The 2016 Pinot Noir Momtazi Vineyard opens with tar, damp soil and decaying leaves scents, with a core of blackberries and black cherries. In the mouth, it's medium-bodied, concentrated and earthy with a grainy frame and long, fresh finish. This will benefit from a decant. 938 cases produced.

The 2014 Pinot Noir Momtazi Vineyard, which comes from biodynamically certified fruit and bottled a month later than St. Innocent's other 2014 wines, has quite a strong undergrowth element on the nose, so much so that you might think there was some stems in the blend. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red berry fruit. There is a pleasing salinity here, quite a characterful Pinot Noir with a vibrant, white pepper and rosemary-infused finish that is well defined, if just a tad truncated compared to say, the 2014 Shea Vineyard. Nevertheless, this should drink well for several years.

The 2013 Pinot Noir Momtazi Vineyard, which comes from a part of the vineyard exposed to the Van Duizer wind, has a tightly wound bouquet, just a little introverted at the moment and especially compared to the Shea Vineyard. With time, there is quite a strong undergrowth element that lends complexity. The palate is medium-bodied with fine delineation, moderate complexity, a little "static" at the moment, especially when compared to the superior 2014. Still, there is a fine precision here and it will drink nicely over the next several years.

The 2012 Pinot Noir Momtazi Vineyard comes from biodynamically certified vines located on the steep upper reaches of the exposed vineyard. There is an herbal element on the nose, hints of menthol developing in the glass, touches of dried leaves, orange rind and a touch of peppermint. The palate is medium-bodied with strong white pepper and red peppercorns on the entry. Dusky black fruit surfaces with hints of cumin and bell pepper structured on the finish that lingers nicely in the mouth. I suspect this will meliorate with another 12-18 months in bottle. Good value for the quality inside the bottle.

Vlossak remarked that it was showing better when we tasted it than it had previously. In my review of an Oeil de Perdrix bottling from this vintage and site, I inadvertently conveyed the impression that there would be no St. Innocent 2011 Pinot Noir Momtazi Vineyard. In fact, the high-elevation extremities of this vineyard to which Vlossak has rights – he calls them “brutally wind-blown (with) shit for soil” –struggled to ripen in such a cool vintage, but it was only two of five blocks on which he gave up hope of harvesting red wine. That still left fruit enough for 729 cases. A highly vintage-typical display of tart red currant and sour cherry tinged with fresh ginger, turmeric and sassafras, its aromatic evocation of sea breeze leading to mouthwatering salinity and myriad mineral nuances on an infectiously juicy, pungently spicy, and almost glaringly bright palate, renders the experience here unforgettably bracing. Suggestions of bloody roasted red meats add to the striking savor of a finely-tannic, grippingly and resonantly persistent Pinot, almost sure to engender excitement through at least 2020. Given the strikingly consistent success of the three vintages I’ve tasted of this wine, I can’t fathom why Vlossak prices it as he does, but that certainly qualifies it as an amazing value. This will not, however – as I trust my tasting note will have made clear – be everybody’s cup of Pinot. Founder-winemaker Mark Vlossak – for much more about whom, and about St. Innocent, consult my issue 202 report – compares 2011 with the low-alcohol, high-acid Pinots he bottled in 1999, but not by way of dwelling on similarities; on the contrary. “I basically told people not to drink them,” he says of his 1999s, “and I’m still not drinking them. Every time I open ‘em I just think they’re way too young. Some may just be starting to come ‘round. But 2011 is completely different. Back then a lot of the vineyard was dying of phylloxera. We still had wide spacing. Now we have younger vines but with much denser spacing and more leaves to do the job.” Vlossak notes that “the highest alcohol I got in 2011was 13%, and I didn’t chaptalize anything that came in over 12.5%. The largest sugar buy I had ever made until now was 50 pounds, which means that basically I’d never really chaptalized anything. And I bought around 1,700 pounds of sugar in 2011!” Fermentative extraction and pressing were both gentler than usual – and “usual’ here, Vlossak has repeatedly sought to assure me, signifies an already light touch. I found two Vlossak’s whites tasted ahead of his latest Pinot Noirs surprisingly glassy in texture and tart, especially considering the noticeable degree of alcoholic ripeness achieved in the 2012 Pinot Blanc. Tel. (503) 932 2129