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THE EYRIE VINEYARDS OREGON USA
'For over 25 years now I have had a special place in my heart for the wines of Oregon and in particular for those from The Eyrie Vineyard, established with great vision and courage by David and Diana Lett in 1965. It was David’s predilection for pinot vines that gave the fledgling Oregon wine industry its sense of direction and the track record of his own wines has been extraordinary.
It was a mark of his determination that he so firmly resisted the temptation to be blown off course by the siren winds of fashion with their call for wines of dark colour, tannic extraction, new oak and high alcohol, all the things that David loathed most in pinot noir. Evidence of his wosdom and vision was most apparent in a series of three extraordinary vertical tasting staged by The Eyrie Vineyard during the past three years in which I have been privileged to review their wines going back as far as their inaugural vintage in 1970. In 2009 we tasted 37 vintages of Eyrie Chardonnay, a tasting every bit as remarkable as its predecessor, and an amazing testament to the highly unusual longevity of their chardonnay wines, so utterly different in character from those of any other USA, or indeed New World, expressions of that grape. In 2011 another tour de force was staged, with a tasting of Pinot Noir Reserve uniquely from the South Block planted in 1968. This included the legendary 1975, the wine that caused such a stir at the Gault-Millan Wine Olympia in Paris in 1979 when it effectively catapulted Oregon on to the international wine stage. This wine, a model of restrained elegance rather than exaggerated bluster, continues to display remarkable stamina and rather disproves the theory that young wines are incapable of achieving such quality.
Eyrie wines are now conducted by the winemaking baton of David Lett’s son Jason, who is building on his father’s reputation with wines that seem even more consistently excellent, remaining entirely faithful to the Eyrie style, one of ethereal grace and weightless energy, the antithesis in fact of the vulgar ‘show’ wine.I can think of growers in Chambolle Musigny who might recognise its style of feminine elegance rather than masculine power.
David Lett’s desired expression of Oregon Pinot cannot be considered typical today, for there are many new producers who prefer to age California with a much bolder style – like David himself however, I went north from California in order to escape such a style and it is for that reason that we remain convinced of the superiority of The Eyrie Vineyard model.'
If you would like to buy wines from The Eyrie Vineyards please get in touch!
All prices are per 75cl bottle.
2008 PINOT GRIS £14.50
2009 PINOT BLANC £16.50
2009 CHARDONNAY £18.80
2009 CHARDONNAY Reserve £29.50
2009 PINOT MEUNIER £25.00
2009 PINOT NOIR £25.00
2007 PINOT NOIR Reserve £36.00
PINOT NOIR Reserve
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TEL: 01451 860896 FAX: 01451 860996 E-MAIL: wine@savageselection.co.uk
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