Evening Land Vineyards – Two Grapes, Three Terroirs, One Word…Excellence.

Top Photo – Evening Land, Salem, Oregon
Bottom Photo – Evening Land’s former Meursault, France facility at Domaine Dominique Lafon, Burgundy.

Although they have only been in production since 2007, Evening Land Vineyards has made a mark in the world of wine.

Evening Land produces their highly rated Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines in their newly acquired facility (Chateau de Bligny) just outside Beaune (Burgundy), near Salem, Oregon and in Santa Barbara County, California.

I have toured their facilities in Burgundy and in Salem, OR and have tasted their California wines in the Lompoc Ghetto in Santa Barbara County. Dominique Lafon, the renowned vigneron of Meursault, is the consulting winemaker in Beaune and in Oregon. Christopher Vial is their winemaker in Beaune, with my friend, Paul Lewakowski as his assistant. Isabelle Meunière, from Quebec, with whom I toured, is the winemaker in Oregon and protégé of Dominique Lafon. Sashi Moorman is the winemaker in California.

Evening Land’s Oregon Pinot Noir is featured on the cover of the current Wine Spectator. Jancis Robinson, a British Master of Wine, has written kudos of their efforts as well. Here is what Evening Land posted today on their Facebook Page:

…From Jancis Robinson’s recent tasting of our 2010 Sta. Rita Hills Estate Pinot Noir, “651 cases made. Mid crimson with a neat, well-integrated nose. Very smooth textured and full of luscious appeal. Not a trace of excess alcohol, nor of the oak (just 10% new). Relatively precocious but a lovely dry finish and pure, hedonistic fruit. A good buy. Great balance.”