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The Eyrie Vineyards, Willamette Valley (Oregon) Pinot Gris 2003, $15
By Mary Ewing-Mulligan
Aug 15, 2005
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I have always loved a good Pinot Gris, and I have admired David Lett, owner-winemaker of The Eyrie Vineyards in Oregon, for as long as I've known him (which must be more than 20 years now). These two predispositions can make objectivity quite a challenge in judging Eyrie Pinot Gris. Fortunately, I frequently taste the wine blind. Not knowing what it is, I consistently rate it highly. Which of course just causes me to admire Lett and his Pinot Gris all the more.

I first tasted this vintage on a blindingly-hot May afternoon in McMinnville, Oregon. Walking into the cool, dark, warren-like Eyrie winery was like traveling not only to a different season but to a different, less complicated era of winemaking. I briefly wondered whether I was up to tasting a 13 percent alcohol, warm-vintage wine in such heat, but the concentrated fruitiness of Lett's 2003 Pinot Gris and the wine's crisp acidity immediately refreshed me. This is a big wine, but it is graceful, and made for drinking.

David Lett was the first person to plant Pinot Gris in Oregon, in 1966. If today the Willamette Valley is considered, along with Alsace and northeastern Italy, to be one of the world's classic terroirs for Pinot Gris, it's all his fault.

Of course, wines made from the Pinot Gris grape come in many styles. In 2003, The Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Gris is much closer to the Alsace style than the Italian, in its richness of aroma and flavor, its full body, and its soft texture. In particular, the aroma and flavor of peach stone--along with a strong mineral note--is similar to many Alsace expressions of this grape; notes of tangerine also accent the wine. Where Lett's wine diverges from many Alsace Pinot Gris wines today is in its dryness: although it is ripe, the wine is completely dry.

Apart from the dryness of the 2003 Eyrie Pinot Gris, its captivating but not exaggerated flavors, and its artful balance of acid and alcohol, I love the amount of extract that this wine has. Within the big volume that the wine's high alcohol describes in my mouth, the extract grounds the wine, gripping my tongue and lending gravitas to what otherwise might be just plain pleasure.

The Eyrie Vineyards' Pinot Gris wines age nicely for about five years, but they are so food-friendly that aging them might be a moot point. Besides salmon and grilled swordfish, the 2003 is great with chicken sausage and Dijon mustard, as well as any sort of entrée salad, including those incorporating fruit. Serve it refrigerator temperature to start, and watch the wine become increasingly generous as it warms up on the table. It's a worldclass wine, and it's also a great drink.

Outstanding: 92 Points