New to the Twin Cities (and incredible): Vincent, of Willamette Valley
Offer available through Monday, 7/22/2024, or as inventory lasts.
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Hi everyone –
You’re the very first in the Twin Cities to hear about and have access to the remarkable wines of Vincent in Willamette Valley. These are brand new to the Minnesota market, though the winery has been around since 2009.
These are low-intervention wines (some may use the term ‘natural’ but I steer clear of that because of some of the horrible natty examples out there) that are made with care and precision. They are hand-crafted products made in tiny production levels, from the hands (and feet) of Vincent Fritzsche. AND THEY ARE SO DAMN GOOD!
From the winery’s (incredibly basic and cute) website:
Vincent Wine Company is a Willamette Valley winery making Oregon Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Gamay and even red wine from Pinot Gris.
Owner/winemaker Vincent Fritzsche launched the winery in 2009 after years of apprenticing in wineries in Oregon and California.
We’re all about low-input wine making, working with several sustainably-farmed vineyards around the Willamette Valley to produce small amounts of handmade wine without a lot of fuss.
https://vincentwinecompany.com/about/
About the name of the winery (I love this):
Vincent Wine Company is named for many things. It is Vincent’s name, of course. It was also the name of his uncle and maternal grandfather. But, really, the name pays homage to the 4th century Saint Vincent of Saragossa, Spain, the patron saint of vintners.
He was adopted centuries ago by the Burgundians, makers of the Pinot noir and Chardonnay, our grapes.
Each year on or around January 22, they celebrate his feast day with the legendary Fête de la Saint Vincent. For all these reasons, it seems fitting for our wine to carry the name Vincent.
I’ve already blocked out January 22nd on the TCWE calendar for some sort of St. Vincent event. This is going to be fun. Stay tuned!
THE WINES
All four wines in this offer are extraordinary.
Low-intervention (or sometimes it’s called “pre-industrial”) winemaking takes a specific personality to pull off. You have to start with, at the minimum, sustainably-farmed vineyards devoid of chemical inputs. If they are certified organic or biodynamic, all the better. Then you have to be willing to drop fruit to increase quality of what remains on the vines. Then a gentle delivery to the winery, easing into nautral fermentations, and a willingness to not push, pull, sculpt, or adjust the results as they evolve.
Honestly, it’s hard to do so little so well.
Especially in the 21st century, when tools and powders and adjustments are available en masse that allow flavors to be created and pigmentation adjusted.
Vincent Wines represent the David vs. the Goliath of the commercial and industrial wine industry.
Vincent Pinot Blanc
From the famous Zenith vineyard, this Pinot Blanc is awash with vinous orchard fruit and crisp, appetizing acidity ready when you are for scallops, crab, lobster – and any other fatty shellfish that are tricky to pair. Vincent leases a .65 acre plot of Pinot Blanc from the 1990s growing on Zenith vineyard owned by Tim & Kari Ramey, located on Zena Road in the heart of the Eola-Amity Hills.
Sidenote: Willamette Valley Pinot Blanc is increasingly impressing me. I’ve had about ten in the past few months, and across the board (assuming the wine is made by a good winemaker) they have been some of my favorite whites of the moment. You’ll often have to hunt for them in a retailer’s “Miscellaneous Whites” section, competing with white blends, Viognier, Pinot Gris, etc. It’s worth the hunt.
Vincent Pinot Gris (skin contact)
This special, skin contact bottling of Pinot Gris is from old vine Pinot Gris of the Dion Vineyard in the silty loess soils of the Laurelwood District AVA of the Chehalem Mountains. If this was made in Friuli (northeastern Italy) it would be called a Romato, the local term for skin-contact Pinot Grigio.
The vineyard is owned by Kevin Johnson and Beth Klingner. Vincent works with their own-rooted Pinot Gris vines planted in 1988. Natty but not at all feral, this wine is something else. Served blind one may think this is Pinot Noir with the full expression and quality of the noble Pinot Gris grape.
But to really enjoy it to the fullest, chill it down and enjoy on a summertime deck with cheese and charcuterie. Angela and I were in Sioux Falls this past week and we sipped it in the moonlight while watching the planes take off and land at the Sioux Falls airport.
This wine is particularly distinctive and incredible.
Vincent Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills
A blend of vineyards around the Eola-Amity Hills (the area south of McMinnville). Clocking in at 12.5%, this is a superb choice for your next dinner party. It reminds me of Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs from the 1990s, when cooler styles and lower alcohols were the norm (I recently had a Willamette Pinot that was 14.5% ABV … we’re starting to see the impact of climate change in a big way here, which is all the more reason I love these Vincent wines).
Made from fruit off Temperance, Zenith, and Cortell-Rose Vineyards where Pommard and Willakenzie clones are concentrated by these volcanic soils, this Pinot Noir is handsome, fragrant and textured and allowed to express both the varietal expression and these pedigreed vineyards thanks to aging in barrels averaging five years old.
Vincent Pinot Noir Ribbon Ridge
A selection of Pinot Noir barrels from the marine soils of the Ribbon Ridge, the warmest AVA in the Willamette known for bigger, spicier, bolder wines.
This is charming and balanced despite all its riper character and toned flex. From the sedimentary marine soils of Armstrong vineyard owned by Doug and Michele Ackerman, the Pinot Noir does really well on this old seafloor that’s sandy and drains exceptionally well, giving a lovely chalky, even worsted wool texture to the red wines.
It’s a Pinot Noir that is fulsome and rich but not at all brawny or heavy handed. A bold Pinot Noir that retains finesse. That’s a fine line to balance, and this one does it better than any other Ribbon Ridge wine I’ve had in three years.
This will be your steak off the grill choice, ideally with a lean and tender cut like Tenderloin. Let the wine open up a bit (maybe decant an hour or two out) and savor every drop. This is special stuff.
Final thoughts
Finding wines like this and bringing them to you brings us so much joy. To find a new wine to Minnesota, from a tiny producer, of top quality, and embracing all the things we want to support (honest farming and winemaking) … this is what it’s all about for us.
Don’t miss out on these gems.
Thank you!
Jason Kallsen
Sommelier and founder/owner of Twin Cities Wine Education
Offer and special pricing are available through Monday, or as inventory lasts