2011 Evening Land Vineyards Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru

Evening Land Vineyards is a family of three estates in Oregon, California and France that was started in 2005 by film producer Mark Tarlov. Based in Santa Rosa, California, the enterprise is now under new ownership, but it continues to produce about 32,000 cases of wine a year. At the moment the estate’s Burgundy venture sources grapes in the Cote d’Or. In Oregon Evening Land has vineyards in the Eola-Amity Hills. In California the estate has a vineyard on the Sonoma Coast and on the state’s Central Coast. Evening Land produces red and white Burgundies, Oregon Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and California Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Côte de Nuits is the northern part of the Côte d’Or and it includes the most famous vineyards and wine communes in the world. There are more Grand Cru appellations in the Côte de Nuits than anywhere else in Burgundy. Of the fourteen communes, or villages in the Côte de Nuits, six produce Grand Cru wines. They are Gevrey-Chambertin, Morey-St.-Denis, Chambolle-Musigny, Vougeot, Flagey-Échezeaux and Vosne-Romanee. Some of the vineyards within the Côte de Nuits are tiny, which adds to their prestige. The fabled Grand Cru vineyard La Romanee is barely two square acres. Altogether there are twenty-four Grand Cru vineyards. The region takes its name from the village of Nuits-Saint-Georges. Côtes de Nuits produces mostly reds from Pinot Noir, and the wines have been in demand for centuries. During the 18th century King Louis XIV’s physician recommended that for his health the king only drink wines from Nuits-Saint-Georges. Like most of Burgundy, the soils of the Côte de Nuit can vary greatly from one vineyard to another, though most are a base soil of limestone mixed with clay, gravel and sand.

This red wine is relatively light and can pair with a wide variety of foods. The grape prefers cooler climates and the wine is most often associated with Burgundy, Champagne and the U.S. west coast. Regional differences make it nearly as fickle as it is flexible.