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Evening Land Vineyards, New Oregon Pinot StarTop Oregon Wine, French-American Exclusive Restaurant Partnership
Critically acclaimed vineyard site, Seven Springs/Anden has been leased to an elite team of restaurateurs and Burgundy superstar winemaker, Dominique Lafon.
The tightly knit Oregon wine community got a nasty shock in 2007 when long-term vineyard contracts from a prized site were abruptly ended. One of Oregon's Pinot Noir jewels, Seven Springs Vineyard, part of which was known as Anden Vineyard, was suddenly under a new long-term exclusive lease. But in spite of the local loss, it may in fact be one of the best things that has ever happed to the Oregon wine industry. Who are the people behind newly created Evening Land Vineyards and why is this an exciting step forward for Oregon's Willamette Valley? America's Best Restaurants Come Calling in OregonAccording to Katherine Cole's article International Star Adds Luster to Willamette Pinot Noir in The Oregonian on July 8, 2008, "some of the biggest names in American cuisine" along with the Burgundian winemaking powerhouse behind Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Dominique Lafon, have teamed up to create a new label that will be offered in some of the most exclusive restaurants in the US. The partnership also includes other food and wine elites from the US and France. Sommeliers Exclusive CuveesCole goes on to explain that in addition to the partnership itself, some of the best sommeliers in the country are working directly with Evening Land to craft offerings that will be bottled for patrons at high-end restaurants including chef Daniel Boulud's Dinex Group and Mina Group. The 2008 vintage will bring custom wines to Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, Jean-Georges Management and others. In other words, the core of the nation's elite diners will be drinking Oregon Pinot Noir from the Seven Springs Vineyard. This is good news for Oregon. Seven Springs and Anden Vineyards ReunitedAlthough Seven Springs Vineyard has fruit up to twenty-five years old, the lower half of the vineyard was split off in 2001 to become the Anden Vineyard as the result of a divorce. The contiguous parcel is now reunited in a fifteen-year lease to the Evening Land partnership. They also have the right to renew the lease or buy the vineyard outright. With the infusion of new capital, the vineyard is undergoing necessary improvements and expansion of its 65-acre site. Evening Land Vineyards Wine and WineryA new winery building for the Evening Land Vineyards is in the works in Salem, Oregon and in 2008 the first bottling under the new label will be released, a Gamay Noir named Celebration. It will be 2009 before the release of the first Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, harvested in 2007. It remains to be seen if any of these wines will be available for sale to the general public. While it may be painful for local winemakers and consumers to have far less access to the wines from a vineyard site that Food and Wine named as one of America’s top ten in 2005, it can only mean good things for bringing better visibility to wines from Oregon.
The copyright of the article Evening Land Vineyards, New Oregon Pinot Star in US Wine is owned by Lee Asbell. Permission to republish Evening Land Vineyards, New Oregon Pinot Star in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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