Playing Wine Maker, or ...

[stefan]

I hope that Mark Vlossak does not follow BWE.

My love of wines from St. Innocent is well known on this board. While Lucie and I drink more French wines than wines from all other countries combined, we have many more bottles from St. Innocent than from any other producer. On stefanJr’s recommendations, I bought quite a bit of 2011 St. Innocent Pinot Noir after he tasted almost the full range at the winery. We drank some of his at Thanksgiving, and all of us found fault with the wines. They were much thinner than St. Innocent normally produces and the acid seemed high for the fruit content and overall structure of the wine. stefanJr was surprised that the wines had changed so much in a short period. Since then the 2011s have smoothed out a bit, but they are still disappointing.

A month or so ago I came across a lonely bottle of 2009 St. Innocent Temperance Hill Pinot Noir. It was not listed in my inventory, so probably it came with my ’09 Wine Club shipment. What a contrast to the 2011! The wine was extremely fruity, rather concentrated, and as sweet as a CA PN. I thought it was, in fact, a bit much for drinking now. So I pulled out a 2011 Temperance Hill. Lucie and I played wine blender the rest of the night. We both found that a mix of the wines was better than either. I liked the 50-50 blend best, while Lucie leaned toward 60% ’09 and 40% ’11.

To go with Lucie’s pork loin, mushrooms, and peas on Sunday I opened a bottle of 2009 St. Innocent Freedom Pinot Noir Special Selection. This is a WOW wine; more concentrated than the Temperance Hill and with the depth of a fine Burgundy Grand Cru. It is almost a sacrilege to mess with this beauty, but Lucie and I again played wine blender and mixed this with the 2011 Freedom Hill. Voila! The wine we produced is better, for drinking now, than the 2009. The best blend is 2/3 2009 to 1/3 2011. We mixed and fridged the portions that we did not finish for drinking last night; this blend is also very good but less deep.

Today Lucie and I celebrate our 47th by flying to Eugene. On Friday Mark Vlossak and his wife will come down from Salem to have dinner at stefanJr’s and Irena’s home. The themes are

1. SI Seven Springs from the early part of this century.

2. 1975 Bordeaux to celebrate Irena’s 11th anniversary of her 29th birthday.

As Rob said, “Life is good”.

[Claret]

I found the 11's to my liking on release. I can envision the 09 and 11 blends being interesting for overall balance.

The dinner with Mark should be great. Enjoy!

[stefan]

Glenn, have you drunk any 11's since?

[Claret]

No none since. Slowing working on 02 lately.

[stefan]

Ummm. '02 SI!

Here are the wines for our Friday dinner with Mark.

75 Clerc Milon
75 Ducru Beaucaillou
75 La Gaffeliere
02 Seven Springs
03 Seven Springs SS
04 Seven Springs SS
05 Seven Springs Salud
06 Seven Springs SS
75 Warre's Port

Plus a start with the first sparkling wine Mark has made in a long time.

[Claret]

Nice lineup, I have always been curious about the sparkler.

I have high expectations for the 05's but have not opened anything from the vintage lately. I suspect they should be unfurling by now.

[Claret]

How did the sparkler, 05 and 06 show?

[stefan]

The sparkler from 2006 was was quite tasty, sparkly and refreshing.

The '06 is a powerhouse of a wine that should be given 5 years to smooth its rough edges.

The '05 is in a dumb phase. It is hard to predict when to try one again.

Mark brought the '98 regular (no SS that year) and '00 SS. The '98 unfortunately had some issues. stefanJr thought it might have some TCA. I did not detect any, but it was at the bottom of the group when one would expect it to be near the top.

The '02 was my WOTN. The bouquet reminded me of Musigny and the taste was lovely. '03 is also a fine wine, but more reminiscent of Chambertin. '04 is also excellent; perhaps even better than the '03. It will improve further.

Although the wines are similar in many respects, even Mark was surprised at how varied they are.

[Claret]

Thanks stefan.

I will hold my last 06 SS for a few more years. Hopefully the caramel I find distracting will recede with some more time.

[Claret]

Here is a video on the history of Oregon PN.

While not interviewed I spotted Mark in the IPNC shot near the end.

http://www.opb.org/television/programs/ ... of-place-/

[stefan]

Glenn, I expect the '06 to be a great wine when it reaches maturity.