TN: 2008 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Temperance Hill (USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley)

  • 2008 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Temperance Hill - USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley (1/19/2011)
    Deep garnet with a clear rim. Buckle up from the first sniff. Black truffle, red fruit and forest floor. The forest floor you simply inhale from an early morning hike in the Pacific Northwest. Damp and sweet. If you have hiked to Heliotrope Ridge at Mount Baker, you know. Pomegranates, braised oyster mushrooms in a savory sauce and rainier cherries attack the palate. Rich and complex, while medium bodied. This rests on your tongue and demands your undivided attention. Bright, racy acid and sweet tannins bring balance to this challenging, but immensely pleasurable wine. The finish is long and beautiful.

So many bottles of Pinot Noir get the Burgundian tag. This is Oregon in it’s purest form. All I thought of while I drank this is if someone asked me what Oregon Pinot Noir tastes like, I’d just offer this bottle. (95 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Thanks!

The only 2008 St. Innocent that I have opened so far is the Villages Cuvee. I’m trying to keep my hands off of the single-vineyard wines for several years, but you’re making that difficult.

Great note, Anthony. It will be interesting to see how these '08’s develop. This sounds significantly better than when I tasted through the lineup at the winery last September.

Thanks for the note, I recently enjoyed their 08 Momtazi from 375. What’s the abv on the Temperance Hill?

Thought I’d report back on this. Just by dumb luck I was able to taste this again tonight (Saturday) the fourth day after opening (Wed). Our friends hosted us for dinner on Wed. We brought the bottle and they asked if they could take it as a roadie for their hotel room on a quick trip they were making to Portland. We had an impromptu dinner at their place tonight, and much to my surprise, they forgot to grab it when they packed up, so it had been gassed, sealed and sitting on the fridge.

The wine had developed a pretty orange peel/cinnamon/mushroom quality and the acidity was still persistent, while very little tannin remained and the finish was medium length. I loved this anyway, but I’ll bump it to 96 as it remained appealing after sitting for four days. Truly special juice and I’m thrilled to have five more of these beauties hibernating for the forseeable future.

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!

I have had this wine 4 times and all 93, 94 from me. If you have a bunch pop one open and let it evolve over the course of a night. [welldone.gif]

or 4!

O.K. You guys broke my defenses – what little I have. My LWS has a bunch of these. Time to buy one and give it a try over several days.

Ian - 13.5%

Greg, very nice wine and my preference of the 08 St. I’s to date. No matter how much love it inspires, there’s a good shot of irrepressible 08 structure. Hard to believe that’s faded. Planning to let the two in my cellar sleep for atleast 4 - 5 more years.

RT

Opened this last night for my neighbors birthday. Amazing, and this wine is still in its youthful stage. Expressive berries on the nose, dark cherry fruit, and balanced. Tannins were smooth, but the structure was still in place. Just a great bottle.

Opened my last bottle of the 2009 vintage. VG, but no where near the 2008, and the bottle seemed to fall off with time.

The 2008’s are drinking spectacularly now! Patience was the key to that vintage. IMO, 2008 is the greatest of all WV vintages.

Those that primarily indulge in infantcide will undoubtedly disagree. Most of those wines were not immediately ready to be drank upon release nor a year or so afterward. Of course, the wine makers were saying that all along.

Temperance always delivers. I miss the White Rose Vineyard wines especially the prices St. Innocent would charge for them.

Popped this tonight. Still brash and rambunctious after 12 years, compared to the appreciably calmer 08 Kelley Fox Maresh. Lots of bright jumpy sour cherry and red plum fruit with no shortage of Oregonian forest notes. A noticeable yet subtle streak of oak to calm the rubbing tannins. Still extroverted. Enjoyable acidity and length. Still an “in your face” Pinot with several years of good drinking ahead. Agree with the O.P. it’s so much more Oregon than Burgundy. I disagree with Gordon…and I don’t do infanticide (that often [wink.gif] ) but variety is the spice of life. Unfortunately my last bottle. Blind it could easily fool someone that it’s half its age or less.

RT

Have been saving some 2008 St Innocents For a special occasion - Only one Temperance left along with 2 Shea and 3 White Rose so maybe it’s time to pull the cork on one of the White Roses?

No rush Colleen if the structure is at all similar. With 3 bottles, it might be fun to check in. Not much risk of the fruit fading anytime soon in the Temperance Hill.

RT