Evening Land Vineyards La Source Pinot Noir 2016
A Dijon clone thrives in Willamette Valley
Evening Land Vineyards La Source Pinot Noir 2016 comes from the Seven Springs vineyard, located at over 200 m altitude in Eola-Amity Hills (Willamette Valley, Oregon), since 1984. Obtained from a Dijon clone and cultivated biodynamically since 2008, the vines of this site produce grapes of great purity, giving this remarkable red wine all its typicity and, at the same time, a unique character.
Consumption features
Serving temperature
General features
Type of wine
Region
Grape variety
100% Pinot Noir
Type of bottle
Burgundy Bottle
Capacity (cl)
75
Alcohol content (% vol.)
13
Tasting notes
Ruby-colored with violet reflections.
On the nose, it offers exuberant aromas of ripe red and black fruits (black cherries, currants, blackberries, and cassis) with subtle hints of blue flowers, followed by notes of foliage and undergrowth alongside spicy and smoky nuances, over a mineral and saline background.
Medium-bodied on the palate, where it feels silky, with soft tannins and great freshness provided by its saline and mineral character. Flavors of ripe fruit reappear, with earthy and herbaceous touches. It culminates in a long, enveloping, fresh, and persistent finish.
The winery
Winery
The spectacular terroir of Oregon was the lure that, in 2014, united by their devotion to viticulture, Californians Shashi Moorman (a renowned winemaker with a long career) and Raj Parr (a highly acclaimed sommelier on the West Coast of the United States) joined the Evening Land Vineyards project, initiated by the McDonald family in the early 1980s, when they established their winery in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, in the prestigious Willamette Valley.
Just a year after their arrival, La Source Pinot Noir, one of the most carefully crafted wines of the estate, ranked No. 3 in the annual Top 100 of Wine Spectator magazine with a score of 98, the highest ever awarded to an Oregon pinot noir to date.
Under a climate influenced by the Pacific Ocean, with cold and wet winters and warm and dry summers, the Seven Springs vineyard is home to vines of the classic Burgundian varieties pinot noir, gamay, and chardonnay, planted on volcanic soils with a high clay content. These conditions provide grapes that maintain a fresh acidity and exhibit a fine minerality characteristic of this winery's creations; a perfect union between the nobility and distinction of Burgundy wines and the innovative and groundbreaking character of New World wines.
Since 2008, Evening Land Vineyards has been managing its nearly 35 hectares of vineyards in an environmentally friendly manner, protecting the landscape and the Estate's surroundings through biodynamic principles that have earned them the LIVE certification (Low Impact Viticulture & Enology), an exclusive seal of Oregon.
The communion between varietal typicity, an exceptional terroir, and meticulous work in the vineyard and winery is the foundation for producing complex, intense wines with great aging potential.