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Eyrie Vineyards Review

Eyrie Vineyards Review

Address: 935 NE 10th Ave McMinnville,Oregon 97128.
Phone Number: 888-440-4970
Tasting Hours: 12:00-5:00

Region: Willamette Valley AVA, McMinnville, Oregon
Reviewer: Rob Boss
Review Date: 11/1/2012
Reviewer: Rob Boss
Rating: 5

The Review

Walking into Eyrie Vineyard’s tasting room is something like walking into a Pinot Noir shrine. This is where it all started in Oregon, over forty years ago. The founder, David Lett, is remembered fondly as “Papa Pinot.” He was the first to plant Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley and the first in North America to plant Pinot Gris. None of that matters, of course, if the wine is pedestrian but that’s not the case here. Eyrie has, however, been misunderstood in the past. Their style has always been light, delicate, low alcohol and food friendly. The last part is arguably the heart of their enduring nature. Burgundy drinkers have embraced them in the past as often as New World drinkers have dismissed them. The short of it is, Eyrie is not a beginner’s Pinot Noir. But they very well might be what Pinot Noir is all about.

Our tasting session began with a 2010 Pinot Blanc, aged 10 months in stainless steel. Steel aging always keeps the fresh fruit flavors intact and this one, with the crisp pear and apple character, stony minerality and food ready acidity was mouthwatering. And this was just the opening act.

The 2010 Estate Pinot Gris was also steel aged. The cool climate fruit flavors of apples and pears were reflective of a very cool year. This was a delicious wine that was upstaged by its peers in the tasting, although the one we took home showed well on its own. It’s a solid player.

On to neutral oak aging with the 2010 Chardonnay. Neutral oak is something of the Eyrie trademark style—they still have some of their first barrels in service after 40 years. The results were a bright, ripe apple and peach in the nose, with peach, nectarine, star fruit, belying a particularly cold year.

Now on to Pinot Noir. The term “old vine” is not an absolute term but a relative one, vineyard by vineyard. The 2009 Estate is made up of 1/3 old vine fruit, which at Eyrie means 46 years. Yowza. It’s aged 16 months in neutral oak and the fruit is chosen for the lightest, most delicate vines of all their properties. The cherry and strawberries in the nose are textbook Oregon Pinot Noir, as are the black cherry, blackberry and raspberry on the palate. But you have to reach for it. These wines are shy beauties.

It’s best to pay attention to the shy ones, though. Next in the flight was the 2009 Original Vines Pinot Noir—that means 1976, folks. 22 months in barrel, 14 in a bottle. The nose was rich with dusty briar notes, strawberries and cherries. Then came the beautiful black cherry flavors, with a long, lingering finish that ends with a licorice note. Once again, the taster has to meet this wine half way because it doesn’t just give it up, so subtle is the style. It can age another five years and just be getting started; probably ten, which is not typical of the warmer, 2009 vintage.

For those who love exclusivity in their wines, the 2009 Daphne Reserve will deliver. The Daphne Vineyard is a tiny plot of land at the top of a hill, which sometimes is selected as a single vineyard release but mostly not—which means when it comes out, it’s something extraordinary. While we were there, the Eyrie crew had just brought in 2012 Daphne fruit to become Daphne Reserve, for the first time in three years. The character is every bit as special, with fresh, crushed cherry and raspberry flavors. Daphne shows best in warmer years and it should appeal more to New World drinkers who prefer riper, bolder fruit. It’s beautiful and more lush than other Eyrie wines.

More to my Old World taste was the 2010 Estate. The cold year brought a lot of spicy notes to the wines, although it lowered production for everyone (speaking of exclusivity). The nose is full of briars and dill, with silky cherry, raspberry and strawberry on the palate. It’s a little unfocused right now but all that will integrate soon. A great preview of a beautiful vintage.

One could say that “Eyrie is an attitude” and not be far off. David Lett was a visionary and even among other visionaries (David Adeslsheim, the Drouhins, the Ponzis), his view is unique. There’s nothing else quite like this in the Willamette Valley. Every glass is full of history, which is something few American wines can offer. Eyrie’s subtle, understated style will blow right by most people, at least on the first try (as it did me). But there’s a reason they’re still around after almost fifty years and it’s probably not because so many people “got it” on the first try. Try it. Then try it again. If you’ve enjoyed enough Pinot Noir, you’ll soon understand where they’re coming from and what Eyrie’s all about, and why these are revered among the finest wines in the world. It’s a beautiful thing.