Vincent Wine Company

UnWine’d Tasting April 29

vincentwines — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 06:11:26 +0000

Just a quick note to say – if you’re going to the Unwine’d tasting in Portland this weekend, look for me pouring at the PDX Urban Wineries table. I’ll be alongside another urban winemaker representing a few wines from our association, including our own. Stop by our table and try some of the wines of Portland.

Noble Rot Anniversary May 7

vincentwines — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:40:16 +0000

We’re excited that Vincent is among the eleven wineries pouring at Noble Rot’s 10th Anniversary Bash on May 6.

It costs just $20, there will be music, Leather’s excellent food, Courtney might sing, it should be a bash indeed.

But if that’s not enough, think about this – the gorgeous city view on a late Sunday afternoon in spring, you taking it all in. How could you be anywhere else?

Wine tasting in Portland, April 15, with Helioterra Wines

vincentwines — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 05:56:58 +0000

Vincent is teaming up again with Helioterra Wines for a spring tasting in Portland on Sunday, April 15. Time is 1-5pm. Location is The Slate, a mixed use space at 2001 NW 19th Avenue in NW Portland.

The real reason for this tasting, which is free, is to showcase Helioterra’s latest releases, a crisp 2011 Pinot Blanc and meaty, peppery 2010s of Mourvedre and Syrah. They are also launching their wine club with this event, so think about joining.

Vincent will pour the remaining 2010s and will have 1.5L magnum bottles of all 2010s for sale at special prices. We’ll have some food from Cheese Bar too.

So come taste our wines and introduce yourself if we haven’t met before. RSVP quickly at our event page on Facebook.

Berserker Day Special

vincentwines — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:58:19 +0000

January 27 is Berserker Day over on the wine discussion group Wine Berserkers. What’s that? It’s the anniversary of the founding of the site three years ago, and they celebrate by getting wine producers and others to offer ridiculous deals to site members. The goal is to have the site be a better conduit between wine geeks and the wine industry than any other site out there. Wine Berserkers gets no revenue from the day. It’s simply about ridiculous deals from wineries to you. If you sign up for the Berserkers site (yes, it’s free and they are totally cool, no worries about your privacy, etc.).

Vincent Wine Company tried to participate two years ago on the first Berserker Day. However, we had no wine released yet and no way to really host people or otherwise make a good offer. Last year we gave a ridiculous deal on five of our 2009 Vincent Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills for $90, with a special bonus bottling for no charge that was actually a pre-commercial wine we made in 2008 from the Zenith Vineyard. Not bad.

This year, the slate of participants has grown. We also have more than one release available, so our package this year is slimmer, less expensive, and simply absurd. You get:

1 bottle 2010 Vincent Pinot Noir Armstrong Vineyard
1 bottle 2010 Vincent Pinot Noir Zenith Vineyard
1 bottle 2010 Vincent Pinot Noir Ribbon Ridge AVA

Full retail for these three wines is $96. Tomorrow, for our Berserker Day special, we’re offering this three-pack for $59 plus shipping. That’s less than $20 a bottle. Because of the giveaway nature of this deal, and the fact that there are going to be plenty more offers from other wineries, we’re limiting the offer to six 3-packs. Six buyers, then we’re sold out.

The offers will come out throughout the day on a special sub-forum of Wine Berserkers. Again, you have to log in as a member to see that forum and participate.

Why are we participating and why should you be interested? We’re not going to make any money here, but sure, we’ll have people who otherwise haven’t had our wine buy it and we hope love it, and maybe order more. Really, we’re doing it because Wine Berserkers has been a great and valuable addition to the internet wine world. We participate, we’ve met tons of great people through the site, and we want to give something back.

Hope to see you online at Berserker Day tomorrow.

Our Mystery Wine

vincentwines — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 06:34:58 +0000

We have a little known bottling in 2010 that’s going directly to restaurants – one restaurant to be precise – as a glass pour. Meaning, it’s priced low so a lovely restaurant like Ken’s Artisan Pizza will put it on their menu by the glass.

So for $9 a glass or (I believe) $36 a bottle, you can drink our mystery wine – the 2010 Vincent Pinot Noir Willamette Valley. What’s in this special bottling? Two barrels from one fermenter of mostly 777 clone topped up with a bit of Wadenswil. Naturally fermented, neutral oak aged, bottled without filtration, all Ribbon Ridge fruit but labeled as Willamette Valley for simple appeal.

