st. innocent winery

I was trying to be friendly, but I think the guy at the counter wasn't amused by my banter. I went with the $10 tasting flight. I didn't drink all of it, but he certainly didn't over pour. I ended up buying the Pinot Gris so I didn't have to pay for the flight. I thought the grounds were very pretty, and I liked most of the wines. They do have a bit of a peppery finish. Please don't go hungry because they don't have a lot of food to offer.

We showed up on a Sunday afternoon, were greeted by 3 staff, and presented with a menu of flight options from which to choose. When we asked for more information about each flight, our pourer seemed confused by the question. Wasn't it clear that they were from different vineyards? The first was "lighter" the last was "more complex." Many of the wines were in 2 of the 3 flights. A bit put off, we decided to go with the first, least expensive, option at $10. The first pour was a pinot gris. The quantity in our glass was less than 1 ounce, a small pour by Oregon tasting room standards. But we didn't say anything. We couldn't. Our pourer was so intent on providing all kinds of data to us: the soil, the grape, the vintage, a second-by-second account of what we would taste (when, where, what, how). We tried to politely ignore her. I even walked away from the counter. She continued, barely pausing to catch her breath, intent on demonstrating to us her in-depth knowledge. Or perhaps she is uncomfortable with silence. She never asked us one thing: what we thought of the wine, what our experiences are, etc. However, she did tell us we'd never had an Alsatian pinot gris. She also told us that we were very familiar with cab (we're not. we drink Oregon pinot). Her other assumptions about us were that we knew little of Oregon wines and it was her duty to impart her extensive knowledge on us. About the wine: the mouth-feel, taste - a respectable pinot gris perhaps not as full-bodied as others in the region. "Not a bad start to the flight," I was thinking - but then the finish was an unexpected hit to the senses - described perhaps as rancid olive oil with a hint of green pepper. Not pleasant.I gave my boyfriend a look. He whispered to me (all of the while she was going on about our tasting notes...), "not bad. but what's up with the finish? What *is* that?" The next pours were all pinot noir. Again, we were provided a meager amount, barely enough to swirl. I don't even take big sips and it was nearly gone in one. She nearly gave my boyfriend a full ounce pour after which she looked stressed and said, "oh well" as if it were hugely generous. I'll not bore you with my tasting notes.Words that come to mind for her favorite wine in our flight, the 2012 Momtazi: acidic, briney, pork/bacon, glaringly bright, mineral, astringent...not our cup of pinot. We did not buy any wine. That is unheard of for us. Usually, since they discount or waive your tasting fee with a purchase, we typically at least buy one "pity" bottle if not a case (we have a cellar of aging Oregon pinot noir). Perhaps it was an off-day for us. Perhaps the gal's unending rattle of information: vintage, grapes, soil, tasting notes, food pairings, etc. irritated us. I suppose that there is one thing she said that resonated with me: These were not like any other Oregon pinots we'd ever tasted.One of her food pairing suggestions really brings it home: She likes the Momtazi 2012 pinot noir with thai. I've never considered a pinot noir to pair with thai. Riesling? Alsatian pinot gris? champagne? rose? I like those with thai. But my pinot? The elegant pinot noir I like would get squashed by the spicy cuisine. The thing is, we like other Oregon pinots; and while I'm always interested in trying something different, at least my palate failed to appreciate the complexities of these wines. Their acidic, bright, pommard-clone flavors completely over shown the nuances that I've come to expect from this grape in this region.

St Innocent is one of our favorite producers in the Willamette Valley. The produce excellent value pinot noirs. We have visited several facilities on our trip, and this was one of our favorites. From the beautiful grounds to the great wines, we really enjoyed ourselves. If visiting on a sunny day, bring some food and enjoy your wine with a picnic lunch! The lovely view makes the perfect back drop for the fantastic wines! Make sure to take home a few bottles, these wines are excellent values.

