To those of you with long memories a long association here, you might remember Vincent Fritzsche posting to Wine Therapy as "Franklin." Back in those days, he was an amateur winemaker working in Portland. Today, he is the full-time winemaker of Vincent Wines in Portland (and still occasionally posts here). Last week, a memorial service took me to Portland, so with a bit of down time (though less than I'd originally thought) I managed to meet up with Vincent and taste through his current offerings. I had a great time talking to him and learning a bit about his operation.
Vincent started his winery in 2009. His philosophy is decidedly non-interventionist (as one might expect from a Disorderly) though, as he makes clear, he is not dogmatic about it. He avoids any signature of new oak in his wines and also picks earlier than is the norm to retain good acidity in his grapes. His operation is currently housed in Grochau Winery in the Eola Hills near McMinnville, but I met him at his home in Portland for our tasting. Alternatively, one can taste his wines at the tasting bar at the Southeast Wine Collective. He makes Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir, but our tasting focused on the Pinot Noirs only. He sources his grapes his Pinot Noirs from the Eola Hills, Ribbon Ridge and Eola-Amity Hills AVAs.
First up was the 2014 Vincent Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir blend. It had a light, lifted nose of vibrant red raspberry, a nicely acidic spine, very fresh fruit in a restrained package. This is a wine for near-term drinking. I brought a bottle to dinner with, among others, my winemaking cousin and his Burgundy-loving wife. It was a big hit with winegeeks and non-winegeeks alike.
Moving on to the single-vineyard bottlings, we first tried the 2014 Vincent Zenith Vineyard Pinot Noir (opened the day before) which had a very high-toned and spicy nose with perhaps a touch of VA, depending on one's sensitivity. The biggest impression I had of this wine was its fleshiness and voluptuous nature. Deeply fruited but retaining enough acidity to keep it in balance, it's the biggest crowd pleaser of the lineup. [NB: The Zenith Vineyard was formerly known as the O'Connor vineyard and was a source of grapes for St. Innocent. It's planted with the Pommard clone and grown on thin soils in the Eola Hills AVA]
Next up was the 2014 Vincent Bjornson Vineyard Pinot Noir. This is made from a vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. In contrast to the Zenith, this wine had a distinct savory character, darker fruit with forest floor notes. Very balanced with a smooth entry, it was showing its structure and should improve with a few years in the bottle. I was able to revisit it a day later and it had opened up considerably and rounded out nicely, still retaining its excellent balance.
Finally, Vincent opened another blend, the 2014 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. This showed quite a different character, with subtle smoky and meaty elements that we both agreed were signatures of Brett, albeit at a low level that -- for my Brett-tolerant palate -- added complexity and wasn't in any way off-putting. Underneath, however, was a wine showing great purity of fruit, fine balance and, as with all of Vincent's wines, great restraint.
What I took away from my visit, beside a few wines, was the great personal sense of Vincent the person as well as the character of his wines. As he stated was his goal, he lets the vineyard character show through. Likewise, his wines show the effect of a hot growing year (2014) yet clearly avoid any sense of overextraction, alcoholic heat or lack of acidity (he did acidify at least one of his wines). These are wines that remain New World in their outlook without succumbing to the usual problems of overextraction and/or overoaking. These are wines well worth seeking out, especially given their very reasonable pricing.
Your peripatetic reporter,
Mark Lipton
Vincent started his winery in 2009. His philosophy is decidedly non-interventionist (as one might expect from a Disorderly) though, as he makes clear, he is not dogmatic about it. He avoids any signature of new oak in his wines and also picks earlier than is the norm to retain good acidity in his grapes. His operation is currently housed in Grochau Winery in the Eola Hills near McMinnville, but I met him at his home in Portland for our tasting. Alternatively, one can taste his wines at the tasting bar at the Southeast Wine Collective. He makes Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir, but our tasting focused on the Pinot Noirs only. He sources his grapes his Pinot Noirs from the Eola Hills, Ribbon Ridge and Eola-Amity Hills AVAs.
First up was the 2014 Vincent Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir blend. It had a light, lifted nose of vibrant red raspberry, a nicely acidic spine, very fresh fruit in a restrained package. This is a wine for near-term drinking. I brought a bottle to dinner with, among others, my winemaking cousin and his Burgundy-loving wife. It was a big hit with winegeeks and non-winegeeks alike.
Moving on to the single-vineyard bottlings, we first tried the 2014 Vincent Zenith Vineyard Pinot Noir (opened the day before) which had a very high-toned and spicy nose with perhaps a touch of VA, depending on one's sensitivity. The biggest impression I had of this wine was its fleshiness and voluptuous nature. Deeply fruited but retaining enough acidity to keep it in balance, it's the biggest crowd pleaser of the lineup. [NB: The Zenith Vineyard was formerly known as the O'Connor vineyard and was a source of grapes for St. Innocent. It's planted with the Pommard clone and grown on thin soils in the Eola Hills AVA]
Next up was the 2014 Vincent Bjornson Vineyard Pinot Noir. This is made from a vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA. In contrast to the Zenith, this wine had a distinct savory character, darker fruit with forest floor notes. Very balanced with a smooth entry, it was showing its structure and should improve with a few years in the bottle. I was able to revisit it a day later and it had opened up considerably and rounded out nicely, still retaining its excellent balance.
Finally, Vincent opened another blend, the 2014 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. This showed quite a different character, with subtle smoky and meaty elements that we both agreed were signatures of Brett, albeit at a low level that -- for my Brett-tolerant palate -- added complexity and wasn't in any way off-putting. Underneath, however, was a wine showing great purity of fruit, fine balance and, as with all of Vincent's wines, great restraint.
What I took away from my visit, beside a few wines, was the great personal sense of Vincent the person as well as the character of his wines. As he stated was his goal, he lets the vineyard character show through. Likewise, his wines show the effect of a hot growing year (2014) yet clearly avoid any sense of overextraction, alcoholic heat or lack of acidity (he did acidify at least one of his wines). These are wines that remain New World in their outlook without succumbing to the usual problems of overextraction and/or overoaking. These are wines well worth seeking out, especially given their very reasonable pricing.
Your peripatetic reporter,
Mark Lipton
