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Eyrie Vineyards

True Oregon Wine Industry Pioneers-

David and Diana Lett established The Eyrie Vineyards in 1966, naming it for the red-tailed hawks that made their nest (EYE-ree) in the fir trees at the top of the vineyard. It was the first planting of Pinot noir and Chardonnay in the Willamette Valley, and the first Pinot gris in America.

The Eyrie Vineyards’ philosophy, in the vineyards and in the winery, is to interfere as little as possible with the process of Nature. Eyrie wines are made exclusively from own-rooted estate-grown grapes, intens read more

Eyrie Pinot Noir Estate 07

$25.16 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $27.95

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Eyrie Pinot Noir Estate 07 - Eyrie PN Estate 07: Simply mouthwatering. A first pour, there's a wiff of youth which quickly give way to ethereal aromas fresh red fruits, cedar and turned earth. The seamless cherry, raspberry and strawberry flav...read more

Eyrie Pinot noir Estate Reserve 06

$53.95 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $59.95

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Eyrie Pinot noir Estate Reserve 06 - We opened the 2006 Eyrie Reserve last week and attempted to capture its essence with mere words. We need a new dictionary. Complexity and completeness is where I started, with "sexy" underlined in the margin...read more

Crowley Eyrie Arterberry Six Pack Sampler

Price: $149.95

$134.95 - Any 12 or more bottles


$149.95 - save $19.75 from $169.70 retail

2 bottles Crowley Wines Pinot noir Willamette Valley 07 $24.95

2 bottles Eyrie Vineyards Estate Pinot noir 07 $24.95

2 bottles Arterberry Maresh Dundee Hills Pinot noir 07 $34.95 ...read more

Eyrie Pinot Gris Estate 07

$14.18 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $15.75

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Eyrie Pinot Gris Estate 07 - “Eyrie Pinot gris, bright and bracing, is marked by a mineral-tinged complexity rarely found in dry wines made from this variety. The first successful American version, it sets a quality standard in Oregon and beyond.”...read more

Eyrie Chardonnay Estate 08

$18.86 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $20.95

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Eyrie Chardonnay Estate 08 - new February 2010.

Previous Vintage Tasting Notes

200 Vintage Tasting Notes

Eyrie Chardonnay Estate 07 - This vintage epitomizes the Eyrie style, expressing complex ...read more

Eyrie Chardonnay Estate Reserve 07

$39.55 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $43.95

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Eyrie Chardonnay Estate Reserve 07 - from the oldest Chardonnay vines in the Willamette Valley. Eyrie’s Chardonnay cuttings originated in Burgundy, were brought to America in the 30’s, and found a home in the Eyrie Vineyards in 1967. This cuvee dr...read more

Eyrie Pinot Blanc Estate 08

$13.00 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $14.45

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Made from a small planting of authentic Alsatian vines at our “Sisters” Vineyard (named for the lovely Pinot sisters) in the Dundee Hills.

“Eyrie doesn’t make a lot of Pinot blanc, so buy it when you find it and indulge in its lean, intense mi...read more

Eyrie Vineyards Muscat Ottonel 07

$17.50 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $19.45

Qty.

Eyrie Vineyards Muscat Ottonel 07 - Eyrie makes very small amounts of this crisp, dry white wine. Eyrie’s version of Muscat Ottonel is crisp and dry with delicate floral and spice aromas. Appellation Dundee Hills, Oregon. Serve as an aperitif with...read more

Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Meunier Estate 07

$25.16 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $27.95

Qty.

Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Meunier Estate 07 - A most interesting and enjoyable red wine, made from a grape usually blended into champagne style wines.

Prounounced “moon-YAY,” Meunier is an old French word for a miller, someone who grinds wheat int...read more

Black Cap La Luz Chardonnay

$32.36 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $35.95

Qty.

Black Cap La Luz Chardonnay - Jason Lett used fruit from the 2007 vintage usually designated for his Black Cap Chardonnay as part of the blend that goes into the La Luz Chardonnay. The wine is a blend from several vintages.

"La Luz" is Spani...read more

Black Cap La Luz Pinot noir

$32.36 - Case price
(any 12 or more bottles)

Price: $35.95

Qty.

Black Cap La Luz Pinot noir - Proceeds from the sales of the La Luz Chardonnay and Pinot noir go to the kidney transplant fund for Guadalupe Hernandez, the wife of Eyrie's Cellarmaster, Julio Hernandez.

"La Luz" is Spanish for "The Light"...read more


 

MORE INFORMATION

True Oregon Wine Industry Pioneers-

David and Diana Lett established The Eyrie Vineyards in 1966, naming it for the red-tailed hawks that made their nest (EYE-ree) in the fir trees at the top of the vineyard. It was the first planting of Pinot noir and Chardonnay in the Willamette Valley, and the first Pinot gris in America.

The Eyrie Vineyards’ philosophy, in the vineyards and in the winery, is to interfere as little as possible with the process of Nature. Eyrie wines are made exclusively from own-rooted estate-grown grapes, intensively handmanaged without the use of irrigation, insecticides, herbicides, or systemic fungicides. Annual production is limited to 8,000-10,000 cases.

THE VINEYARDS

Eyrie’s 50 acres of non-irrigated vines are grown in the Red Hills of Dundee, about 30 miles southwest of Portland. The winery is in nearby McMinnville. The four estate vineyards, planted at varying altitudes, are:

The Eyrie Vineyard: The original planting. 15 acres, 220'- 400' elevation; Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Pinot gris, Pinot Meunier, Muscat Ottonel. First planted in 1966.

