The St. Innocent 2007 Shea Vineyard Pinot Noir Willamette Valley (13.5%) was a deep garnet red in the glass, offering bright and pungent blackberry and black cherry fruit with hints of strawberry to the nose. In the mouth, the St. Innocent Shea pinot was light and crisp, but lacking flavors of fruit that one would expect. It was a bit flat and watery overall, with a slight, lingering finish of cherry fruit.

We paired this Oregon pinot noir with a grilled NY strip steak (seasoned with salt/pepper) that was cooked medium rare, sliced, and then placed on top of a bed of fresh arugula tossed with grilled red bell peppers, olive oil, and red wine vinegar.

Although this wine came up short, I really liked the level of detail St. Innocent provided on the back label of their bottle. Their description of the Shea Vineyard and the winemaking approach offers the consumer an opportunity to connect to the places and practices that went into this wine. Kudos to them for going beyond the bottle with their labels.

I am looking forward to trying more St. Innocent wines in the months ahead, although I would pass on another bottle of the Shea Vineyard pinot noir. At $37, the quality-to-price ratio falls well short of the bar one would expect at this price point.

Related Links
The Wine Commentator's Review
Avalon's Review of Shea Vineyard '07 Pinot Noirs