at right, Isabelle and Mark

Mark Tarlov is a film producer with a deep knowledge of wine. He has a wide circle of friends including many of the world’s top sommeliers. He now lives in New York City, and in just two years’ time, he has gotten Evening Land wines on the wine lists of numerous “A” List restaurants.

He recruited his longtime friend, the uber-famous Master Sommelier Larry Stone, (formerly at Rubicon) last year to be Evening Land’s President. Evening Land has relationships with a veritable who’s who of the world’s highest profile sommeliers – Daniel Johnnes of restaurant Daniel in New York (and premiere Burgundy event in the US, Le Paulee), Raj Parr of Michael Mina, Bernie Sun of Jean-Georges (Vongerichten), and Paul Roberts, formerly of The French Laundry.

Having winemaker Dominique Lafon involved with Evening Land is nothing short of amazing. Dominique is “the” white Burgundy expert in France, and wines from his Domaine des Comtes Lafon sell for hundreds of dollars a bottle.

Impressive credentials and contacts aside, the proof is in the bottle. Based on our tasting last week, Evening Land is going to keep and expand their reputation for making great wine.

Put yourself in Burgundy when you try Evening Land wines. Particularly with the Chardonnay, it all becomes clear when you think about Lafon’s French wines. There’s the weightless, deceptively delicate quality of a great white Burgundy in the La Source and Mad Hatter Chardonnays. There’s the expansive, constantly evolving flavor, texture and scent – the complexity that elaborates and eludes the more time you spend with the wine. The little extra that makes a wine memorable.

The Evening Land wines are hard to write about. While we were tasting, I kept trying to figure out how to describe them, to come up with something I already know to compare them to, to find a way to resolve my pleasant confusion. I finally came to realize that the key to their beauty is the inability to simplify and pigeonhole them. In keeping with Mark’s philosophy of the infinite nature of the tension of opposites, the wines keep changing and evolving, defying categorization.

If you want to understand the Evening Land wines, you have to talk with Mark Tarlov. He has a philosophy of wine you’ve never heard before. Quirky and at times as hard to understand as Douglas Hofstadler, he relates the duality of big and small Alice, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and the Red and White Queens in Alice in Wonderland to what makes a great wine. Thus the references in the names of the wines – Red Queen was his top of the line Pinot noir for the 2008 vintage, White Queen was a tiny bottling of stratospheric Chardonnay, and Mad Hatter is a new Chardonnay.

In explaining his experience of wine, Mark will reference ideas from quantum mechanics to Greek mythology to the nature of infinity. He uses the tension of opposites and the idea that there is no finality in true complexity to describe the experience of tasting good Pinots. He compares them to Cabernet, which he dismisses as a black and white, on and off kind of wine that is easily understood. Tasting the 2009′s I got a sense of what Mark is trying to describe. You have to suspend judgement and allow yourself some confusion to “get” what the wines are about.

Of the many things you can say about Evening Land, it’s never boring!

Buy the wines of Evening Land on northwest-wine.com

Evening Land Vineyards
La Source Pinot noir 09

$53.95 in any 12 bottle order
$59.94 retail

Previous Vintage Wine Spectator 96 Points

It’s a huge feat to make a worthy successor to a 96-point wine. Evening Land has done it with a La Source that is attractive, even seductive while it’s fresh, structured, and balanced. Personally, I think it’s a better wine than the 2008. I’m charmed by the red fruits that fan out in all directions, the ribbon of minerals that adds verve, the dusting of spices and herbs that make me smile and think of Seven Springs Vineyard. – Marcus

Evening Land Vineyards
Estate Pinot noir 09
Seven Springs Vineyard – Eola Amity Hills

$38.66 in any 12 bottle order
$42.95 retail

A pull and pour Pinot noir from the Seven Springs Vineyard, ohhh yeah. The nose is wonderful red fruit with a touch of greenhouse. The initial splash is signature 09 – read delicious, well-controlled fruit that will appeal to the whole spectrum of Pinot drinkers. Following is a balanced middle that echoes off the roof of your mouth without being overwhelming. The finish is lush with a puff pastry creaminess that I completely dig. Needless to say, the Evening Land Estate Pinot noir 09 has a little something for everyone.
- Andy

Evening Land Vineyards
La Source Chardonnay 09

$53.95 in any 12 bottle order
$59.94 retail

Previous Vintage Wine Spectator 94 Points

Focused, bright, and stylistically in a world of its own in American Chardonnay. White flowers, green apple, and flinty minerality coax you in – white peach and tangy lemon build intensity. Like all of the Evening Land Chardonnays, this is made for aging. – Marcus

Evening Land Vineyards
Mad Hatter Chardonnay 09

$39.55 in any 12 bottle order
$43.95 retail

A blend made from Evening Land’s
top Chardonnay blocks -
Summum and La Source. Only available from Oregon.

New this vintage, 200 cases made and exclusive to Oregon. The name “Mad Hatter” is another reference to Alice in Wonderland (they also make a Red Queen, White Queen, etc.). Seven Springs Vineyard Estate fruit and 20% nearby Roserock Vineyard.

In Alice in Wonderland Mark finds the tension of opposites – big and small Alice, White and Red Queens, Tweedledee and Tweedledum – the book is full of unresolved opposites. Mark relates the mysterious quality of uncertainty in Alice in Wonderland and in science and mythology to the indefinable complexity of great wines. – Jean

“The 2009 Evening Land wines have a lush tranquility.”

