WTN: 2004 St Innocent Pinot Noir Shea (Special Selection)

2004 St Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard Special Selection 13.9% Alc. 50% new French Oak.
Instantly showing amazing aromatics. I love the way Shea Pinot smells. Toasty smoke blowing through flowers and vegetable patch. The texture is silky and oily. A nice burst of berries coats your mouth and then the sweet tannin hits. You need a rich food dish to interact with the finish of the wine. Even though your mouth is dried out quickly, the tannin doesn’t ruin the finish. Tons of stones and flowers continue on. There is also a small amount of roasted meat flavor. The mid palate still needs to integrate but in spite of that, this has lots to enjoy right now. 93 pts

Jason

[Jenise]

Sounds terrific. I'm in the process of accumulating various Sheas so I can get a handle on that "Shea Pinot" nose that everyone says is so distinctive. From St. Innocent's wine alone, I'm unable to isolate it.

Sounds terrific. I'm in the process of accumulating various Sheas so I can get a handle on that "Shea Pinot" nose that everyone says is so distinctive. From St. Innocent's wine alone, I'm unable to isolate it.

Well to be honest I don't have a ton of Shea... I should say SI Shea. Shea is a Massive vineyard so there is variety.

Jason

I love the way Shea Pinot smells. Toasty smoke blowing through flowers and vegetable patch. The texture is silky and oily.

I'm having some trouble understanding how toasty smoke is a Shea Vineyard characteristic. I usually associate it with the winemaker's use of toasted oak barrels.

I also wonder how a Pinot Noir with an oily texture can be so appealing as to rate 93 points.

What am I missing here?

-- Clark

I'm having some trouble understanding how toasty smoke is a Shea Vineyard characteristic. I usually associate it with the winemaker's use of toasted oak barrels.

Sorry. Probably shouldn't have connected those two statements. I would say the toast comment is not connected to Shea. I don't know that I have precise descriptions for what I like about the SI Shea aromas. Other than I like it. I do every year. This wine is very young and has many young and primary characteristics.

I also wonder how a Pinot Noir with an oily texture can be so appealing as to rate 93 points.

What am I missing here?

-- Clark

To each his own I guess. I don't think you are missing anything.

This would be in the context of Pinot Noir and not certain whites. Would you say Pinot Noir cannot have that type of texture and warrant an A rating?

Jason

I also wonder how a Pinot Noir with an oily texture can be so appealing as to rate 93 points.

To each his own I guess. I don't think you are missing anything.

This would be in the context of Pinot Noir and not certain whites. Would you say Pinot Noir cannot have that type of texture and warrant an A rating?
Jason

I normally associate an oily texture with flabby wines that are low in acid. I suspect this particular wine does not have that problem. Rather, since your description of the wine also includes sweet tannin, I suspect you might be sensing a somewhat increased amount of glycerol, a by-product of the fermentation process.

All in all, this wine sounds very interesting. What is the retail cost of this 2004 SI Shea Pinot Noir?

-- Clark

I normally associate an oily texture with flabby wines that are low in acid. I suspect this particular wine does not have that problem. Rather, since your description of the wine also includes sweet tannin, I suspect you might be sensing a somewhat increased amount of glycerol, a by-product of the fermentation process.

Yes. Just bye palate and not science my guess would be glycerol. And SI wines are never flabby. Recent vintages are a little more forward but the acid is always there to hold the wine together.

All in all, this wine sounds very interesting. What is the retail cost of this 2004 SI Shea Pinot Noir?

-- Clark

The Special Selection was only available on "futures" and was $40. The regular bottlings can be had for around $34. There will be some increases in 05 but the SI wines are still bargins when you consider many lesser American Pinots and Burgundies go for double or triple the money.

Cheers,

Jason