Evening Land 2011 Bourgogne Rouge

My love of pinot noir began with Burgundy and expanded rapidly around the world.

More than ten years ago, I was attending an Oregon regional tasting and had been severely impressed with an Evening Land wine I tasted from the Eola-Amity Hills AVA of the Willamette Valley. When I found out they were also making wines from Sonoma and Burgundy, I wanted to compare! And compare I did.

I purchased multiple bottles from Evening Land’s label from Chateau de Bligny/Côte de Beaune, Burgundy; several from the Sonoma Coast property, as well as bottles from their Seven Springs Vineyard in Oregon. History reminder:  Evening Land was founded in 2005 by Mark Tarlov, with partners Danny Meyer (Union Square Hospitality Group), the Prieur family (Domaine Jacques Prieur), and the late Dorothy Cann Hamilton, founder and CEO of the International Culinary Center. From their early success, Evening Land Vineyard (ELV) transitioned several members of their team and management as well as vineyards to new owners winemaker Sashi Moorman, and sommelier Rajat Parr around 2012, and the story continues with more accolades and success. 

All those years ago, I had really liked what I tasted from Oregon. I wondered if ELV would have a decidedly New World and Californian approach, or if I’d find the perfect blend of historic winemaking in what is simply a newer region or similar characteristics. I tasted the wines, and understood for myself that the wines have more in common with the classic & historic Burgundian wines I respected: not simply the location on the 45th parallel to the sun, but fertile hillside soils, along with ocean-cooled climates that allow such distinct quality in growing pinot noir and chardonnay. So, I cellared the remaining bottles to see how they would fare with time. After several years, I did another tasting, and they had evolved nicely. On a recent re-stock and review of the cellar, I came across the group of wines and thought, it’s time to review.

Evening Land 2011 Borgogne Rouge (Château de Bligny,  Côte de Nuits-Villages), France. 13% ABV,  original SRP $30/bottle.

Color is bright ruby. The nose is floral and gently performed with red fruit, spice. On the palate, the fruit is still present, cranberry and dark cherry, with secondary notes of vanilla, graphite, and earth on the steely finish.

The age on this wine is perfect for me as a drinker;  presenting a round and lovely nose of floral, spice, and red fruit notes, feminine in first taste, with robust and muscular red fruit and wildflowers.

Drinking this reminds me of driving the 1983 Porsche 928S turbo: a gorgeous sheen of color and flowing, well-blended elements. Stunning linearity in focus, with awesome hidden power.  Perhaps not the prettiest of the line but a shocking, powerful competitor that pulls in front of the leader at the halfway mark and never lets go of the race until it’s won.

The good news? This wine is drinking beautifully right now. So it it’s hiding in YOUR cellar like it was in mine, go head an open that bottle if you feel like it. I’m looking forward to having guests over for a blind comparative pinot tasting and wondering where this might fit in.

All Rights Reserved. Images and Text Copyright 2020, JvB UnCorked. 

 

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