2008 Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir Tasting

Shea vineyard, in the Yamhill-Carlton AVA, is one the largest and finest vineyard sites in the Willamette Valley. The goal of this tasting was to examine the influence of winemaker on wines of the 2008 vintage. 2008 was recognized as one the best vintages in Oregon and the wines are just now approaching their drinking window. In addition to evaluating the 2008's we had the opportunity to evaluate a vertical of St. Innocent Shea Vineyard from 2006-08.

• 2005 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru

  Light gold color. Drank 1 glass over 15 minutes. Man, I wish there had been more of this. Very impressive, Nose is very bright with sea shells, apple, lemon. The palate has considerable energy here, lively, sea shells, lemon, crisp, orange peel, apple, apricot. Very long on the finish. Lovely.

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• 2006 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 91 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Dark red color. Had about an hour and a half decant. Drank 1 glass over 30 minutes in a vertical of 2006-08. Nose has earth, roasted meat, smoke, dark red fruits. The fruit is a bit subdued on the nose, and the nose evolves more over 15-20 minutes. The palate is full bodied, dark fruits, black cherry, meat, spicy, medium plus finish. Shows good balance.

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• 2007 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Dark red color. Decanted for 1.5 hours. Drank1 glass in a vertical of '06-'08 over 30 minutes plus. This is a really nice wine, and I love the 2007 vintage especially the St. Innocent offerings. This is smoky, with damp earth and mushrooms, raspberry, strawberry, just a gorgeous perfume of florals. The palate shows excellent integration and depth, elegant but with some power, spice, black cherry, strawberry, spice, and a velvety texture. Very long on the finish. This was the wine of the flight and was also my #3 WOTN.

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• 2008 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Dark red color. Decanted for 1.5 hrs. Drank 1 glass over 30+ minutes in a vertical of '06-'08. Still fairly young and a little on the primary side. The nose has savory notes with spice, big dark fruit, black cherry. The palate is full bodied, layered with dark fruits, black cherry, black currant, spices, nice texture. Long finish. This wine is just coming into it's drinking window. I'm looking forward to following this for the next 10 years. 92(+)pts.

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• 2008 Alexana Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Dark red color. Decanted for about 2 hours plus. Drank 1 glass over an hour. Made by Lynn Penner-Ash. Very impressive. This has a killer nose, earth, perfume, sandalwood, black raspberry, black cherry, spice, brown sugar. The palate is wonderfully layered and complex silky, impeccably balanced, spice, cola, dusty minerals, very long finish. Wow. My #2 WOTN and group #1 WOTN.

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• 2008 Penner-Ash Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 93 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Dark red color. Decanted for 2+ hours. Drank 1 glass side by side with the 2008 Alexana Shea, also made by Lynn Penner-Ash. Another outstanding effort, smoky, earthy, black raspberry, exotic spices. The palate has the same lush texture as the Alexana, deep layers of rich dark fruits, black cherry, dark berries, Asian spices, minerals, and long polished finish. I favored the Alexana just a bit, but we are splitting hairs here. My #4 WOTN and group #3 WOTN. 93+pts.

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• 2008 Shea Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Estate Shea Vineyard 90 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Dark red color. Decanted for 2.5hrs. Nose is cherry, florals, cedar, dusty. Palate is dusty, underbrush, tart cherry, very spicy, oak, some heat at the times. Needs food, not one you can just sit and sip on its own. A bottle of '08 Block 5 was nothing at all like this.

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• 2008 Shea Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Block 5 Shea Vineyard 89 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley

  Dark red color. Decanted 2.5hrs. Drank 1 glass over 45 minutes. This was another wine that really needed to food to balance it out. The nose is nice, dark and beefy with blackberry, black raspberry, spices, cedar. The palate is big and heavy, masculine, stewy fruit of blackcherry, blackberry, pepper, very hot and spicy. Not really a style I enjoy.

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• 2008 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 94 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  medium red color. Decanted 3+hrs. Drank 1 glass over 45 minutes. Ooh la la!! This was a honey. Way more than I anticipated here. The was just explodes out of the glass with an intense perfume of ripe fruits, blueberry and bright berries, earth and spices. The palate is a lighter-medium body with incredible intensity and finesse, almost weightless, lifted, blueberry, red berries mineral, spice, white pepper and long pure finish. Outstanding. This was my WOTN and the group #2 WOTN.

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• 2008 Raptor Ridge Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard 92 Points

  USA, Oregon, Willamette Valley, Yamhill-Carlton

  Medium red color. Decanted 3+hrs. Drank one glass over 30 minutes. Nice earthiness, dark fruits of blackberry, black raspberry, spice, minerals. The palate is silky, with lovely balance and well integrated tannins, deep and pure, dark berries, blackcherry, and minerals, with a long finish.

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This was a truly outstanding tasting. 2008 will go down as a top vintage and these wines should continue to evolve for another 3-5 years and drink well for 20+yrs from vintage. The winemaker certainly influenced these wines, and it has to be a treat to work with grapes from a premier vineyard site especially in a great vintage. Sometimes you just have to stay out of the way!

WOTN Voting:
#1 WOTN: 2008 Alexana Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard (5+5+5+5+5+2+2+1+1+1=22pts)
#2 WOTN: 2008 Ken Wright Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard(3+3+3+3+3+2+1+1+1=20pts)
#3 WOTN: 2008 Penner-Ash Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard (3+2+2+2+2+2+2+2=15pts)
2007 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard (2+1+1+1=5pts)
2008 Raptor Ridge Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard(3+1=4pts)
2008 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard (1+1=2pts)
2008 Shea Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Estate Shea Vineyard(2=2pts)
2006 St. Innocent Pinot Noir Shea Vineyard (0pts)
2008 Shea Wine Cellars Pinot Noir Block 5 Shea Vineyard(0pts)

The plan is to repeat this tasting in 2 years to see the evolution.

Thanks to Gary for setting this up and sharing these beautiful wines.