- Mark Tarlov, Owner Evening Land Vineyards

Shea’s Homer is one of the richest, showiest Oregon Pinots. Here’s Marcus’s notes: Saturated dark fruits, powerful and plush, the 09 Homer is a show-stopper. Opening the bottle is like unrolling a mile-long satin carpet through a field of juicy black plums, currants, berries and violets. Broad and ripe, this will undoubtedly be a candidate for wine of the vintage among the critics and as usual, will be sold out long before the reviews are in.

“Mile-long satin carpet” — I get visions of Dorothy, the tin man, and the scarecrow facing the field of poppies, with a long satin carpet replacing the yellow brick road. The poppies turn into plums berries and violets, they stagger with intoxication, and fall to the ground, muttering “must buy wine – must buy wine.”

The Evening Land La Source comes from the one of a kind Mark Tarkov, who is determined to bring Oregon wine to prominence on the world stage. He’s doing it, too. He was a big part of this month’s Food & Wine Magazine article about Oregon Pinot noir. He’s best buddies with a whole bunch of top sommeliers in Manhattan – and he hired Larry Stone to run his marketing — and Dominique Lafon as consulting winemaker.

It’s a huge feat to make a worthy successor to a 96-point wine. Evening Land has done it with a La Source that is attractive – even seductive, while fresh, structured, and balanced. And if the critics don’t pay attention, phooey! We just got back from trying the wines, there will be more tasting notes etc on the website next week.

Other wines just in – a lineup of new vintages from Evening Land – Evening Land’s “Mad Hatter” Chardonnay, only sold in Oregon, Evening Land’s La Source Chardonnay 09, Evening Land’s Estate Seven Springs Pinot noir 09, Shea Wine Cellars Block 5 Pinot noir 09. That Block 5 is a MONSTER.

Here’s a good article about it

I haven’t ever used our blog to push any kind of political thing, but this is pretty bad for us. If you’re a fan of Avalon, or if you like being able to order wine from ANY retailers online, you might want to make your feelings  known to your congresspeople.

Here’s an easy way to find your House representatives’ email address and phone number.

Here’s an easy way to contact your Senator.

Thanks for listening.

Jean Yates, Avalon Wine

BEST BUY – Pappas Pinot noir 08 $13.99 any 12 – Yumm! Immediately appealing, a lively perfume of red raspberry and damson plum ushers in a silky textured Pinot. Delicate red fruit flavors – raspberry, red currant, and plum – mingle with sweet spice and creamy toast. Soft, unobtrusive tannins balance the fresh, bright, berry-fruit finish. – Jean

CLASSIC – Holloran Pinot noir Willamette Valley 08 $21.11 any 12 – Made by Jay Somers (J. Christopher Wines) for Bill Holloran. – The scent of blackberry jam and sweet spice is soft and inviting – an initial hit of blackberry, currant, and spice flavors deepens with the addition of black pepper, smoke, and smooth, moderate tannins. In the finish, there’s a hint of perfume and cedar. As the flavors taper off, the tannins become a bit grippy – this wine is well matched to casual barbecue and burgers, and will also pair well with fall  menus – roast lamb,  wild mushrooms, and such. – Jean

Evening Land Vineyards Summum Chardonnay 07

Rumbles are that it’s about to get yet another rave review.

It’s already gotten a lot of buzz in the press.

Here’s what Harvey Steiman wrote about the ELV Chards in June:

“The first vintage, 2007, produced a stunning pair of Chardonnays, which I rated 94 and 93 points. Their balance, power and distinct minerality mark them as turning points for Oregon, great wines and influential over other producers of Chardonnay.”

“…In a way, it’s not surprising that Chardonnay did so well. Lafon is famous for his white Burgundies, and his touch is palpable in the Oregon wines. In particular, I was taken with how transparently they expressed the stony terroir.”

Here is his comment on the 2008 ELV Chards: “If anything the Chardonnays are a step up from 2007, which seemed to expand on the previous vintage with more depth and, at the same, more transparency.”

The Evening Land Summum (and the ELV La Source Chard as well) is one of the breakthrough Oregon Chardonnays (along with Arterberry Maresh, Black Cap, Crowley, a few others) that are becoming a hot story in the wine press:

Who would’a thunk – Oregon Chardonnay is sort of like really good white Burgundy!  Let’s blog!

We have the  Arterberry Maresh Pinot noir Juliard Vineyard 08 in stock at $44.95 (any 12). We also have the  Arterberry Maresh Pinot noir Maresh Vineyard 08 $49.45, and the Arterberry Maresh Pinot noir Dundee Hills 07 $19.75.

At right, Jim Arterberry Maresh.

The Arterberry Maresh Juliard Pinot noir 08 is the darker side of Arterberry Maresh Pinot, the Juliard is bursting with meaty, dark berry goodness.

Jim sure picked the right vintage for his first release of a Juliard Vineyard designate. Juliard Vineyard is only a quarter-mile from Maresh Vineyard. It has some of the oldest vines in the Dundee Hills, along with newer plantings.

This Oregon wine was reviewed on Erobertparker.com and Wineberserkers.com.  DJ said:

“Had the opportunity to taste this wine with the winemaker. Popped and poured.

For those of you that are fans of the Oregon Dundee Hills and the Maresh bottlings, this will be a departure in style, sort of. Jim Maresh describes this a “masculine” wine and, relative to the other bottlings, he is correct. This wine is bigger and more full bodied than what he has made in the past. It gives you a bunch of dark ripe plum, baking spice, cinnamon, and raspberry aromas. The palate follows with more spice, rich bing and black cherry, good acid, fine tannins, and impeccable balance. He may describe it as masculine, but this wine will not be mistaken for a syrah. It is pure pinot, and pure elegance.”