Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - 94

YEAR'S BEST PINOT NOIRS
93 | Bergström

$60

2015 Eola-Amity Hills Temperance Hill
Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Temperance Hill's
shallow soils yield some of the Willamette
Valley's most structured wines, so it's no
surprise this wine isn't giving up much now.
It may be years from its peak, but you can
already admire the structure and the pronounced minerality it's showing, and the flavors that are focused on fruit skin, marked by
stem spice that lends a vinous, savory edge.
Everything's here for a long life. (W&S 10/17;
250 cases)
509712

93 | Cristom

$65

2015 Eola-Amity Hills Louise Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ A warm site that often produces
Cristom's most expressive wine, Louise is
anomalous in 2015: It seems like the lightest, most translucent of Cristom's vineyard
designates. It hides a juicy red-fruit scent,
almost like watermelon, behind elements
of tobacco and earthy minerals. That watermelon note gains concentration and depth
with air, while the savory notes fill in, deftly
buoyed by an acidity that will make you think
of crisp apples. (W&S 2/18; 945 cases)
507592

93 | Cristom

$50

2014 Eola-Amity Hills Estate Pinot Noir ^
Cristom's estate blend is firm and concentrated, laced with whole-cluster spice notes
of rye, smoke, olive and caraway. The spice
adorns dark fruit that practically bristles with
potential energy, as if all the wind that passed
over the estate is somehow stored in the bottle. It's lean and savory, umami all the way,
with an inky depth that suggests great aging
potential. (W&S 10/17; 1,620 cases)
509709

93 | Cristom

$70

2015 Eola-Amity Hills Marjorie Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ From one of Cristom's oldest and
own-rooted single-vineyard sources, Marjorie is perhaps the prettiest, most high toned,
most trim of Cristom's 2015s. From the first
swirl in the glass, its light touch is on display,
in the red-cherry scent, the lift of the fruit
and the dry savory pull of anise and pine
on the palate. It's already complex, and will
gain even more depth with some cellar time.
(W&S 2/18; 554 cases)
510580

93 | Etude

$65

2015 Yamhill-Carlton Yamhela Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ From a vineyard not far from
Shea, this is a dark pinot with a scent of
black cherry and cola and a concentration
not unlike the Etude wines of Carneros. With
air the wine becomes lighter, lacy and fine,
with dark, pine-scented tannins providing
94

WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2018

structure to a seductive, silky expression of
black cherry fruit. (742 cases)

510906

93 | Evening Land Vyds.

$75

2015 Eola-Amity Hills La Source Seven
Springs Estate Pinot Noir ^ La Source is
usually drawn from the top of Seven Springs,
where the soils are shallow and the vines most
exposed to afternoon breezes. This wine may
reflect those circumstances in its concentration, with heady strawberry scents and flavors of unusual density and grip. It's buoyed
by firm, mouthwatering acids and marked on
the finish by a hint of clove-y cluster-spice.
This has the stuffing to cellar. (1,230 cases)
510909

93 | Evening Land Vyds.

$100

2015 Eola-Amity Hills Anden Seven
Springs Estate Pinot Noir ^ This midslope
block at Seven Springs is slowly succumbing to phylloxera but still producing small
quantities of exceptionally balanced fruit. It's
typically aged in 100 percent new Ermitage
barrels, with the kind of TLC that sets it up
for long aging. This vintage is dark and a bit
muted, with elements of tanbark, cinnamon
and a compelling hoisin spice, a mélange
that seems to point to oak and whole-cluster
spice. The texture is sleek and suave, the flavors complex and savory, with notes of clove,
anise and orange oil, all held at a distance.
This deserves at least a year of cellar time
before serving with duck. (159 cases)
507833

93 | Fullerton

$45

2015 Willamette Valley Croft Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ From an older vineyard south of
the Eola Hills, this succulent red is bright,
lifted, voluptuous and downright joyous,
with savory scents of sassafras and smoked
tea accenting bright red cherry. That interplay of savory notes and ripe fruit suggests a
percentage of whole clusters in the fermentation (about 25 percent), as does the texture,
which is lively, with a pleasing amaro bitterness on the finish. (W&S 10/17; 200 cases)
449040

93 | J. Christopher

$50

2014 Dundee Hills Sandra Adele Pinot
Noir ^ Named after winemaker Jay Somers's

mother, this pinot draws from two vineyards,
Abbey Ridge and Charlie's, in the Dundee
Hills. This vintage has a delicate savor when
first poured, with scents of woodsmoke and
underbrush suggesting a crisp fall day. The
flavors reflect that savory air, centered on a
deep red cherry core with exceptional clarity
and grace, the finish energized by exuberant
acidity. (W&S 6/17; 275 cases)
449042

93 | J. Christopher

$60

93 | Maysara

$36

93 | St. Innocent

$55

93 | Walter Scott

$50

92 | Andrew Rich

$45

2014 Dundee Hills Abbey Ridge Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ The kinship between this wine
and the Sandra Adele (recommended above)
is evident in their shared vibrancy, though
the fruit here feels riper, a bit more luxurious-from the briary scents to the saturated
cherry flavor, and especially in the grip of its
supple tannins, commanding and firm in
their length. Still, the vibrant acidity gives
the finish a lift, suggesting grilled quail would
be a good pairing. (W&S 6/17; 100 cases)
507359
2013 McMinnville Cyrus Momtazi Vineyard Pinot Noir ^ Momtazi has been farmed
under biodynamics since 2005, and the composure in this wine may come from that vigilant, attentive agricultural practice. This
pinot's savory scents of olive, smoke and
sourdough strike a balance with dark cherry
fruit. The flavors are darker still, but with
an umami frame of spice-bread crust and
pekoe tea-that keeps the wine compelling,
lasting and complex. (W&S 10/17; 966 cases)
510975
2015 Yamhill-Carlton Shea Vineyard Pinot
Noir ^ From Yamhill-Carlton's most iconic
vineyard, this pinot is lighter than many
from Shea. With ethereal red-cherry scents
and hint of wild herbs, it smells weighty, like
a red fruit compote. The wine seems to hover
after each sip, juicy, lifted and poised, with
lacy elegance, to work with something wild,
like grilled porcini. (956 cases)
449730
2015 Eola-Amity Hills Dubay Vineyard
Pinot Noir ^ From a small rocky vineyard
on the eastern slope of the hills, this wine
typifies the Eola-Amity Hills in its mineral
focus, its firmness and dark raspberry fruit.
It's assertive in its youth; the tannins feel
infused, like a tea, with warmth of tone that
calls for something smoky, like duck. (W&S
8/17; 125 cases)
510936
2014 Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir ^ Scents
of spiced cherry and a modest whiff of oak

https://www.eveninglandvineyards.com/Shop

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2018