Why it matters
The producer
The Eyrie Vineyards is a family estate in Oregon's Red Hills of Dundee, founded by David and Diana Lett in 1966. All wines are estate grown and produced. The range includes Pinot noir, Pinot gris, and Chardonnay, with limited bottlings of Pinot blanc, Pinot Meunier, and Muscat Ottonel.
David Lett's early plantings included the first Pinot noir and Chardonnay in the Willamette Valley, along with the first Pinot gris commercially planted outside Europe. Jason Lett became Eyrie's winemaker and vineyard manager in 2005, continuing the family connection between vineyard work and winemaking.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
The Red Hills of Dundee are part of Oregon's Willamette Valley, where the original Eyrie estate was established in the Dundee Hills. The Estate Pinot noir and The Eyrie Chardonnay carry the Willamette Valley appellation, linking the bottles to the wider valley while the producer's home site remains the Dundee Hills.
The original site faces south. Its slope was selected partly because it allows damaging spring frosts to drain away from the vines.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
All five Eyrie estate vineyards are certified organic. The vineyards have never received herbicides, pesticides, tillage, or irrigation. Jason Lett and his crew visit approximately 50,000 vines 12 to 15 times each year, with work from pruning through harvest performed by hand.
Fermentations proceed naturally and slowly. Reds use native yeasts, whites receive skin contact, and malolactic fermentation is allowed to proceed fully and naturally. The wines receive minimal racking, extended lees contact, no fining, and minimal filtration. Lees are the yeast sediment left after fermentation, and extended contact can add texture to a wine.
Wines to know
The range in view
The portfolio includes Estate Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Chardonnay, and limited bottlings of Pinot blanc, Pinot Meunier, and Muscat Ottonel. Estate Pinot noir is a red wine from the Willamette Valley. The Eyrie Chardonnay is a white wine from the same appellation.
All wines are estate grown and produced. The range therefore moves through several grape varieties while remaining tied to the estate vineyards and the Dundee Hills home site.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Open the 2021 Estate Pinot noir first. It is the red Willamette Valley wine in the range, made from estate grown Pinot noir and marked by a single vintage and appellation.