Wine Advocate (Robert Parker) says:

"It is heartening to see that Mark Vlossak, St.-Innocent’s winemaker and co-owner, has maintained reasonable prices even after having received considerable praise for his wines over the years."

Oregon Pinot noir collectors know St Innocent's wines are excellent values, none more so than the Villages Cuvee, produced annually in small amounts and mostly marketed in Oregon.

This year's Villages Cuvee is made from fruit sourced at:
-Shea Vineyard's terraced section, consisting of younger vines on a steep south facing slope. The Shea fruit forms the heart of the wine, and provides weight, and a wild and lush character to the wine.
- Temperance Hill Vineyard's east facing section, 6-8 year old vines provide fruit that adds qualities of earth and forest.
- Vitae Springs Vineyard's fruit comes from a cooler site thatn the two above, and provides nice high tones, aromatics, fresh cherry and fresh garden herb scents and flavors.

St Innocent Villages Cuvee Pinot noir 05 $19.75/21.95
Tasting Notes

Nose: Lots and lots of red fruit scents like red raspberry, tart red cherry, red currant, and red plum. HInts of soft toast, blackberry, vanilla, and smoke.

Flavors: Sweet, juicy red cherry is the initial impression, refreshing and balanced. As the wine opens in the mouth, the midpalate finds intense, bold, darker fruit and barrel toast notes- these darker tones add weight and depth to the otherwise juicy, fruity wine.

Finish: The tannins are silky, present in perfect balance, seamless and lushly textured. One is left with a sense of balanced, juicy, refreshing Pinot noir.

As the wine opens and breathes with time (decanting is a great idea for this wine), more impressions of different fruits and other flavors appear, ranging from tart pie cherry through blackberry, black currant, and hints of smoky, toasty oak.

Food Pairings

As Amy, Avalon's newest team member says, "Acidity is the friend of food", and she immediately suggested salmon as an ideal food to pair with this wine. The acidity of this juicy wine cuts through the luscious fat flavors of the fish. She suggests grilling or pan searing the salmon. An alternative to salmon could be grilled pork, cooked simply.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

If we may help with an order, please let us know.
We're available by phone at 541-752-7418
from 8 AM Pacific time until 5 PM Pacific time,
Monday through Saturday,
and we answer email on Sundays.

Thanks for your support -
we appreciate your orders and your suggestions.
Our customers always give us our best ideas!

Marcus, Chris, Kevin, and Wendy, and Jean
541-752-7418

Avalon Wine
201 SW 2nd Street
Corvallis OR 97333
541-752-7418
www.avalonwine.com
store@avalonwine.com

Marcus Looze
Manager
marcus@avalonwine.com
541-752-7418

Chris Haggerty
Customer Service
store@avalonwine.com
541-752-7418

Jean Yates
Owner
jean@avalonwine.com
541-424-8004 (direct line)

If you wouldn't mind, to ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, add avalon@avalonwine.com toyour email program's "approved senders" or "whitelist" list or mark our emails "not spam" today.