1983 The Eyrie Vineyards Pinot noir "South Block Reserve"

 

David Lett is the father of Oregon pinot noir, inspired by traditional Burgundian winemaking practice. His Pinot noir stands in the more delicately perfumed style. In 2005, Jason Lett took over from his father as winemaker and vineyard manager and continues his family’s pioneering legacy. Tight and austere while young, these wines often begin to blossom only at 5-10 years of age. The philosophy of the Eyrie Vineyards, from the beginning the wines have been made exclusively from grapes grown without the use of insecticides, herbicides, or systemic fungicides.  The vines are grown on their own roots and are not irrigated.

In 1979, in Paris, and the following year in Beaune, The Eyrie Vineyards 1975 Pinot noir bought international attention to Oregon, a wine region unfamiliar to almost anyone except a handful of hardy pioneers; Oregon won recognition as the New World home for pinot noir.

Willamette Valley is one of the United States' most important non-Californian AVAs with the Pinot Noir as the first lady . The wine region of the city of Portland, with the Willamette River, a tributary of the larger Columbia River that marks Oregon's northern border with Washington. The climate can be considered as maritime, with ocean breezes sweeping in through a series of gaps in the mountains. 

The Willamette Valley became an AVA in 1984. 

In 2002,  six new AVAs within the Willamette Valley were created to celebrate the diversity of the terroirs and aspects. Those are the Dundee Hills, McMinnville, Eola-Amity Hills, Yamhill-Carlton District, Chehalem Mountains, and Ribbon Ridge sub-AVAs.

1983 Pinot noir South Block Reserve

Planted in 1968, the South Block occupies a small corner of the first vines planted at Eyrie – a mere 10 rows of Pinot noir. A spot on Oregon’s Dundee Hills AVA. It was the first American Pinot noir to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of Burgundy’s best vintages in competition. Not only did the results bring acclaim to The Eyrie Vineyards – it showed Oregon’s potential as a wine-producing region to the world.

Ruby center color with a progression of orange fades, definitely the color showing the age. Confectionery black cherry and dry plump "Umeboshi", balsamic notes, and soy sauce integrated with the presence of the ripe fruits profile, potpourri, and earthy black mushroom. Lots of things going on the nose. The palate is still rich and complex with pronounced tertiary characteristics, earthy minerality, and a very good spine of acid. Chapeau ....



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