Evening Land Vineyards

Mark Tarlov, a film producer, founded Evening Land Vineyards, and he bought or leased vineyards in the Sta. Rita Hills, the Sonoma Coast and finally Seven Springs in Oregon's Willamette Valley, which became the focus of the winery. Evening Land leased Seven Springs in 2007, reuniting it with the adjacent Anden Vineyards. Before then, Oregon wineries including Bethel Heights, Cristom, Penner-Ash and Domaine Drouhin had bought grapes from the vineyard. Dominique Lafon of Domaine des Comtes Lafon consulted on the Oregon wines from the start, with Isabelle Meunier as winemaker, and the debut 2007 vintage included a Gamay called Celebration alongside Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. As of 2012, Evening Land also acted as a négociant in Burgundy. Greg Ralston replaced Tarlov as CEO in 2012. In February 2014 Rajat Parr, Charles Banks and Sashi Moorman came in as minority partners and took over operations; Banks later confirmed that he never completed a deal for ownership, and Parr and Moorman worked in consulting roles. Meunier left the winery that same month. Moorman and Parr had bought Evening Land's Sta. Rita Hills holdings in May 2013 to create Domaine de la Côte. As of October 2025, Evening Land was owned by Texas venture capitalist Steven Webster. That year Parr and Moorman ended their collaboration, and Moorman continues to run Evening Land.

• 2007: Evening Land leased Seven Springs Vineyard; the debut vintage was 2007.
• 2012: Greg Ralston replaced founder Mark Tarlov as CEO.
• 2014: Rajat Parr, Charles Banks and Sashi Moorman joined as minority partners and took over operations; Isabelle Meunier left the winery.
• 2025: Parr and Moorman ended their collaboration in September; Moorman continues to run Evening Land.
• Owner as of October 2025: Texas venture capitalist Steven Webster.

Sashi Moorman is managing partner of Evening Land Vineyards, as he is of Domaine de la Côte and Sandhi Wines, and also serves as one of its winemakers. He is also CEO of Provignage, a wine consultancy. John Faulkner, a Santa Barbara native who joined the Provignage team in late 2011 and served a four-year apprenticeship at Fiddlehead Cellars, is winemaker at Evening Land, where he focuses on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Mark Vijg, who learned his craft in the cellar at Dobbes Family Estate for six years, is associate winemaker. Netanya Welch, who worked with a myriad of Willamette Valley sites at Vitis Terra, owned by Jessica Cortell, before joining full-time as viticulturist and vineyard manager, runs the estate vineyard. Justin Timsit is vice president of sales. Earlier members of the winemaking team include former winemaker Benjamin DiCristina and Damien Lapuyade, assistant winemaker from the 2020 vintage, who worked with Moorman and Parr on the 2021 La Source and Summum Pinot Noirs.

• Managing partner: Sashi Moorman, also managing partner of Domaine de la Côte and Sandhi Wines.
• Winemaker: John Faulkner; associate winemaker: Mark Vijg.
• Estate vineyard manager and viticulturist: Netanya Welch.
• Earlier: Isabelle Meunier, winemaker from 2007 to 2014; former winemaker Benjamin DiCristina; Damien Lapuyade, assistant winemaker from the 2020 vintage.