I was here 2 years ago, so this time I brought 7 other family members with me. St. Innocent remains my favorite Oregon winery: It's a beautiful quiet spot to taste their wines and to sit awhile and share a bottle with friends. We brought our own food, but I believe they have some for purchase. Their wines remain reasonable for the excellent quality. And the staff is incredibly friendly, helpful and generous.

It was a nice location and the wine quality was good. The pinot gri was quite tasty, but the pinot noir kind of light and young...needs to lay down for a couple years. nice people there too.

An excellent winery choice to visit or just buy their wines. First visited more than two years ago and have been in the wine club since.St. Innocent has a broad selection of high quality wines including pinot noir, pinot gris and pinot blanc. Excellent quality at fair pricing...resulting in a best buy type situation.Service has been excellent at both the tasting room and in the wine club. Latter shows some good flexibility such as customizing wine in a shipment, sending a shipment to a friend and even suspending one shipment when we were too long on wine.Highly recommend.

First, go to the country of Portlandia. Next, drink lots of their great coffee, and then take a little ride out to this winery. You won't be sorry. They make some of the best Pinots around. Now if you like Pinot, you know in the hands and sunlight of California they can become quiet the fruit bomb, but with the cooler temps up here, you get all the flavor and much more refined sampling of the fruit; its all there, it just isn't clubbing you over the head.

We had a great wine tasting experience here -- lovely wines with a very experienced staff and beautiful property. We left with several bottles of very good wine.

We were finally able to visit Oregon all the way from Virginia and St Innocent was the number one spot on our list of wineries to visit. The tour was great, the wine was awesome as always and it made our trip very special. Everyone here is super friendly and welcoming.

Our group of 21 had a most wonderful tasting and private small tour at St. innocent Winery last Saturday. We were treated royally by two delightful and knowledgable staff. We could not have been happier and highly recommend this stop. Beautiful setting for a wedding or other celebration as well.

This was one of our first vineyards that we visited in the Oregon wine country. Not a huge vineyard but absolutely beautiful. Their Pinot was wonderful.

I found St Innocent while supporting a 5yo flower girl who was attending the wedding in the event center next to the winery. It was not attractive to enter with lots of asphalt and very dated landscaping. Also the winery room for customers has no view and is quite small and dark. The outside area has several comfortable tables with umbrellas but a view of only a few acres of grapes and the entrance to the also unattractive (in my eyes) event center. But it gets better. Met the manager of the Tasting Room, Liz and she was the best. Classy, not pushy but clearly understands the business and product. Our first half bottle was 2011 Shea Vinyard Pinot Noir. Wonderful choice per her suggestion. Followed that with a 2012 Temperance Hill Vinyard, Oeil de Perdrix (a white Pinot noir) which was also delicious. I would return as the prices and personalities were excellent. WARNING the nearly contiguous "event center" is not a nice place with saggy gold obsolete curtains, no color to gardens and poor maintenance/manners. The wedding was a disaster for the guests. The event center is not operated by winemaker Mark Vlossak and he might be more successful if he finds a different location. I do think St Innocent Winery is worth a 2 hour trip with the understanding that is it not as flashy or well designed as the Dundee wineries.

My husband and I have been to literally hundreds of wineries over the years (and have a daughter in the industry), and I must say that St. Innocent was one of the best experiences. The staff were knowledgeable about the wine, and the wines themselves are exceptional values. The highlight was when the owner/wine-maker took us into the vineyards and explained the importance of leaf growth (and how to achieve it) and how they apply sustainable practices across the operation. Mark also described how to pair wines with foods far more logically and in more detail than is usually the case. Thank you!

We came upon this wine at a restaurant on the first night of our week long stay. Very surprised at the "yummyness" of this wine and there are quite a few to try at this winery. Very friendly staff, the grounds are stunning and not too far to drive to from the city.We are glad we decided to go pay them a visit and bought some to take home with us.

This is a beautiful location to taste many wines at once. They have a gorgeous facility, beautiful acreage, and a generous paved parking lot. They welcome picnicking. Jeff was a fantastic tasting host, his descriptions of the wine and time he spent with us was fantastic!