Evening Land Seven Spring Pinot Noir 2017

The style at Evening Land continues to evolve. Tasting through the 2017s with winemaker Sashi Moorman, we discussed the changes at the estate, beginning with a new focus on Chardonnay. “We have really invested in Chardonnay,” Moorman says, “and it’s now about 35% of our production.” In the past, the Chardonnays at Evening Land have shown fair amounts of gunflint and struck match-like reduction, although the 2017s are more open-knit and giving right off the bat than vintages I’ve tasted in the past. While it has been argued that this type of reduction is part of terroir, or necessary for long cellar aging, Moorman says those characteristics come from the fermentative process. “Sometimes it can come from the site, but it really comes from issues with fermentation, like low nutrients,” he explains. “With our reds, we don’t ever want any reduction. With the Chardonnays, we make them reductively but try not to have them be super reduced. I’m OK with them being a tad reductive. We want them to be ageable for sure. There was a time Rajat [Parr, co-proprietor and co-winemaker] and I both loved that reductive quality. And I get nostalgic for it. But for a lot of people who’ve never had Coche Dury, they don’t get that, they don’t have that nostalgia."