Stonehedge Vineyard: 13 acres, 720'-820' elevation; Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Pinot Meunier. First planted in 1976.

Rolling Green Farm: 6 acres, 540'-720' elevation; Pinot noir, Pinot gris. First planted in 1988.

Three Sisters Vineyard: 16 acres, 200'-360' elevation; Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Pinot blanc. First planted in 1987.

THE WINES

Eyrie’s “gentle touch” philosophy carries from the vineyards into the winery. The grapes are picked at that elusive point of maturity where true varietal characteristics are at their peak. In the winery, great care is taken not to compromise these flavors. This means minimal racking, extended lees contact, complete and spontaneous malolactic fermentation, no fining, minimal filtration, and no cold stabilization (natural harmless tartrate crystals may form in the wine). This gentle treatment creates wines which are very approachable when young but with legendary ageability.

Estate Reserve Wines: Pinot noir and Chardonnay

Estate Wines: Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Chardonnay, Pinot blanc, Pinot Meunier

Estate Reserve Wines:

All grapes for Estate Reserve Pinot noir and Chardonnay come from Eyrie’s original planting, the oldest in the Willamette Valley. These vines reflect the complexity of their age and their long-established “sense of place.” This is translated into stylish wines showing finesse, subtlety and depth of character.

Pinot noir Estate Reserve Fermented in small bins from completely destemmed and mostly whole berries. The ‘must’ is punched down by hand every four hours. After a gentle pressing, the wine is transferred to oak casks. During nearly two years in barrel, the wine falls naturally clear, and is bottled without filtration or fining.

Chardonnay Estate Reserve Over the years, certain parts of the original “Draper Selection” Chardonnay plantings have consistently yielded wines with deeper, richer, more complex flavors. These wines are aged for eighteen months or more on unstirred lees, in a combination of neutral and new French and Oregon oak casks. They are un-fined and receive only one gentle filtration prior to bottling.

Estate Wines: Eyrie’s estate wines come mostly from the three “younger” vineyards (average vine age of seventeen years). Each of these vineyards has its own individuality, but the ultimate blends represent a whole better than its parts.

Estate Pinot noir Less “reserved” than Reserve wines, the Estate Pinot noirs are fresh and vivacious. Aged 11 months in mostly neutral oak casks, the wine is not fined, and is filtered only if necessary.

Estate Pinot gris This blend of grapes from all four vineyards shows rich varietal character and complexity rarely found in Pinot gris (grigio). Fermented in stainless steel tanks, the wine gains added dimensions from remaining on the lees until bottling. It is given only one loose filtration prior to bottling.

Estate Chardonnay In 1964, David Lett hand-selected a remarkable collection of vine cuttings from the Draper Ranch in northern California. The clonal diversity of this collection (originally imported from Burgundy), and the cool Burgundian climate of the Willamette Valley, combine to produce Eyrie’s unique and distinctly European-styled Chardonnay. Aged on the lees for eleven months in neutral oak, and given one loose filtration before bottling, the wines are subtly expressive, elegant, and long-lived.

Estate Pinot blanc True Pinot blanc, from a collection of Alsatian clones planted at Eyrie’s Three Sisters (Pinot noir, Pinot gris, Pinot blanc) Vineyard in the Dundee Hills. Limited bottling.

Estate Pinot Meunier In northern France, Pinot Meunier is often blended with Pinot noir and Chardonnay in the production of fine Champagne. Eyrie makes it as a still red wine, and treats it to two years in cask, no fining or filtration. Limited bottling.

COMMENTS FROM THE PRESS

“At a time when marketing expediencies and the quest to appeal to the lowest common denominator are rampant cultural diseases, it is heartening to find someone so steadfastly committed to substance, and courageous enough to follow an independent path. In Lett’s case, it is more heartening still, when such a path has been so sublimely and emphatically validated.” Ted Meredith, Northwest Wine, 4th Ed.

“The pioneering winery set up in the late 1960s by David Lett produces silken, sexy, ethereally beautiful Pinot noir.” Decanter Magazine

“Where else . . . can you find wines which possess the transparency, the fragrance, the weightlessness of Eyrie’s Pinot noir’s? Answer: very few places indeed. This makes them revolutionary. David Lett is a trailblazer of the ‘new elegance.’” Stuart Piggott, M.W.

“The Eyrie Vineyards Chardonnays are consistently the best produced in Oregon. Furthermore, their aging potential would embarrass virtually all of California’s Chardonnays, as well as many of France’s renowned white Burgundies.” Robert Parker, Wine Advocate

“The Eyrie Vineyards are the superstars of U.S. cool-climate winemaking, having consistently produced Burgundian varietals of extreme finesse and depth.” Robin Bradley, Wine Vintages of the West Coast, 2nd Ed.

“In a tasting of 20 vintages of Pinot noir . . . Mr. Lett showed he could produce exceptional Burgundy-style pinot noirs that equaled . . . or even surpassed Burgundy’s best.” Frank Prial, The New York Times

“Eyrie’s David Lett had foresight 20/20 with Pinot gris, introducing it to Oregon (and the U.S.) in the mid-sixties . . . Eyrie still makes one of the best examples.” Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator

“In a blind tasting of over 20 Oregon Pinot gris, Eyrie, the first commercially made Pinot gris in America, still sets the standard . . . and at value pricing.” Steve Olson, Restaurant Business

On Pinot gris: “ . . . Eyrie is widely regarded as the New World’s top producer of this varietal.” Richard Nalley, Copley News Service

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