Seven Springs lies in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, about 15 miles northwest of Salem, and was planted by Al McDonald. The winery dates its original plantings to 1984; its oldest own-rooted Pinot Noir block, of Pommard clones, was planted in 1982, and vines at the site date to the early 1980s. The vineyard covered 70 acres as of 2014. As of January 2015, the new team was adding 6 acres of Chardonnay by grafting over what had been marginal Pinot Noir. Moorman has since replanted about 50% of the acreage. The soils derive from basalt, a volcanic rock, and their high clay content retains spring rainfall, so the vines need no irrigation through the warm summer. The winery credits the vineyard's eastern exposure and the cooling winds of the Van Duzer corridor with preserving freshness in hot spells, as in 2021. Gamay has grown at Seven Springs since the original 1984 planting, and one acre of old-vine Pinot Noir was top-grafted to Chenin Blanc using cuttings from Tegan Passalacqua's Kirschenmann Vineyard in Lodi. The vineyard is farmed organically with biodynamic principles and holds LIVE (Low Impact Viticulture & Enology) certification; Meunier oversaw its conversion to biodynamic viticulture. Recent projects include wildflower corridors in Block 6, fruit trees settling further into the landscape and a small flock of Shetland sheep that grazes open areas of the property. Seven Springs has supplied fruit to many other Oregon producers, and in 2026 the winery hosted 00 Wines, Alexana, Antica Terra, Audeant and Failla at its Friends of Seven Springs Chardonnay celebration.

• Eola-Amity Hills AVA, about 15 miles northwest of Salem; 70 acres as of 2014.
• Planted by Al McDonald; oldest own-rooted Pinot Noir block (Pommard clones) planted in 1982.
• Basalt-derived volcanic soils with high clay content; no irrigation.
• Organic farming with biodynamic principles; LIVE certified.
• Chenin Blanc top-grafted onto one acre of old-vine Pinot Noir, from Kirschenmann Vineyard cuttings.

Evening Land's philosophy page puts the approach plainly: 'We are farmers, and are therefore very hands on in the vineyard, which allows us to remain relatively hands off in the cellar.' Building on lessons from 2019, Moorman and Parr used the infusion method of fermentation on all the 2021 Pinot Noir: roughly two-thirds of the fruit was de-stemmed and left to infuse with its skins, no inoculation was used, and native fermentation took place in open-top wooden vats (tronconique). The 2021 La Source Pinot Noir was raised in neutral barrique (228L) and new puncheon (500L) for about 35% new oak, the 2021 Summum Pinot Noir, of which 8 barrels were made, saw 75% new barrique, and both were bottled without fining or filtration. No new oak was used for the 2024 Seven Springs Pinot Noir. The 2023 Gamay Nouveau was made from 100% whole clusters and spent 3 months in neutral oak, and the 2021 Chenin Blanc spent 15 months in neutral Stockinger puncheon. For Clair de Lune, all the fruit was whole-cluster pressed and fermented with native yeasts in barrel, then spent six months in neutral 228L barrels and one month in tank.

• 2021 Pinot Noir: infusion method, roughly two-thirds de-stemmed, no inoculation, native fermentation in open-top wooden vats.
• 2021 La Source Pinot Noir about 35% new oak; 2021 Summum Pinot Noir 75% new barrique, 8 barrels; neither fined nor filtered.
• 2024 Seven Springs Pinot Noir: no new oak.
• Clair de Lune: whole-cluster pressed, native-yeast fermentation in barrel, six months in neutral 228L barrels and one month in tank.

The Seven Springs Chardonnay is sourced from across the vineyard, from rows of vines of different ages. La Source Chardonnay comes from old-vine Dijon clones in the lower half of a narrow band of 14 vine rows in the heart of Seven Springs, and Summum Chardonnay from the rocky top of those 14 rows. La Source Pinot Noir comes from Dijon clones rooted in shallow, rocky soils at the summit of the vineyard, and Summum Pinot Noir from the oldest own-rooted block of Pinot Noir, Pommard clones planted in 1982. The Seven Springs Gamay Noir is always a blend of three Seven Springs parcels of varying age and trellising; 360 cases of the 2024 were made. Clair de Lune, introduced with the 2024 vintage, is a 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc. The range also includes the Seven Springs Pinot Noir, a Gamay Nouveau, a Chenin Blanc, La Forêt Pinot Noir Blanc (a white Pinot Noir), a Blanc de Blancs and a Blanc de Noirs; the Blanc de Noirs comes from a plot with a northwestern exposure at the edge of a forest of Douglas firs.

