Warning: include() [function.include]: URL file-access is disabled in the server configuration in /home/twoway/public_html/food/wineday/wd0897/wd080897.html on line 10
Warning: include(http://globalgourmet.com/includes/banner468.html) [function.include]: failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found in /home/twoway/public_html/food/wineday/wd0897/wd080897.html on line 10
Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening 'http://globalgourmet.com/includes/banner468.html' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/lib/php:/usr/local/lib/php') in /home/twoway/public_html/food/wineday/wd0897/wd080897.html on line 10
by Fred McMillin
for August 8, 1997
Winery of the Week
The Prince of Pinot
Prologue
The vine in Oregon...
- c.1825—Hudson Bay Company establishes Oregon's first vineyard at Fort Vancouver.
- c.1855—Oregon's first winery is built by one Peter Britt, fermenting native American grapes brought from east of the Rockies.
- 1966—David Lett plants the first Pinot Noir in Oregon's Willamette Valley at his Eyrie (eye-ree) Vineyards.
- 1982—Critic Roy Andries de Groot rates the Eyrie Pinot Noir superb, the USA's best. David is becoming known as the "Father of Oregon Pinot Noir."
Fifteen years later the New York Times headline would read, "An Oregon Pinot Noir That Measures Up to the Noble Reds of Burgundy." The Eyrie Pinot had missed by only 0.3 points winning first place in a highly-publicized Paris tasting, featuring Burgundy's best.
It didn't take long for other vintners to catch on. The year the New York Times article was written, there were 400 acres of Pinot Noir in Oregon. Soon the total was 2,000 and growing. So, there's plenty of competition now, but all serious wine students certainly should try a bottle from the winery that started it all.
Just the Facts
| Name | Eyrie Vineyards |
| Location | Near McMinnville, Oregon |
| Founded | Vineyard: 1966, winery: 1970. |
| Principal Wines | While the Pinot Noir is best known, the white Pinot Gris also is drawing high praise. |
| Origin of Name | In 1965 as the young couple were planting their first vines, bride Diana saw a red-tailed hawk soaring to its nest in a huge fir tree and announced the name of the vineyard, Eyrie, which means "the nest of a bird of prey." A sketch of the hawk still graces their label. |
Postscript: I confess to an emotional tie to the Willamette Valley. You see, my mother was the first woman to graduate in chemistry from the University of Willamette. I used to tease her that she wouldn't have passed if she hadn't married her chemistry professor...my father.
 |
About the Writer Fred McMillin, a veteran wine writer, has taught wine history for 30 years on three continents. He currently teaches wine courses at San Francisco State and San Francisco City College and is Northern California Editor for American Wine on the Web. In 1995, the Academy of Wine Communications honored Fred with one of only 22 Certificates of Commendation awarded to American wine writers. |
Read more articles by Fred McMillin in the eGGsf
Welcome to WineDay, the electronic Gourmet Guide's daily update. Monday through Thursday, WineDay presents a wine profile. Then on Fridays we present the Winery of the Week to take you through the weekend
January WineDays
February WineDays
March WineDays
April WineDays
May WineDays
June WineDays
July WineDays
08/07/97
A Port Report
08/06/97
Dan's Dandies
08/05/97
Fe Fi Fo Fum, Love This Rosenblum
08/04/97
Tame Those Tannins
08/01/97
Winery of the Week
Meridian Vineyards
Copyright © 1997—the electronic Gourmet Guide, Inc. All rights reserved.