinary. Bloom was very late in variable weather. The result was smaller clusters with fewer berries. The summer passed quickly with veraison occurring earlier than expected, leaving the false impression that there was more crop hanging in the vineyard than there really was. Final ripening took place in endless cool, sunny days in an atmosphere of calm that I have never experienced, but hope to again. The fruit was picked clean and perfectly ripe. The only downside was the very small crop, our smallest in ten years.
Tasting Notes
Our estate wine came entirely from Block 5C, which is a high density planting of Clone 777. Only 10 barrels were made. It has aromas of sweet cherries, raspberries, with hints of menthol, anise, and wood smoke. Sweet cherry, raspberry and hints of cassis fruit flavors are very fresh and vibrant on the palate, backed by an almost sweet acidity that finishes with slight smoky overtones. This wine is reminiscent of the old O'Connor Vineyard Pinots I made a long time ago. It is a glimpse into the future and I am happy with what I see.
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