This hurts after Bedrock yesterday but everyone around here loves Vincent’s Pinot Noir and I am especially fond of his acid driven chardonnays. Amazing QPR for $18. Can’t wait to try the 17’s…
Vincent Fall 2018 Pre-Release Offer
Dear mailing list members,
Happy summer!
Here’s the offer of new Vincent wines coming out this fall. As usual, you get first chance at them NOW at the best pricing I offer. Orders at this special pre-release pricing must be in by end of day Friday, September 7, 2018. As always, order soon to guarantee availability of everything you want.
To order, simply reply to this email with the wines you’d like. I’ll confirm with a reply, then arrangement payment either by check or invoice emailed via Square. Please include shipping information if you need shipping. And feel free to ask questions if you need help building an order.
Wines will be shipped this fall once weather cools. See below for details on free shipping on $300+ case orders and $600+ total orders. For local buyers and I’ll have a tasting event in November where you can come pick up your orders. Details to come.
Here are the new wines, full details further down:
Single Vineyard Pinot Noirs:
2016 Vincent Pinot Noir Armstrong Vineyard - pre-release $35 (retail $44)
2016 Vincent Pinot Noir Temperance Hill Vineyard - pre-release $35 (retail $44) limit 6 per buyer on Temperance
Willamette Valley (WV) series:
2017 Vincent Pinot Blanc WV - pre-release $16 (retail $20)
2017 Vincent Chardonnay WV - pre-release $18 (retail $23)
2017 Vincent Gamay WV - pre-release $16 (retail $20)
2017 Vincent Pinot Gris “Noir” WV - pre-release $16 (retail $20)
2017 Vincent Pinot Noir WV - pre-release $18 (retail $23)
2016 Vintage
The Armstrong Vineyard (pictured above) and Temperance Hill Vineyard Pinot Noirs are my last releases from the historically early 2016 vintage. Spring was warm and dry, with vines budding out several weeks ahead of normal. Everything followed ahead of schedule and we harvested all grapes in the month of September, starting the earliest I’ve ever picked, September 3. Despite the heat, grapes came in without any overripeness, and alcohols in finished wines are all in the 13% range. I love how the '16s have developed, with lovely fruit that’s a signature of the vintage but more and more complexity and texture as they age.
2017 Vintage
In contrast to 2016, the 2017 growing season was much more classic in the Willamette Valley. Spring was damp and cool, keeping soils from warming up too much even as summer turned hot. Harvest began at the end of September going through October, very much on a normal schedule.
The peak of summer was quite warm and dry, but the damp spring and early fall really put a cool vintage touch on the wines of 2017. There’s good ripeness but the wines show leaner profiles than recent hot years, with fine tannin giving a bit more taut texture to the red wines. If you’ve loved the 2015s and 2016s, the 2017s will not disappoint. But if you’re been waiting for a cooler, classic Oregon vintage, this is your vintage. Don’t miss it.
Single Vineyard Pinot Noirs
The 2016 Pinot Noir Armstrong Vineyard - $35 pre-release is a five-barrel blend of my various parcels of this 10 year old vineyard just down the road from Brick House. The soils here are all marine sedimentary, well drained and giving wines of calcareous structure and darker fruit. I ferment with a small amount of whole clusters here, destemming the rest, then ferment naturally (no added yeast) with minimal punchdowns and pumpovers, as is my norm. After three weeks of fermentation, the wine aged for 17 months in twice-filled and older French oak barrels, then bottled without filtering (again, true for all of my wines).
Dark ruby color with a beautifully pure fragrance, good fruit intensity - blackberries raspberries - then vividly complex with black tea, mushroom and pepper notes, juicy on the finish with crisp natural acidity drawing out the wine’s richness. This is lovely now for its fruit but age it up to a decade or more for all it has to offer. $35 on pre-release. Six 1.5L magnums available at $78 each.
The 2016 Pinot Noir Temperance Hill Vineyard - $35 pre-release is from high in the Eola Hills, own-rooted Wadenswil vines planted in 1983 in the Flat Block section of the vineyard. Unfortunately, many of the vines in Flat Block are slowly declining due to phylloxera so that in 2016 - not a big crop year as it was - I only made one precious barrel of this wine. I destemmed the fruit completely and fermented it in a small picking bin. Fermentation took three weeks and the wine went into a single twice filled French oak barrel for 17 months. This fruit was the last harvested in 2016 and came in a bit riper than 2015, due to the smaller crop and warmer weather. Still, at 13.8% alcohol this is delightfully balanced.
Medium/dark ruby in color, with a lovely savory, red fruited perfume that’s broad and generous but precise at once. The flavors are pure red fruit and savory in the classic Temperance Hill way, with fine structure under the primary fruit. This wine should age nicely for a decade or more, but it is delicious now. Because of the tiny yield this year, there is a limit of six bottles per buyer. First come, first served. $35 on pre-release. Six 1.5L magnums available at $78 each.
Willamette Valley Series
With the new Pinot Gris red wine (yes, that’s the gorgeous Pinot Gris “Noir”!), I now produce wine from five different grapes grown the Willamette Valley. I call that a Series. Now if only I could find good Aligote things would be complete…
2017 Vincent Pinot Blanc Willamette Valley - $16
The new Pinot Blanc shows the crisper side of the 2017 vintage, with lots of passion fruit, green apple, and citrus flavors with a subtle richness from a year of lees aging. The grapes this year came from Yamhill Valley Vineyards, vines planted in the late 1990s in the McMinnville AVA. My 2013 Pinot Blanc came from these same vines., and it was nice to work with them again in '17. $16 on prerelease.
