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152 CSD


But disaster befell the bur- geoning industry. According to Perry and Vincent, “Oregon was among the first states to adopt prohibition in 1913 and possibly one of the last to end it in 1933.” Deprived of their livelihood, winemakers ripped out vines and replanted vine- yards with other crops. Though a precious few grape growers survived by “bootlegging or making wine for religious ceremonies,” Oregon’s wine in- dustry lay moribund for the next four decades—until a former dental student named David Lett kick-started it in the 1970s.


The Eyrie Wine educator Jane Nickles explains that Lett “had been in dental school, but enrolled


at UC-Davis after a vacation in Northern California left him enamored of wine.” Once ensconced at Davis, he became fascinated “by the red wines of Burgundy, which were the ‘world standard’ for Pinot Noir.” After his graduation, Lett spent a year traveling and studying in France before returning to the United States poised to make great Pinot Noir—in Oregon. Why Oregon? Lett was sure that the Beaver State was a perfect place to grow the pro- totypical Burgundian grape. In the 1960s most people thought that was crazy. Lett’s professors said the Oregon climate was too cool, too wet and too vari- able to grow Pinot, but Lett’s research on climate and soil types had identified similarities


between Oregon’s Willamette Valley and Burgundy. As Jane Nickles puts it, “The climates of the two regions … were sur- prisingly alike … from tempera- ture fluctuations to elevations, rainfall, and winds.”


David and his wife, Diana, found a 15-acre prune farm in the Willamette Valley that seemed ideal for their venture. After clearing it and planting vines, they named The Eyrie Vineyards (eyrievineyards.com) in honor of a family of red-tailed hawks that lived in fir trees near that first property. David and Diana made their first Pinot Noir in 1970 in a converted turkey processing plant near McMinnville. The rest is history. When the Letts entered a Parisian wine competition in


5. View from tasting room at Stoller Family Estate.


1979, their 1975 Pinot Noir was named third-place winner against stiff Burgundian compe- tition. Was this a fluke? Robert Drouhin, a leading Burgundy négotiant, sponsored a rematch the following year in Beaune. The upstart Oregonians took second place.


Domaine Drouhin Oregon Robert Drouhin had visited Oregon. He recognized that Oregon’s soils and climate could “unlock the complexities and potential of Pinot Noir … in the United States.” Véronique Drouhin, Robert’s enologist daughter, traveled to Oregon in 1986 and worked the harvest at


Photograph courtesy of Stoller Family Estate


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