The Eyrie Vineyards

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The Eyrie Vineyards
Image:EyrieVienyardsLogo.png
Location McMinnville, Oregon, USA
Appellation Willamette Valley AVA
Founded 1966
first Vintage 1970
Key people David Lett
Known for Pinot noir
Varietals Pinot gris, Pinot blanc, Pinot Meunier
Website http://www.eyrievineyards.com
Distribution USA, Canada, England, Japan, Korea
Tasting open to public
David Lett, owner-winemaker at The Eyrie Vineyards, with a bottle of the 1975 The Eyrie Vineyards South Block Reserve—the bottle that put Oregon on the world's pinot noir map
David Lett, owner-winemaker at The Eyrie Vineyards, with a bottle of the 1975 The Eyrie Vineyards South Block Reserve—the bottle that put Oregon on the world's pinot noir map

The Eyrie Vineyards is an American winery in Oregon that consists of 49 acres in several different vineyards in the Willamette Valley. The vineyards and winery were established by owner and winemaker David Lett, who produced the first Pinot gris in the United States. Against the advice of viticultural professors at the University of California, Davis, Lett and his wife, Diana, moved to Oregon to plant Pinot noir in 1966. Their first vintage was in 1970.

The 1975 Eyrie Vineyards Reserve Pinot Noir won first place among Pinot Noirs in blind tasting at the Wine Olympics in 1979.

Burgundy winemaker Robert Drouhin organized a re-match at Maison Joseph Drouhin in France. The 1975 Eyrie Vineyards Reserve won second place, losing to Drouhin's 1959 Chambolle-Musigny. Drouhin later purchased land in Oregon and built Domaine Drouhin Oregon.

Over the years, David Lett (known locally as "Papa Pinot") has maintained a light-handed style of pinot noir that has not followed the trend toward greater flavor, tannin, and color extraction. This has put him at odds with some of the wine critics.

The Eyrie Vineyards estate vineyards are part of the sub-American Viticultural Area (AVA) of Willamette Valley AVA known as the Dundee Hills. The winery itself is in McMinnville, which annually hosts the International Pinot Noir Celebration on the last weekend in July on the campus of Linfield College.

Eyrie was the first Oregon vineyard to market Pinot gris
Eyrie was the first Oregon vineyard to market Pinot gris

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