Grapelive Wine of the Week
By Kerry Winslow
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2008 Evening Land Pinot Noir “Occidental Coast” Sonoma Coast.
This intense and wild Pinot Noir is full of dark fruits and has a wonderful and sexy perfume of violets and wildflowers with hints of sweet smoke and cherry liqueur. The palate is lush with silky cherry fruit, plums and blueberry notes, this is very much like a Grand Cru! This is a stunning wine that looks set to be one of the best 2008 Sonoma Pinots, not a wine to be missed. With great vineyards and talented winemakers Evening Land is a serious and interesting project that looks to be hugely successful, especial after tasting the current releases from both California and Oregon, where they have Lafon helping! While all the wines merit attention, this one stood out and really spoke to me. The fruit is very impressive and the structure is near perfect, quite a remarkable Pinot given the vintage on the North Coast, which was not quite as good as 2007, though this wine is by far the best from the Sonoma Coast and certainly as good as any 2007! ($40 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive
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