Oregon

america: oregon

St. Innocent, Willamette Valley

Mark Vlossak grew up tasting wine at the side of his father, a fine wine importer. After a postgraduate degree in medicine, he moved to Oregon to practice pediatrics. In 1983, he re-discovered his passion for wine, and this led to school at UC Davis as well as a two-year apprenticeship at Oregon's Arterberry Winery. In 1988, Mark founded St. Innocent Winery, named for his father, who was born on All Innocent's Day and christened with the middle name of Innocent.

Mark has a European sensibility when it comes to wine. Ten years after starting his winery, Mark went to Burgundy. There, in a defining moment, he came to understand that the innate qualities of great Pinot Noir do not come from the more-is-better philosophy that guides many in the new world. Intensity of extraction, for example, does not result in a more powerful wine. Mark believes that great Pinot Noir is created when exactly the right balance of fruit, tannin, and phenolic components are captured during the fermentation of perfectly ripe fruit. The nuance, layered richness, balance and finesse of a great wine come from a moment in time that one catches at harvest and then carefully nurtures until the wine is bottled.

Mark also focuses intently on viticulture and discovering great vineyard sites. He's a committed terroirist, and his guiding philosophy is to tailor vineyard work to each site so that the attributes of each are expressed in its wine. He looks for balance between leaves and fruit in his vines, he works with low yields, and he harvests according to how the grapes taste. Every year, just to keep himself honest, he travels to Burgundy and Alsace for extensive tastings.

From 1994-1999 he was the winemaker at Panther Creek, but these days he's full time with St. Innocent. He works with the Pinot family—Pinot Noir, Blanc, and Gris—and some superb Chardonnay from Dijon clones. His fragrant wines emphasize depth of fruit coupled with richly layered secondary flavors—the hallmark of each wine's terroir. The vineyards are: Anden, Freedom Hill, Seven Springs, Shea, Temperance Hill, Vitae Springs, and White Rose. These are among the finest vineyards in the northern Willamette Valley.

Mark's father, by the way, is still going strong in the wine business—helping his kid sell St. Innocent wines in the Wisconsin and Chicago markets.

www.stinnocentwine.com