WTN: St. Innocent, Kennedy Shah

[Jenise]

2000 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Seven Springs Vineyard, Oregon
Typically, Mark Vlossak's SS pinots go to sleep around age 4-5 and wake up around age 8. And he never makes a bad wine--even the light 97 which wasn't a great wine by the usual definitions was a wine that aged well in an ethereal kind of way. And though I loved the 2000 on release, I haven't found that my case of it has followed the usual schedule. The fruit just seemed to fall off a cliff around age 3 and bottles since have been dry and somewhat astringent. Last night we opened another--and yes there's a bit more nose here than there has been, but the palate remains rather parched and I'm now convinced that this wine is just the most disappointing Seven Springs ever.

2006 Kennedy Shah Tempranillo, Washington
Couldn't resist trying my first Washington tempranillo. It's an interesting wine: virtually no oak, with cherry and plum fruit enhanced by tar, herbs and spice, an effort that bottom-line is closer to Spain than California with it's unspoofulated fruit and surprising acidity (one wonders if this is entirely natural, it's so unusual in Washington). Not a wine to be drunk without food, but pretty nice for $12.

[David M. Bueker]

I have never had a 2000 Oregon Pinot that I liked. The next worst vintage for me is 2003.

Isn't the Seven Springs vineyard going through a change of some sort? I thought I heard that St I and others would no longer be able to get fruit from there.

[Jenise]

Isn't the Seven Springs vineyard going through a change of some sort? I thought I heard that St I and others would no longer be able to get fruit from there.

It went through one change commencing with, I think, the 02 vintage when the vineyard was divided in two and the new part renamed Anden. Then the owner died, and her offspring sold off the vineyard to someone other than Mark Vlossak who dearly wanted it--I've phased on the name, but either 05 or 06 was Mark's last Seven Springs (and Anden too, I presume).

[Jenise]

I have never had a 2000 Oregon Pinot that I liked. The next worst vintage for me is 2003.

I had very little experience with it since the release occurred about the time of our move up here and I was not in buying mode. I bought the SI's because I bought a case a year directly from the winery at that point (I've since dropped out of their club) and had never had a bad wine from them EVER, just some I liked better at certain times than others.

[David M. Bueker]

2006 is the end.

Yeah, there will be no more Anden St Innocent. Picked up some of the 2006 a couple of months ago.

Here's a pointer to the story about the Seven Springs Vineyard sale: http://www.avalonwine.com/Seven-Springs-Anden-Vineyard-Sold.php

-- Clark

[Jenise]

Thanks, Clark. Say, was excited to see your name on my thread and was certain you were going to comment on the Tempranillo--you fooled me!

Hi Jenise. I'm going to make an effort to browse the site more often. Just too much going on ... and on.

I don't know anything about the Kennedy Shah Tempranillo; it certainly sounds pretty good for the price.

I sampled two vintages of WA Tempranillo at McCrea Cellars winery last summer; one was a bottled 2006 vintage, and the other was 2007 from the barrel. Unfortunatley, I cannot remember many details, because it was late at night and we already drank a lot of wine before walking down to the winery building to taste them. However, I recall that the '06 was the richer of the two. These are both big, tasty wines in the $30+ price range, and are in very limited supply (they made only 2 barrels per vintage). I believe they may be available only to McCrea Cellars wine club members.

-- Clark

[Jenise]

Hi Jenise. I'm going to make an effort to browse the site more often. Just too much going on ... and on.

I don't know anything about the Kennedy Shah Tempranillo; it certainly sounds pretty good for the price.

I sampled two vintages of WA Tempranillo at McCrea Cellars winery last summer; one was a bottled 2006 vintage, and the other was 2007 from the barrel. Unfortunatley, I cannot remember many details, because it was late at night and we already drank a lot of wine before walking down to the winery building to taste them. However, I recall that the '06 was the richer of the two. These are both big, tasty wines in the $30+ price range, and are in very limited supply (they made only 2 barrels per vintage). I believe they may be available only to McCrea Cellars wine club members.

-- Clark

I really admire McCrea for the fact that they seem to grow--and make wine out of--just about everything! However, what little I've had of their wines have been generally too sweet and velvetty for my personal tastes. Which could have just been me getting my hands on the wrong bottles. I need to go to one of the parties I keep getting invited to (apparently everyone who has ever ordered direct from the winery gets invited, it's just amazing) one of these days and sample more new releases to get a better sense of them. Are you a regular at these events? You live close enough to get up there easily.

No, I am not on their mailing list for those events, but I have a friend who is. I haven't ordered anything directly from the winery. BTW ... McCrea Cellars self-distributes in this area; hence the invitations to lots of wine events. I really should try to get up to one of them. Are they held in Seattle or West Seattle? We are approximately mid-way between there and the winery in Rainier. Although the winery does not keep regular public hours, we have become friends with the McCrea's and have visited their facility.

I have had some of their Syrah that came across as over-the-top fruity; I've noticed that with both the Boushey and Ciel du Cheval bottlings, but I don't recall if they corresponded with vintages that were extremely hot, like 2003. On the other hand, I recently opened a bottle of their 2000 Syrah and found it to be wonderful (dark and complex, no jaminess). I'm holding on to a 1999 Cuvee Orleans Syrah to see how it evolves.

-- Clark

[Jenise]

No, I am not on their mailing list for those events, but I have a friend who is. I haven't ordered anything directly from the winery. BTW ... McCrea Cellars self-distributes in this area; hence the invitations to lots of wine events. I really should try to get up to one of them. Are they held in Seattle or West Seattle?

Both. Various restaurants and the private homes of the McCreas and their partner. And I've only ordered from them once, was doing Washington Syrah for our neighborhood tasting group and purchased three bottles of either the Boushey or the Orleans, can't recall which, and as a result of just that I get invited to all these events. And I recall that it was the heaviest and sweetest BY FAR of all the syrahs, and therefore my least favorite. Additionally, I have had their grenache, and I bought an older bottle of one of their syrahs at auction and found it a bit past due but still quite sweet and vanilla-y. Hence my possibly skewed impression of what they do, and quite the opposite of the minerally Betz La Sirena I tasted last Friday night.

[David M. Bueker]

Ah Betz - quite likely my favorite Washington winery right now. I just got my hands on some 2002 and 2003 Pere de Familie.