This is fleshy, slightly wild Pinot Noir that’s not for keeping. It’s perfect for washing down some of Portland’s best pizza, so get down to Ken’s in SE Portland soon. Our 30-something cases remaining will go quickly.

2010s around Portland, among other news…

vincentwines — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:38:53 +0000

The 2009 Vincent Pinot Noirs are sold out. Now we’re on to 2010s, with deliveries recently to E&R Wines, Storyteller Wine Company and Jade Teahouse. Look for more this week.

The Armstrong Vineyard bottling is extremely limited at this point. I’m saving some for a few key events, including out February 29 Classic Wines Auction dinner with Et Fille and Tabla Bistro. Unfortunately, that event is already sold out but we certainly plan to do more events like this in the future.

This Saturday, we’re pouring the 2010s at Vino on SE 28th in Portland. Stop by to taste and browse this terrific neighborhood wine shop.

Thanksgiving pouring at ENSO Winery

vincentwines — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 07:56:19 +0000

People always ask if I have a tasting room or if I’m open for the Thanksgiving weekend. Really, I’m too small a producer to do much of that stuff, yet.

However I will be pouring from 4-6pm this Friday, November 25 at ENSO Winery at 1416 SE Stark Street in Portland. Consider it my Thanksgiving Weekend event.

I’ll have the new wines – the 2010 Vincent Pinot Noir Zenith Vineyard, 2010 Vincent Pinot Noir Armstrong Vineyard and 2010 Vincent Pinot Noir Ribbon Ridge. Come taste, no charge, and think about what bottles you want for holiday drinking and gift giving.

Harvest updates on elevage

vincentwines — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 02:24:12 +0000

Want to read about the crazy late harvest in Oregon’s Willamette Valley? We’re documenting harvest 2011 on our blog elevage.

See pictures from the vineyards and the winery, and get the first look at the 2011 wines to come from Vincent Wine Company.

Harvest 2011

vincentwines — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 05:18:23 +0000

Harvest 2011 begins Thursday for Vincent Wine Company. We’re picking everything from our blocks at Armstrong Vineyard on Ribbon Ridge and Zenith Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills. I am so excited. After this crazy growing season, where historic cold weather delayed budbreak until May and flowering until July, we’re near the end of October and finally we pick grapes.

How is the quality? We won’t really know until we have the fruit in the fermenters, but sugar levels are in the low 20s brix and pHs are in the 3.2 to 3.3 range. Just where I want them, for making wines with ripe flavors but energy, life, acid balance. Flavors are mixed, meaning some pretty explosive tasting berries and others with some bracing qualities that I prize. Let’s remember, we’re making wine, not fruit juice or eating grapes. I think grape flavors are overrated. Wine is a curing process. We’re taking raw meat and making bacon. There’s a big difference in the two. I’m looking for something in the final product that you can’t necessarily see in the raw material. What I want now are healthy, ripe grapes from a successful growing season. We have that.

And what a crazy growing season it was. A good indicator of a growing season here is at least 100 days from flowering until harvest, maybe 110 or longer depending on the season. Our early July flowering meant 100 days would be around October 12. In many years, we’d finish picking at that time. This year we knew we probably wouldn’t even begin until then. Crazy. Harvest is an outdoor activity. Does anyone think that outdoor events in the Willamette Valley in mid-October or later is a good idea?

Now, on the eve of October 20, we will finally pick. The grapes have had a long season after all. Turns out we’ve gotten the weather we need and things are turning out. I wouldn’t advise more seasons like this. Don’t plan an outdoor wedding this time of year. But for now, it looks like we might get lucky.

Stay tuned for more on harvest. Now I need some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long, and I hope great, day.

2010 Vincent Wine Company Release Event

vincentwines — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:07:41 +0000

We are releasing our 2010 Vincent Wine Company Pinot Noirs on October 2, 2011, at the Slate in NW Portland. We’ll be joined by our friends and Guild Winemakers partners Helioterra Wines, who are also releasing new wines.

This event is open to the public. Come taste our new wines – no charge. All wines will be for sale. Mailing list members who bought wine futures can pick up their orders.

Details:

What: Vincent Wine Company – 2010 Wine Release Event, with Helioterra Wines
Where: The Slate, 2001 NW 19th Avenue in Portland, OR
When: Sunday, October 2, 2011, from 1-5pm
RSVP (nice, but not required): vincentwines@gmail.com

We hope to see you there!