WTN: 2011 St. Innocent Temperance Hill

[Jenise]

I think my first Temperance Hill was the '04 vintage. I believe it was Mark's first effort with that vineyard, and the wine was a thick, over-extracted mess--IIRC, in order to get some of the other wines that got like the highest domestic pinot scores ever from Rovani, you had to take some of these. When I tasted them, I was not happy. I've avoided the vineyard ever since, but two came with the mixed case of '11s I bought when Mark offered mixed cases at an average $24/bottle, so I have 'em.

And wow how different this was from the black and clunky Temperance Hills I remember from ten years ago. This is a deep red wine showing mixed berries with a touch of passion fruit, sassafras root and forest flavors which combine for a complex purity that carry thru to a lengthy finish. Terrific acidity, as goes with the vintage. Couldn't be more surprised or impressed--this is the best wine we've had from that case so far.

[David M. Bueker]

Excellent. I stopped buying St. I when I was finding the wines too rich and alcoholic. If things have toned down a bit I might be interested again.

[Jenise]

I did, too. Didn't buy after 2005, but a chance encounter with the 09 Momtazi caught my attention. It was dialed way back in weight and intricately spiced. I actually took a chance on this box of '11's pretty much on the strength of that, plus a willingness to like these cool, lean vintages.

Nice. I love that wine. I was not a fan of Temperance Hill until recently but it seems Mark has got it dialed. I really like the recent vintages of SI wines. Much more consistent and more approachable. I still skip the hot vintages like 09. Although I am dabbling with the 12s from Oregon. After claiming I would not buy them, I found what ended up in the bottles of good producers to be pretty delicious.

Cheers,

Jason

[Jenise]

Nice. I love that wine. I was not a fan of Temperance Hill until recently but it seems Mark has got it dialed. I really like the recent vintages of SI wines. Much more consistent and more approachable. I still skip the hot vintages like 09. Although I am dabbling with the 12s from Oregon. After claiming I would not buy them, I found what ended up in the bottles of good producers to be pretty delicious.

Cheers,

Jason

You and I agree on Temperance Hill then. I did skip many vintages of St. I for reasons mentioned in another response, so am not 'up' on what Mark's doing lately but these 11's have been quite interesting. I should have bought more '11s from a lot of sources, I think it's my kind of vintage.

In '12, I only bought Cristom Mt. Jefferson and Drouhin from Oregon.