US-based wine producer Evening Land Vineyards has purchased Château de Bligny in Bligny-lès-Beaune.
The Côte d’Or winegrowers association Vignerons des Caves des Haute-Côtes, which had owned Château de Bligny since 1999, sold the property but has kept its associated vineyard contracts.
Vignerons des Caves will continue to produce higher-end wines, including premier cru Volnay and Nuits-Saint-Georges, under their Nuiton Beaunoy label, but without the Château de Bligny designation.
Evening Land Vineyards (ELV) was founded in Oregon and California in 2005 and quickly secured vineyard contracts in Burgundy. It shared cellar space in Meursault with Domaine Dominique Lafon, the second label from the managing director of Domaine des Comtes Lafon.
Dominique Lafon is consulting winemaker for ELV’s Oregon arm, which produces highly rated Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Gamay Noir.
ELV’s first releases were in 2007, and it garnered attention by collaborating with Lafon and signing on high-profile sommeliers and chefs to produce custom wines for prominent restaurants.
ELV Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays are branded by colour-coding rather than by geography, ranging from blue labels for US$30 wines to white labels for wines up to US$120.
Its current Burgundy labels include the Etoile Bourgogne Blanc and Etoile Bourgogne Rouge (pictured), Vosne Romanée Pinot Noir and Burgundy Beaune Bressandes Premier Cru Pinot Noir.
The 1,860-square-meter Château de Bligny, not to be confused with an estate of the same name in Champagne, will provide a distribution base for ELV as it expands its European division.
Written by Katherine Cole
