St. Innocent Winery

St. Innocent Winery photos, charts, maps, and wines.

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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, read more...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 noirs and a blended Pinot noir called the Villages Cuvée, two Chardonnay from Dijon clone plantings, two Pinot gris, and a Pinot blanc.

In the spring of 2006, St. Innocent purchased an interest in Zenith Vineyard (formerly O'Connor Vineyard) located in the Eola-Amity Hills. This 133 acre site has 81 acres planted. 4 acres of Pinot noir are currently in production for St. Innocent's use, 5 more are planted and will come into production in 2010, and an additional 7 acres will plant in 2008.

The winery also works with 8 different growers, leasing specific blocks of vineyard to produce terroir-specific wines. 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.

We are now located at our new winery at Zenith Vineyard. This 17,500 sq. ft., 4 level, gravity facility features underground barrel rooms, a temperature controlled crush floor, and a 900 sq. ft. tasting room. We harvested the 2007 vintage the new facility and the tasting room opened in February 2008.

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.

The winery is open 11-4 from Tuesday-Sunday beginning May 1st through October, and weekends 11-4 from November through April. We are also open Memorial Day and Thanksgiving weekends, when we have our famous buffet including our winemaker's signature cassoulet and herbed leg of Oregon lamb. You may schelule a private tour and barrel tasting at other times by calling for an appointment.    (hide)

thevine reviewed St. Innocent Pinot Noir Freedom Hill 2003:

October 2009

thevine

St. Innocent Pinot Noir Freedom Hill 2003

Starting at $32^.99 Snoothrank: 3.5/5

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Dragac modified this page:

Oct 17

Dragac

Dragac added a photo for St. Innocent Winery.

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Dragac modified this page:

Oct 17

Dragac

Dragac edited the contact information for St. Innocent Winery.

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maximoo reviewed St. Innocent Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir 2002:

August 2009

maximoo

St. Innocent Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir 2002

Starting at $45^.00 Snoothrank: 4/5

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tylermi reviewed St. Innocent Justice Vineyard Vineyard Pinot Noir Qty.available-6 2006:

July 2009

tylermi

St. Innocent Justice Vineyard Vineyard Pinot Noir Qty.available-6 2006

Starting at $2,006^.00 Snoothrank: 3.5/5

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tylermi reviewed St. Innocent Pinot Noir "Anden Vineyard" Willamette Valley St Innocent Pn Anden 2006:

July 2009

tylermi

St. Innocent Pinot Noir "Anden Vineyard" Willamette Valley St Innocent Pn Anden 2006

Starting at $44^.95 Snoothrank: 3.5/5

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Admanc reviewed St. Innocent Shea Pinot Noir 2005:

June 2009

Admanc

St. Innocent Shea Pinot Noir 2005

Starting at $37^.50 Snoothrank: 3.5/5

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tylermi reviewed St. Innocent Pinot Noir Anden Vineyard Oregon 2005:

June 2009

tylermi

St. Innocent Pinot Noir Anden Vineyard Oregon 2005

Starting at $37^.00 Snoothrank: 3.5/5

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Fiebelbrasen reviewed St. Innocent Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir 2002:

June 2009

Fiebelbrasen

St. Innocent Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir 2002

Starting at $45^.00 Snoothrank: 4/5

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telal01 reviewed St. Innocent Pinot Noir Villages Cuvee 2005:

April 2009

telal01

The 2005 St. Innocent Pinot Noir is good by by any measure but not great. It has all the desirable flavors plus a couple of undesirable ones like dirty soil. At this price point, one can easily have much better Pinot Noir

St. Innocent Pinot Noir Villages Cuvee 2005

Starting at $39^.95 Snoothrank: 3.5/5

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Gregory Dal Piaz wrote in the forum topic: Blind Tasting with the wines of Cameron Hughes, and then some.

November 2008

Gregory Dal Piaz

I was pleased to welcome a few friends into the Snooth lair yesterday for a blind tasting featuring the wines of Cameron Hughes. If you are a Snooth member you will be getting an email with an amazing deal on these wines...

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Gregory Dal Piaz reviewed St. Innocent Freedom Hill Pinot Noir 1999:

November 2008

Gregory Dal Piaz

Dusty and sweet on the nose with gentle yet pure red raspberry, cranberry pinot fruit. Ripe and restrained in the mouth with a gentle, easy red fruit character and a fairly resolved structure. Good drinking right now. 87pts

St. Innocent Freedom Hill Pinot Noir 1999

Starting at $38^.49 Snoothrank: 3.5/5

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