• Seven Springs tier: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gamay Noir, Gamay Nouveau, Chenin Blanc, Clair de Lune and La Forêt Pinot Noir Blanc.
• La Source: Chardonnay from old-vine Dijon clones in the lower half of a 14-row band; Pinot Noir from Dijon clones at the summit.
• Summum: Chardonnay from the rocky top of the 14 rows; Pinot Noir from the oldest own-rooted Pommard block, planted in 1982.
• Sparkling: Blanc de Blancs (Chardonnay) and Blanc de Noirs (Pinot Noir).

Wine Spectator rated the Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills Seven Springs Vineyard La Source 2012 at 98 points, the top score in its 2015 Oregon report and the highest rating for an Oregon wine to that date, and placed the wine at No. 3 in its Top 10 of 2015. Evening Land made four classic-scoring bottlings, two Pinot Noirs and two Chardonnays, from the 2012 vintage, all from Seven Springs.

• Wine Spectator: La Source Pinot Noir 2012, 98 points and No. 3 in the Top 10 of 2015.
• Four classic-scoring Seven Springs bottlings from 2012 in Wine Spectator: two Pinot Noirs and two Chardonnays.

Evening Land states its credo as 'Nothing is added, nothing is taken away,' and its philosophy page sets the goal as 'vivid and transparent wines of place.' Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2025, Esther Mobley observed that Moorman 'has largely stayed the course with classically styled Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.'

Tastings take place outdoors or in partially covered spaces facing the original 1984 plantings, against the backdrop of the Cascade Range and Mount Hood. Visiting hours are Thursday to Monday, 10am to 5pm. The Estate Tasting is $50 per person, with reservations encouraged, and walk-in guests can enjoy a glass or bottle in the picnic area.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://elvwines.com/, https://elvwines.com/pages/our-philosophy, https://elvwines.com/pages/our-team, https://elvwines.com/collections/the-wines, https://elvwines.com/pages/visit-us, https://elvwines.com/blogs/journal/friends-of-seven-springs-a-shared-history, https://elvwines.com/blogs/journal/field-notes-life-among-the-vines, https://elvwines.com/blogs/journal/contemplating-rock-bottom-with-winemaker-john-faulkner, https://elvwines.com/blogs/journal/the-2024-vintage-a-new-expression-of-gamay-noir, https://elvwines.com/blogs/journal/a-vineyard-update-with-netanya-welch, https://elvwines.com/blogs/journal/a-reflection-on-the-2021-vintage-part-1, https://elvwines.com/blogs/journal/clair-de-lune-2024, https://elvwines.com/pages/sashi-moorman, https://elvwines.com/pages/john-faulkner, https://elvwines.com/pages/mark-vijg, https://elvwines.com/products/2018-blanc-de-noirs, https://elvwines.com/products/2019-blanc-de-blancs, https://elvwines.com/products/2021-seven-springs-chenin-blanc, https://elvwines.com/products/2023-la-source-chardonnay, https://elvwines.com/products/2023-seven-springs-gamay-nouveau, https://elvwines.com/products/2023-summum-chardonnay, https://elvwines.com/products/2023-summum-pinot-noir, https://elvwines.com/products/2024-la-source-pinot-noir, https://elvwines.com/products/2024-seven-springs-chardonnay, https://elvwines.com/products/2024-seven-springs-clair-de-lune, https://elvwines.com/products/2024-seven-springs-gamay-noir, https://elvwines.com/products/2024-seven-springs-pinot-noir, https://elvwines.com/products/2025-la-foret-pinot-noir-blanc. Secondary sources: Wine Spectator (Harvey Steiman, 26 March 2009 and 31 January 2015, and the Top 100 of 2015; 30 July 2012; 3 February 2014; 19 February 2014; 11 August 2021), Decanter (last updated 27 May 2015) and the San Francisco Chronicle (Esther Mobley, 3 October 2025). Last verified 2026-10-18. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.