2017 Vincent Chardonnay Willamette Valley - $18
As my production of Chardonnay grows, so do the number of my sources. This wine is a blend of all three Chardonnay vineyards I work with - Wetzel in the Van Duzer Corridor, Dion in the Laurelwood part of the Chehalem Mountains, and Brickhouse on Ribbon Ridge. In keeping with the leaner '17 vintage, this Chardonnay WV has crisp citrus and pear notes with fine acidity and a subtle richness that we look for in Chardonnay. If you’ve liked my previous Chardonnays, don’t miss this one. $18 on prerelease.
2017 Vincent Gamay Willamette Valley - $16
I made my first Gamay in 2015 almost as a reward for finally going full time in my winery. I love the vibrant fruit and bright character of Gamay, and I’m so glad people are loving it. The latest model is a blend of grapes from Bjornson Vineyard and the Redford-Wetle Ranch, both in the Eola Hills. Fermented like Pinot Noir in an open top fermenter, than aged in old 228L Burgundy barrels for a year, this wine is classic Gamay. Bright red berry fruit, brushy earthy complexity, super juicy and fun to drink now or over the next couple of years. Yes, I’ll have a Bjornson Vineyard designate but I’m saving that for spring, so here’s your Gamay for fall meals. Cheers! $16 on prerelease.
2017 Vincent Pinot Gris “Noir” Willamette Valley - $18
The newcomer, my first Pinot Gris and certainly my first red wine from Pinot Gris. How’s that? Pinot Gris like Pinot Blanc is a mutation of Pinot Noir. The word “Gris” means grey, which refers to there being some color in the grape skins but not as much as Pinot Noir. Still, you can make it like red wine and have a delicious, red fruited wine with some lively tannin. The fermentation lated 18 days on the skins, then the wine spent one year in an old 500L puncheon barrel as well as one neutral Burgundy barrel, then bottled like everything else - unfiltered. The result? See above - it’s a brilliantly colored light red wine, with surprising tannin and aromatic lift, strawberries and hibiscus flowers, pepper and warm stone flavors. This is a little like old world Grenache without high alcohol, a touch wild. I’m so excited for this one, and thanks to prices for Pinot Gris grapes, it’s pretty inexpensive. I was inspired to make this wine after tasting another local producer’s red Gris and I loved the way it touched on Pinot Noir but then was something totally different. That’s just like this wine, and yes, I’m making more in 2018. $16 on prerelease.
2017 Vincent Pinot Noir Willamette Valley - $18
Finally, my first Pinot Noir from the 2017 vintage. I’ll have Ribbon Ridge and Eola-Amity Hills bottlings as well as five single vineyard offerings next spring and beyond, but for now your first taste of 2017 Vincent Pinot Noir. My WV bottling is a blend of all the vineyards I work with, including one site that I work with only for this bottling. So this wine has Armstrong, Temperance Hill, Zenith, Bjornson and Silvershot grapes in it, as well as one mystery vineyard to provide a foundation for all the other lots blended in. The goal here is to assemble a juicy, fun Pinot Noir that’s intended to drink young but still be really interesting, and really good value. As you’d expect, a mix of red and black fruits given the mix of soil types and vineyard locations, just lacking quite the texture, length and distinction of the single vineyard offerings. This is seriously good wine from top quality vineyards, priced for case orders. $18 on prerelease.
Order Form
Don’t forget, orders must be in by end of day Friday, September 7, 2018.
To order, click reply, then please mark below what you would like to purchase. Also provide information for payment, and shipping if necessary.
2016 Vincent Pinot Noir Armstrong Vineyard “Tardive”
Pre-release price - $35
Magnums (1.5L) $78 (very limited)
I want ___________ bottles and _________ 1.5L magnums.
2016 Vincent Pinot Noir Temperance Hill Vineyard
Pre-release price - $35 - limit 6 bottles
Magnums (1.5L) $78 (very limited)
I want ___________ bottles and _________ 1.5L magnums.
2017 Vincent Pinot Blanc Willamette Valley
Pre-release price - $16
I want ___________ bottles.
2017 Vincent Chardonnay Willamette Valley
Pre-release price - $18
I want ___________ bottles.
2016 Vincent Gamay Willamette Valley
Pre-release price - $16
I want ___________ bottles.
2016 Vincent Pinot Gris “Noir” Willamette Valley
Pre-release price - $16
I want ___________ bottles
2016 Vincent Pinot Noir Willamette Valley
Futures price - $18
I want ___________ bottles
To pay by check, make it to “Vincent Wine Company” and mail to:
Vincent Wine Company
3335 NE 53rd Avenue
Portland, OR 97213
To pay by credit card, simply reply with your order and I’ll confirm everything, then email you an invoice via Square that you can pay directly. It’s super easy.
Shipping information
Will you need shipping? Get free ground shipping in the continental US on 12-bottle case orders of $300 or more, on total orders over $600. Magnums ship separately. Yes, you can mix and match wines to qualify for free shipping. We’ll ship in the fall when the weather has cooled in our area and yours.
Ground shipping for smaller orders will range from $25 for six-packs to the west coast to $55 for 12-bottle cases to the east coast. Please order in six or 12-bottle quantities for shipping!
Questions about shipping or anything? Just reply and I’ll help you out.
Schedule a visit
Finally, if you’re local or visiting the Willamette Valley, I’m happy to make an appointment for private tasting at the winery. Because you’re on my mailing list, I don’t charge a fee. I’m happy to have you try the wines and of course I hope you love some so much you take them home. But no obligation! To make an appointment, simply reply to this email and we can try to schedule something, even during harvest if you’re flexible.
Thank you as always for your support of Vincent Wine Company. I’m heading into my 10th harvest as an official winery, my how time flies. But I couldn’t do this without your support, so thank you.
Vincent
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