Evening Land Vineyards Summum Seven Springs Vineyard Chardonnay Eola-Amity Hills 2017

Chardonnay is the world's second-most planted white wine grape and is planted in more wine regions than any other grape, regardless of color. It is also considered to be one of the more 'neutral' grapes, meaning it is less aromatic than other varietals and the majority of its characteristics are irrefutably linked to where it is grown and how it is handled in the winery. From cool climate regions like Burgundy, Oregon, and California's North Coast that produce wines with green apple, pear, and citrus with zippy acidity to warmer climate regions producing rich, riper styles with tropical flavors of yellow apple, peach, mango, and banana; from wines made and aged in stainless steel giving lighter wines with pure fruit and more terroir expression or concrete vats whose porosity allows air interplay producing more body and texture, to the mélange of aromas and flavors given from the many varieties and toast levels of oak, the scope of styles of Chardonnay are limitless. So where do you go to find the best of the best? To its origin, Burgundy! The Grand Crus of Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet in the Côte de Beaune are perhaps the world's finest, most age-worthy examples of Chardonnay. Unfortunately they are also the world's most expensive. Both are sensationally elegant Chardonnays; with Chassagne's glittery gold, opulent personality and Puligny's racy minerality balanced on top of buttered toast, it just doesn't get any better than this. Or does it...? 

Let me take you to Oregon where Rajat Parr has answered this question, incontestably proving that the best Chardonnay can be produced outside of Burgundy. Parr is the winemaker/proprietor for somm favorites Domaine de la Côte, Sandhi, and Evening Land Vineyards along with partner/winemaker Sashi Moorman. One of the most respected sommeliers in the country, Parr also is the James Beard award-winning author of the book "Secrets of the Sommeliers: How to Think and Drink Like the World's Top Wine Professionals"And is in part responsible for the 'In Pursuit of Balance' movement that transformed the way wines were made in California, a more elegant, restrained, and balanced style modeled after the wines of Burgundy. After perfecting this model in Santa Barbara wine country with Domaine de la Côte, Parr and Moorman headed north to Oregon to work with the already highly regarded Evening Land Vineyards in Eola-Amity Hills AVA within Willamette Valley, sitting just near the same latitude of Montrachet in Burgundy (45.07° and 46.94° respectively). On this property lies one of Oregon's most celebrated vineyards, Seven Springs, on an east-facing slope in iron-rich, rocky, volcanic soils. And the wines that Parr and Moorman have produced here unequivocally rival the very best Grand Crus of Burgundy. 

Summum (Latin for 'utmost') continues to offer itself as the finest wine from the Seven Springs Vineyard. Sourced from 14 rows of vines that thread the spine of the Seven Springs, this bottling substantiates the special terroir of this vineyard. The subtlety and clarity that defines the 2017 vintage led the team to abstain from the use of new oak in the Summum cuvée for the very first time. The fruit from the Summum parcel was gently pressed into neutral Stockinger puncheons, undergoing spontaneous and indigenous fermentation. The wine was then raised in the same puncheons for 12 months before being racked to tank for six months before bottling. 

Energetic, expressive and well-built, with vivid apple and lemon verbena aromas, followed by a well-structured palate of vibrant acidity with notes of crushed rock and lemon zest. Detailed and elegantly layered, the 2017 Summum Chardonnay deftly juxtaposes density and brightness in a textural wine that is well-positioned to age for two decades or more. This is a serious Chardonnay for the serious Burgundy drinker and deserves some time in the cellar like great Burgundies require. Enjoy now with a decant, but if you have the patience, this wine will blow your mind for many years to come. As close to perfection as it gets!!! 337 cases produced.