David
Lett, previously a textbook salesman, came to Oregon with 3000
cuttings and a degree in enology from University of California
Davis. He located a site with promise as a vineyard in the Dundee
Hills, and purchased it for US$600 an acre in 1965 (currently, land
here sells for as much as $75 000 per acre). The first vines were
planted that year, and this patch of land was formally named The
Eyrie Vineyard in 1966. Now in the hands of Lett’s son, Jason, the
Eyrie Vineyards today cover 49 acres split among four different
vineyards all in the Dundee Hills.
I
met with Jason Lett (above), initially in the wonderful old
cellars in downtown McMinville (originally, the plan was to have
built a winery on the vineyard, but no one would lend the money),
and then for a tour of the original Eyrie Vineyard. Jason has an
interesting background himself: he trained in Ecology in New Mexico
and then worked as a researcher there and in Oregon, before
returning in 2005 to head up the family winery.
All
the vines here are own-rooted, and herbicides have never been used
in any of the vineyards. Another defining feature of the Eyrie
vineyards is that they aren’t tilled – instead, there is a full
natural cover under the vines. They are also unirrigated: the vines
have developed their own resistance to drought, and being ungrafted
likely helps here. American vines (which form the rootstocks
currently used) evolved near streams, whereas
Vitis vinifera evolved in drier environments where the roots had
to compete hard for moisture. Jason reckons this might be a factor
in helping his vineyards deal better with drought stress.
While
many people are opting for close spacing for their new vineyards,
the Eyrie vineyards have wide rows with vines quite spread out (10
foot spacing for most of the vineyard, with 12 foot spacing for the
South Block). The vines seem to have great balance, though, between
the leaf and fruit. Jason explains that the size of the fruiting
cane is a good indicator of this. For Pinot, a cane the thickness of
a little finger is ideal; if it is as thick as a thumb, the vines
are too vigorous.
David
Lett was influenced by the work of Werner Koblet at the SwissFederal Research Station at Wädenswil. Koblet helped
with ideas such as optimising the canopy (hedging at 14 nodes) and
leaf removal in the fruit zone. His research also showed the
importance of secondary shoots in ripening fruit.
At
Eyrie, white winemaking is simple. Fruit is lightly crushed and then
pressed using a basket press. ‘It is not terribly efficient or
fast, and we don’t have a great juice yield,’ says Jason. ‘But
we do get beautiful, gentle extraction.’ The juice goes to 43 hl
tanks (1200 gallons), which are unjacketed and therefore not
temperature controlled. He points out that wine has been made
without temperature control for thousands of years, but ‘now
it’s almost heretical not to have a 10 ton chilling unit in the
back of the winery.’ After fermentation the wines are aged sur
lie. Jason says that they don’t need to measure nitrogen in the
must. ‘Yeast is a dynamic organism with a whole variety of yields.
Lots of problems of reduction are due to winemaking
interventions.’
Jason
says that they haven’t had many problems with reduction, and is
opposed to the use of copper sulfate, now routinely used in the new
world as a fining agent to clean up wines showing slight reductive
tendencies. ‘Copper additions are one of the worst things you can
do to a wine, especially early on. Copper is oxidative.’ In 2005
there were some reduction issues in the winery. ‘With some of the
barrels, you pulled the bung out and had to run away,’ recalls
Jason. ‘Dad said “be patient”. We tracked the wines with a lab
and as long as the sulfur species were simple I was not too
concerned. When malolactic fermentation was over we did a rack and
this was successful: I’m glad I was patient.’
The
Eyrie Pinot Noir style is for high-toned wines, light in colour.
Small fermentors are used with no temperature control. There is lots
of exposure to ambient air, and these fermentors radiate or convect
off most of their heat – it is rare to get to 80 °F. ‘There was
always a quality of silkiness to my father’s wines,’ says Jason.
‘For someone who was a great fan of Burgundy, he was not a great
fan of tannins. Tannic Pinot Noir is not necessarily ageworthy
because as it ages the tannins become more pronounced. Our
winemaking is geared to less tannin extraction.’ Old
oak is used more than new here: of 250 barrels in the cellar, just
10 are new. And even some of the original 1970 barrels are still
being used!
As
well as Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris is a focus here, accounting for 60%
of production (23 out of 49 acres are planted with this). When Lett
arrived in Oregon, he brought with him some Pinot Gris cuttings from
four vines from the UC Davis experimental vineyard. In all, he had
160 cuttings and planted them in four rows. The first vintage, five
cases of wine, was made in 1970, and Eyrie have made it ever since.
This was the new world’s first Pinot Gris, and before long Lett
grafted over all his Riesling and Gewürztraminer to this variety.
I
came away deeply impressed by both Jason Lett, and also the
wonderful Eyrie wines. They’re elegant and expressive. The Eyrie
philosophy, to interfere as little as possible with the processes of
nature, is producing some superb wines that are sometimes overlooked
for more obvious, up-front styles. But I love them.
The
wines
Eyrie
Vineyards Pinot Gris 2006 Really interesting smoky, spicy nose with some herbiness. Lovely
richness on the palate which shows herby, melony fruit. Beautifully
expressive with great depth. 92/100
Eyrie
Vineyards Pinot Blanc 2006 Lovely depth on the nose: herby and fresh with canteloup melon
fruit and creamy, spicy notes. The palate has depth, freshness and
balance with a lovely creamy texture, some smokiness and a bit of
spice. Finishes quite dry and savoury. 94/100
Eyrie
Vineyards Chardonnay 2006 Mineralic, tight nose is refined and fresh with a bit of
toastiness. The palate is bright and quite broad – a bit
Chablis-like, even, without a big depth of fruit. Lovely minerality
and good acidity. 92/100
Eyrie
Vineyards Reserve Chardonnay 2006 Both Chardonnays are made with neutral oak, but this is a
selection of the five best barrels. Tight, smoky, mineralic nose
with focused but broad fruit. The palate is crisp and fresh with
some minerality. There’s real poise and minerality here. Very
fresh and focused. 93/100
Eyrie
Vineyards Pinot Noir Estate 2006 A blend from the four different vineyards. Focused, bright and
elegant with smooth cherry fruit. Light and expressive with
beautiful transparency and elegance. Lovely. 92/100
Eyrie
Vineyards Pinot Noir Reserve 2006 Exclusively from the original vineyard site, and 40 year old
ungrafted vines. Focused, bright, fresh nose with tight red fruits
backed up by some nice spiciness, with subtle herby notes. The
palate is expressive and elegant with a lovely subtle earthy quality
and great depth. Texturally rich and structured. 93/100
Eyrie
Vineyards Pinot Noir Reserve 2004 David Lett’s last vintage as winemaker. Highly aromatic, fresh
cherry fruit nose with a complex spiciness. Fresh and beguiling. The
palate has beautiful expression, real precision and a subtle
earthiness. There’s some tannin, but it is seamless and elegant in
a lighter style. 95/100
Eyrie
Vineyards Pinot Noir Reserve 2003 This was a hot vintage in Oregon. Aromatic, fresh nose with
lovely herb and cherry fruit. Expressive, spicy and earthy. The
palate is smooth with lovely elegant rounded texture. Beautifully
expressive with some herby complexity and light cherryish fruit.
This is compelling and silky. 94/100
