Winemaker Letter
This spring, we are doing something we have never done before.
We are opening the cellar to you through a true horizontal of the 2016 vintage. Not a single wine, not a vertical, but a complete snapshot of a year that has quietly become one of the most compelling in our history.
This is a vintage I know well. It was my first year with Evenstad Estates, and I remember tasting these wines in barrel across both Oregon and Burgundy. There was an immediate sense that something special was taking shape. Not loud or obvious, but precise, layered, and built with intention. The kind of wines that reveal themselves over time.
Now, ten years later, you get to experience that evolution.
In Burgundy, the growing season stretched late into September, yielding smaller clusters with structure and depth. These wines have always carried a quiet power. Today, that structure has softened into something more complete, still grounded, but now expansive and expressive.
In Oregon, the season unfolded with ease. The wines came together with clarity and finesse from the start. What I love when revisiting now is how seamlessly they have aged. They have held onto their energy while gaining texture and dimension. They are exactly where you hope they would be.
What makes this shipment so meaningful is not just the quality of the wines, but the perspective it offers. You are tasting a moment in time, across two regions, with ten years of patience behind it.
This is what Cellar Society was meant to be. Access not just to our very best wines, but to time, to evolution, to the deeper story behind what we do.
I hope you take your time with these wines. Open them with intention. Revisit them. Share them.
This is our cellar, opened for you.
Michael Fay
VICE PRESIDENT OF WINEMAKING AND VITICULTURE
