WTN: 2004 St Innocent Pinot Gris & 2006 Loring Clos Pepe

2004 St. Innocent Pinot Gris Vitae Springs - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (3/25/2008)
I drank this ... then checked Cellar Tracker to find out it was my last bottle. I am thinking I may 1 or 2 sleeping at the locker ... at least I hope so. This has really started to unfold. I always like this wine but this time I was wowed by it. Intriguing fruit and stone aromas. And the palate was fantastic. It was bursting with peaches. I don't recall that before. The fruit was so pleasant. The acidity was nicely in balance, not stripping my teeth. It has a damn fake cork in it which could cause some worry but otherwise this wine should hold up fine for many more years. I am going to hold on to my SI Pinot Gris longer from now on. (93 pts.)

2006 Loring Wine Company Pinot Noir Clos Pepe Vineyard - USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Rita Hills (3/25/2008)
Drinking very nicely now but I think a little more time is in order. I really liked how this wine had big fruit but was not heavy or forceful on the palate. I thought this showed a very nice balance of oak and not as toasty as some other Lorings. Slightly bitter on the finish on the finish but not distracting. Needs a bit of air time and while I often keep these wines fairly cool, this shows very nicely when it gets to a proper temperature. (90 pts.)

Peace,
Jason

[Jenise]

Used to hang around with Brian back when he had just two pinots, this and the Garys'. Both were always good, though this one usually had sweeter, blacker fruit where the Garys' was all about red fruit and earth. Always very good wines.

Drank all my SI PG's.

Used to hang around with Brian back when he had just two pinots, this and the Garys'. Both were always good, though this one usually had sweeter, blacker fruit where the Garys' was all about red fruit and earth. Always very good wines.

Ask Dietz about our recent Garys' tasting ... we went through a big batch from multiple producers and other than the 01 Arcadian ... there was not a winner in the bunch. But there were a number of stinkers. I don't think we had any Lorings though.

Drank all my SI PG's.

Last time I was up there Mark had mentioned how the PBs and the PGs were actually holding up very nicely ... so I have been stashing a few here and there.

Jason

[David M. Bueker]

So maybe I'll hold my bottles of '06 St. I PG and PB.

I miss the good old days of Brian having 2 Pinot Noirs. Now there's so many wines that I freeze up and don't get any.

[Jenise]

I miss the good old days of Brian having 2 Pinot Noirs. Now there's so many wines that I freeze up and don't get any.

Ha! Ditto.

I remember how Loring used to send out 375 sample bottles to see if one wanted to commit or not... 2 for $20 with shipping and tax.. and yeah, only Garys' and CP...

Oh yeah, that Garys' Pinot tasting was an eye-opener... most were waaay over the top... and not all were that young.. and no LWC...

So maybe I'll hold my bottles of '06 St. I PG and PB.

Since my wife doesn't like white wine I don't drink a ton of these ... no way to fit large amounts of any one grape or producer but I have taken to picking these up each year. Not that an 04 is old but my limited impression is that the wines are nice and crisp and then seem to get a bit soft. That is what I kind of expected with this. But it had not gone soft and it seemed to have gained complexity.

I miss the good old days of Brian having 2 Pinot Noirs. Now there's so many wines that I freeze up and don't get any.

Yeah it is a bit of a challenge since this in not the style I like to have every night ... or spend that much money every night. But I always try to get at least 2 of any wine I am confident with. Now with all the vineyards that does put me in a quandary. But this is one producer I always try to buy from. A class act.

Jason