2010 Evening Land Chardonnay Seven Springs Vineyard Summum

Evening Land’s 2010 Chardonnay Seven Springs Vineyard Summum was rendered in comparable volume to its La Source counterpart and with the same roughly 25% new wood and vinificatory regimen. A gorgeous, high-toned nose of white peach, iris, verbena, and lemon oil wafts from the glass, along with intimations of crushed stone, iodine, and crustacean shell reduction that mouthwateringly mingle with pure fruit and inner-mouth perfume on a polished yet almost athletically lean palate. Invigoratingly zesty and saliva-inducingly mineral notes add to the vibrant appeal of a long finish that preserves this wine’s utmost clarity of fruit and seductive florality. I imagine it will be worth following for the better part of a decade, considering that the 2007 (also reviewed on this occasion) isn’t showing the least sign of fading. If only there were more than the roughly 220 cases that exist of this (as well as of its La Source counterpart). In early 2007, the colorful cast of wine and food celebrity investors whose collective Pinot Noir and Chardonnay winemaking project is known as Evening Land acquired a lease that united, under a single management, the 80-acre Seven Springs Vineyard in the Eola Hills, renowned as a source of fruit for Bethel Heights, Cristom, and St. Innocent, none of whom were by the terms able to retain fruit after vintage 2008. (Shortly before, Evening Land had acquired Occidental Vineyard in the eponymous hamlet near the Sonoma Coast. A quartet of vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills was subsequently added.) From this project’s inception, Burgundy’s Dominique Lafon has advised an Oregon team under the direction of Isabelle Meunier (who among other experience worked at Le Clos Jordanne in Ontario before accepting the Evening Land assignment), with Ryan Hannaford as vineyard manager. The Seven Springs Vineyard has been put on a biodynamic regimen, and the first crop from an expansion known as East Ridge will come on line from the 2011 vintage. A new and sophisticated shaking “Rotovib” de-stemmer helps further control for quality the product of rigorous sorting, and allows for a high percentage of whole berries. Pinot vinification here takes place in conical concrete or wooden tanks, spontaneously, and normally commencing within a week. Pump-overs usually give way to punch-downs, and eventually Meunier shifts to “a new technique that involves the option to irrigate or punch down at the same time because you carry a hose with you as you feel with your feet the hot or cold spots, and the eventual result is finer tannins.” Post-fermentative maceration is favored, but of course carefully monitored. Meunier believes her gentle but relatively quick pneumatic press cycle largely mimics but is superior to a basket press, and the young wine is settled long enough to leave her confident that it will never during its 18 month stay in barrel require racking. Fermentation and aging of Chardonnay is overwhelmingly in the custom Vosges and Alliers barriques that Tonnelier Damy has been rendering for some years now exclusively for the Lafon domaines; while Pinot sojourns in a wide range of barrels – as with the estate’s white, typically only 25-30% of them new. Malo-lactic fermentation does not take place until Spring, following Burgundian habits (whether of bacteria, wine, or vintner ;-). Chardonnays labeled “Summum” represent a separately-harvested portion of the vineyard, often in comparable volume to the corresponding La Source cuvee; while La Source Pinots come from selected parcels and Summum Pinots represent occasional special selections of outstanding material, about which Meunier is at pains to forestall a likely misinterpretation: “In outstanding vintages,” she explains, “it’s hard to select-out anything that would obviously stand above and beyond in quality, so strangely enough Summum (Pinot) tends to happen in more challenging years – we made one in 2007 and in 2009 – when there is a natural gap in quality and you’re able to select something limited that really stands out.” Meunier expresses a “love” for the long, cool 2010 vintage, and given her handsome results, it’s no wonder (though she insists that “by the time it was over everybody was overjoyed with their 2010 results ... except for the tiny yields”). Tel. (805) 736-9656