With their 2010 Pinot Noir Seven Springs Vineyard Red Queen, the Evening Land team repeats an experiment attempted in the 2008 vintage of including around one-third whole clusters and stems in the ferment. The result makes for a striking and illuminating contrast with the otherwise nearly identical fruit and methods that informed the La Source of this vintage. Iris, gentian, black pepper, licorice, and smoky black tea convey aromatic as well as inner-mouth complexity to tart-edged red berries, all of which combine for a distinctive and forceful resonance that carries into a gripping finish. There is a chew to the tannins here but also expansiveness to the wine’s flower-enhanced inner-mouth perfume that set it apart from its stable mates. This is going to be fascinating to follow in parallel with its La Source sibling over the coming decade. (DS)

The Red Queen bottling is Evening Land's most limited in terms of production. The grapes are sourced from a block in the estate vineyard at the highest point of the hill, and the wine is aged in 30% new French oak for 14 months. Tasted a few weeks prior to its official release, it was stubbornly unyielding, even after a full 24 hours. Given the pedigree of this estate, and the superb quality of the two other 2010 Pinots, it is reasonable to expect this to come out of its hard shell and earn a much higher score. (PG)

Ripe cherry and spice flavors play with deftness on an open frame. This is generous with its fruit, showinbg subtle hints of black pepper and licorice. Finishes with intensity and impressive length. (HS)