I’m delighted to release the final three wines from 2013, all reds perfect for spring and summer dining.

2013 Vincent Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills – $27
2013 Vincent Pinot Noir Zenith Vineyard – $39
2013 Vincent Pinot Noir Bjornson Vineyard – $39

Each year, my top wines are my single vineyard designate bottlings. For spring, they are Zenith and Bjornson, both from the Eola-Amity Hills AVA but different in soil type.

The 2013 Zenith Vineyard is from our rows in block 6-G, a south facing knoll with little top soil over sandstone where the leaf canopy of the vines barely fills the trellis most years. This year’s wine is all Pinot Noir elegance, with ripe but restrained fruit, floral and earth elements, the texture worsted and a touch firm. I enjoy my single vineyard wines young, but they do have more structure with the goal of lasting several years in a cool cellar. This Zenith is a classic representation of this historic Eola Hills vineyard, formerly O’Connor Vineyard and a long time source of terrific wines from St. Innocent Winery. $39

The 2013 Bjornson Vineyard is a slightly more powerful Pinot Noir, with a touch deeper color and already complex fruit and earth interplay, the acid bright and finish long and satisfying. The soils here are volcanic, with a thin band of red clay over fractured basalt bedrock. The wines here are always more masculine, but like neighboring vineyards I’ve enjoyed for years, Bjornson always shows perfume and grace to balance its natural power in a way very few sites can achieve. Like the Zenith, this wine is delicious now and yet has the structure to age well for several years. $39

The 2013 Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills is our village wine for spring, a blend of barrels from all three of our vineyard sites in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA – Zenith and Bjornson, as well as Crowley Station Vineyard. This wine is a bit lighter in color than either single vineyard bottling, with less intensity but still lovely grace and perfume intended for drinking now over the next few years. $27