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Dear friends,
This Fill-Up Friday highlights our tiny allocation of three micro-production (just few hundred cases made) incomprehensible values in Pinot Noir. This is cult wine, except nobody realizes it—for now.
Evesham’s Pinots are constantly flirting with perfection and are always one of the greatest values in the world of Pinot Noir. Master Sommeliers have blinded these wines as Burgundy, a region they can go 12 rounds against—easily. I can't summarize this wine and producer any better than both Master Sommelier Ian Cauble and Burghound's Allen Meadows:
"For an outrageously low $29-$34 btl, handcrafted Pinot Noir doesn’t get more elegant, refined, or expressive than this. And yet, Erin’s somehow managed to achieve this without sacrificing sustainable farming, a manual wine upbringing, and a lengthy aging regimen in mostly neutral French barrels. High-toned perfumed, astounding depth, and perfect harmony...this is as good as value Pinot Noir gets.
Owner and Winemaker Erin Nuccio's backstory: East Coast retail wine guy starts to feel the pull towards actual vineyards and winemaking, wanting to put his passion into practice. He and his wife make their way out west, where he attends viticulture/enology school and working at vineyards in California. Then he scores an apprenticeship in Oregon’s Willamette Valley under Russ Raney, whose Evesham Wood property, first planted in 1986, a model of sustainability and small-scale perfectionism (it was Certified Organic in 2000). Over the years, Nuccio becomes winemaker at Evesham Wood, while also launching a brand called Haden Fig, and in 2010 Nuccio and his wife, Jordan, purchase Evesham Wood. They are always among the finest domestic Pinot Noir values we find each year." -Master Sommelier Ian Cauble
"Russ and Mary Raney founded Evesham Wood in 1986, planting the first vines in Le Puits Sec Vineyard in 1989. Raney began farming organically in the early 1990s and earned organic certification in 2000. As part of The Deep Roots Coalition, a group of over 30 wineries, they have pledged to not irrigate estate fruit nor purchase irrigated fruit. In 2007 Erin Nuccio began making his own wine (Haden Fig, see below) at Evesham while working there. When Team Raney chose to retire, Nuccio took over Evesham Wood in 2010 and has done an extremely impressive job following up the excellent quality produced by the Raneys. All the wines are unfined and unfiltered." -Allen Meadows, Burghound
He’s not alone in that statement. Everywhere you turn, professionals are predicting 2021 will be an outstanding vintage."
I can't wait for you to experience these unfathomable wines. Come and see me soon!
Happy Friday my friends!
—James Tran
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