Evening Land Seven Springs Vineyard Summum Chardonnay 2012
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Wine Spectator
Bright and vibrant, this is dazzling with its depth of pear, tangerine cream and pineapple flavors, plus a cascade of mineral aromatics that tumble through the very long finish. This has intensity on a relatively light frame, and then backs off and lets the flavors coast for what seems like minutes. Drink now through 2025.
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Wine Enthusiast
The Summum block sits at the vineyard’s highest elevation, and seems to ripen more slowly and give extra complexity at lower sugar levels. Elegant and refined, with fruit flavors less in your face than its sister cuvées, this mixes citrus flavors of lemon, lime and pink grapefruit, along with lighter suggestions of pineapple and a hint of papaya. It’s complex and captivating, with a long, racy finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Chardonnay Summum Seven Spring Vineyards comes from the shallow soils on the upper part of the vineyard that is usually picked 3-7 days after La Source. However, in this vintage it was picked on the same day, on October 5 and aged for 11 months, 25% new oak. It has a Burgundy-inspired bouquet, very well defined with fine mineralité coming through. The palate is crisp and taut with pure mandarin and subtle tropical notes, a keen thread of acidity with a poised finish that displays fine salinity.
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Rajat Parr and Sashi Moorman stand at the vanguard of the new world wine. Together they steward the historic Seven Springs Vineyard into its fourth decade. At Evening Land Vineyards, they strive to grow and vinify fine Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Gamay from their historic Seven Springs Estate Vineyard in Oregon's Eola-Amity Hills. Totalling 85 acres under vine; their east-facing vineyard, farmed biodynamically since 2007, was first planted in 1984, and sits atop rocky, volcanic soils.
They are, first and foremost, faithful stewards of the historic Seven Springs vineyard, planted by Oregon wine pioneer Al MacDonald in 1984. On this dramatic east-facing slope, in the iron-rich and rocky, volcanic soils of the Eola-Amity Hills, Al MacDonald undertook what would become one of Oregon's most recognized vineyards. Nestled against a forest of Douglas fir with views eastward to Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson, it is immediately evident to any visitor why Al chose this site.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Running north to south, adjacent to the Willamette River, the Eola-Amity Hills AVA has shallow and well-drained soils created from ancient lava flows (called Jory), marine sediments, rocks and alluvial deposits. These soils force vine roots to dig deep, producing small grapes with great concentration.
Like in the McMinnville sub-AVA, cold Pacific air streams in via the Van Duzer Corridor and assists the maintenance of higher acidity in its grapes. This great concentration, combined with marked acidity, give the Eola-Amity Hills wines—namely Pinot noir—their distinct character. While the region covers 40,000 acres, no more than 1,400 acres are covered in vine.