New and Current Releases ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE (tasting notes in column at right). Please visit our Online Wine Shop.

TASTING ROOM AT THE WINERY WILL BE OPEN Wednesday-Sunday, 12:00 until 5:00.
CLICK HERE to download a map to the winery in McMinnville.
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2011 Vintage - NOTES FROM THE WINEMAKER:
The vintage of 2011 will certainly be noted around the world as one of its most extraordinary. In Oregon, I am convinced that for growers who knew how to farm to a cool vintage, this will be one of the greats.
In Europe, my friend Martin Foradori in the Alto Adige of Italy emailed that his picking was complete by early September – about a month earlier than normal. The same was true in Burgundy and Champagne.
Early vintages do not always lend themselves to great wines (though Martin is pleased with his.) Though I’m never offered a choice, I tend to prefer later vintages myself. This is because sugar content doesn’t ripen grapes - time does. Picking 100 days after flowering gives you a good wine; picking 125 days after flowering can give you a great one.
Here in Oregon the harvest came a month later than normal, in fact, later than it ever has before. Last year I wrote that 2010 was our latest harvest start ever; I never thought that record would be broken so soon. I guess I got my wish.
We commenced the 2011 pick in earnest on October 23 at the Sisters Vineyard. We picked the South Block Pinot and the rest of the original vines on October 28. Our final pick was at the Daphne Vineyard on November 2nd. Picking was unusually pleasant this year, with a long strand of cool dry days.
Picking South Block on October 28? Unprecedented. Our latest prior pick in the South Block was on October 26…. 1976.
The 1976 South Block is stunning. It still stands as proof that extended ripening time leads to great wine – as long as the year is cool and dry enough to retain the flavors.
When 25-year employee Martin Ponce announced to me from the destemmer that the grapes seemed very ripe this year, I took great heart. The flavors bear out Martin’s assessment. Everything points to weightless power and poise for the 2011 vintage.
This year, as you enter the cellar to chose your favorites from our new releases, you may very well get first-hand experience of the new vintage 2011s. The barrels of Chardonnay you walk past will still be fermenting, and the Pinot noir will still be warm after being freshly barreled down. It is an exciting time at Eyrie, and we look forward to sharing it with you.
~ Jason Lett, The Eyrie Vineyards
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