Winery Focus

St. Innocent
Mark Vlossak's training as a winemaker began when he was a young man and tasted wines daily with his father, a wine importer. As an amateur, he produced sparkling wine in 1985-87 and apprenticed with Fred Arterberry, Jr. at Arterberry, Ltd. in 1987 and 1988. At The Wine Lab in Napa, CA, he trained in enology under the tutelage of Lisa Van de Water. He was the winemaker for Panther Creek Cellars from 1994 to 1999.

St. Innocent Winery was founded in May 1988 by Mark Vlossak, the current winemaker and president, and eight investors. Ten tons of grapes were crushed the first fall, producing 396 cases of still and 176 cases of sparkling wine. Production increased to our full capacity of 6800 cases in 2004. The winery is located in Salem, Oregon, at the southeast corner of the Eola Hills, in the mid-Willamette valley.

St. Innocent produces small lot, handmade wines: seven single vineyard Pinot noir, two Chardonnay from Dijon clone plantings, two Pinot gris, and a Pinot blanc. The winery owns no vineyards, choosing to work closely with local growers instead. Unique sites produce grapes that have a concentration of flavor reflective of the site-based terroir. Maintaining a close working relationship with its growers allows a collaborative fine-tuning of viticultural techniques in order to focus these flavors and aromas in the wines.

The philosophy behind the winemaking at St Innocent is that the function of wine is to complement and extend the pleasure of a meal. The characteristics of a wine should enhance different food and flavor combinations - this interaction amplifies the pleasure of a meal. To this end, St. Innocent wines tend toward higher acid levels, and more diverse and balanced flavors.

What's Available

	St. Innocent Pinot Blanc Freedom Hill 2009 Price $21.00  $21 / bottle Read More...	Available 140 bottles Qty
	St. Innocent Pinot Gris Vitae Spring 2008 Price $21.00  $21 / bottle Been confused by watery, oaky, sweet pinot gris in the past? Meet the real deal! A pinot gris worth drinking – spectacular. Read More...	Available 140 bottles Qty
	St. Innocent Pinot Noir Justice 2008 Price $54.00  $54 / bottle This St. Innocent version sports dark, spicy fruit flavors with a rich, dense and silky-textured palate presentation. It is multi-tiered and lengthy, with a palate-drenching level of complexity. The structure here is soft, and the wine is quite approachable at this stage. This is very, very appealing and desirable. Read More...	Available 80 bottles Qty
	St. Innocent Pinot Noir Momtazi Vineyard 2008 Price $38.00  $38 / bottle Read More...	Available 143 bottles Qty
	St. Innocent Pinot Noir Temperance Hill 2008 Price $35.00  $35 / bottle This St. Innocent version is all that, and more. The wine is pure, and fresh, bursting with slightly rustic dark red and juicy blue fruit flavors that are lively on the palate through the lengthy finish. Quite approachable now, this is a great pinot for current drinking, thanks to its juicy and accessible character, but even another few months in bottle will let this open up and display even more charm. Read More...	Available 129 bottles Qty
	St. Innocent Pinot Noir Villages Cuvee 2008 Price $27.00  $27 / bottle St. Innocent's entry-level blended wine is a whopper of a deal! This is packed with medium-bodied red fruits that are lifted by bright acidity and that fan out across the palate in a juicy, fruit-centric fashion that will please any wine lover. It's one of the best of the current releases at this price point, and a serious crowd pleaser. Read More...	Available 82 bottles Qty
	St. Innocent Pinot Noir White Rose Vineyard 2008 Price $62.00  $62 / bottle This pinot possesses a distinctive perfume of juicy red fruits tinged by red rose petals. Those notes are echoed on the palate, with fruit high-toned red fruit flavors supported by bright acidity that provides cut and lift. The wine is young, but only a modicum of super-fine tannins is obvious now, and it is thoroughly melted into all that gorgeous fruit. Read More...	Available 28 bottles Qty
	St. Innocent Pinot Noir Zenith Vineyard 2008 Price $37.00  $37 / bottle The wine is dense on the palate, darker and with more density and commanding structure than the other bottlings here. The fruit spectrum is dark red, tinged by blue fruits, and bright acidity provides lift and backbone through a formidable finish. Read More...	Available 144 bottles Qty
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