St. Innocent Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir 2017
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Suckling
James
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The 2017 Shea has intense dark aromas of dried flowers, white pepper, dried blackberries and earth. Supple while pervasive flavors of raspberry, black cherry and dried strawberry are intertwined with cola, dark chocolate and ginger root. The ample tannins blend effortlessly with the sweet acidity, fading gently into the finish.
Pair with hearty dishes with some sweetness and richness like lamb chops, pork tenderloin, duck breast and lentil dishes.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A fresh, vivid red with sliced strawberry, orange peel, crushed stone and some flowers. It’s medium-bodied with fine tannins and a long, vivid finish. All in finesse and energy. Drink after 2023.
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2018- Vinous
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St. Innocent produces small lot, handmade wines: seven single vineyard Pinot noirs and a blended Pinot noir called the Villages Cuvée, two Chardonnay from Dijon clone plantings, two Pinot gris, and a Pinot blanc.
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.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Yamhill-Carlton, characterized by pastoral, rolling hills composed of shallow, quick-draining, ancient marine soil, is ideal for Pinot noir and other cool-climate-loving varieties. It is in the rain shadow of the Coast Range to its west, whose highest point climbs to an altitude of 3,500 feet. Yamhill-Carlton is actually surrounded by mountains on three sides: Chehalem Mountains to the north, the Dundee Hills to the east and the western Coast Range to its west, which, when it lets Pacific air through, serves to cool the region.
Vineyards grow on the ridges surrounding the two small communities of Yamhill and Carlton and cover about 1,200 acres of this 60,000 acre region, which roughly makes a horse-shoe shape on a map.