Dominique Lafon takes on new consultancy

Dominique Lafon of Burgundy's Domaine des Comtes Lafon has undertaken his first venture outside of Burgundy.

Lafon is now consulting winemaker to Evening Land Winery, a project owned and based in the US which sources wines from Oregon, Burgundy, and different regions in California.

The first release is a Pinot Noir from Oregon. ‘I like Oregon and the potential of this area,’ he told decanter.com.

‘The project is ambitious in aiming for high quality wines made “a la bourguignonne”.’

Burgundy-trained Isabelle Meunier, formerly of New Zealand’s Felton Road and Burgundy’s Domaine de la Vougeraie, is working with Lafon.

Evening Land leases 30ha of Seven Springs Vineyard, in Willamette Valley’s Eola-Amity Hills in Oregon. Three-quarters is planted to Pinot Noir with the remainder Chardonnay and some Gamay.

In addition to its first 2008 vintage release, other Evening Land wines include those sourced from California’s Sonoma Coast and Santa Rita Hills along with a Burgundy Cote d’Or.

Written by David Furer

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David Furer is a Californian wine writer, educator, consultant and speaker, who has worked for over 20 years in the wine trade. He has appeared in publications such as Decanter, Wine Business Monthly in the US and SommelierS Int’l in France. He formerly served on the Circle of Wine Writers’ executive committee and is a sommelier with accreditation from the Court of Master Sommeliers. In his book, Wine Places, he collaborates with photographer Charles O’Rear to capture some of the world’s vineyards, wineries and winemakers.