David Lett planted the first Chardonnay vines in Willamette in 1965, making the original Draper clone vines in The Eyrie Vineyard the oldest in the Valley. Each year, Jason Lett (David’s son and current owner/winemaker) selects the finest barrels for this bottling. Above all else, Jason wants his single vineyard bottlings to taste like the site. To this end, he takes a proportional approach, ensuring each block is represented in some capacity in the final wine. He tastes every barrel and chooses the components that play best with each other. “It’s not always my favourite barrels,” Jason tells us. “In fact, if I were to make a blend of just my favourites, it would probably taste quite boring. I often find I need to introduce a barrel that, on its own, didn’t impress me, but as a foil in the blend brings sparkle and life to the wine.” Humble and self-aware, a dangerous combination!
Jason Lett describes the 2019 autumn as one of the most Burgundian he has ever seen in the Valley, meaning the rain and cooler days that usually occur in the winter arrived earlier and were more evenly spread. It was a moderate season with good acid retention across the board. The fruit is gently destemmed, crushed and pressed slowly. Fermentation and full malolactic conversion take place in primarily old wood (9.5% new), and the wine matures in the cool cellar for a year on lees before resting further in bottle prior to release.