What a terrific experience it was drinking The Eyrie Vineyards 2007 Chardonnay Reserve Dundee Hills (13.5%), a wine with a history unlike any other chardonnay from Oregon, as described on the bottle's back label: This cuvee draws together eight select barrels of Chardonnay from our founding vines, first rooted in 1965 - the Willamette Valley's original planting. As their vigor moderates, these mature vines provide fruit of extraordinary quality. The result is a statement of Chardonnay's most elusive virtue: to manifest new facets of place and vintage each time it is revisited. In the glass, the '07 reserve was a...

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Posted by Thad W. at 07:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

After enjoying their delicious 2006 estate pinot noir, I was even more excited to open their 2007, a vintage that I find much more to my liking. In the glass, The Eyrie Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir Dundee Hills (13.5%) was a clear, garnet red delivering an incredible combination of strawberry and raspberry fruit along with notes of earth and forest floor. This estate grown pinot noir was well structured and balanced, with delicious cherry fruit, great acidity, silky texture, and a long captivating finish. We paired The Eyrie Vineyards pinot noir with a roasted pork tenderloin, cooked medium rare,...

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Posted by Thad W. at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Eyrie Vineyards 2006 Pinot Noir Dundee Hills (13.5%) demonstrates astute viticulture and fine craftsmanship relative to its ripe vintage peers. What a terrific wine this was to enjoy over several nights. In the glass, this Eyrie pinot noir was a slight cloudy, ruby red delivering notes of perfumed and floral strawberry fruit, earth, and then cherry. The combination of red fruit and this forest floor component was incredibly enticing. In the mouth, this wine offered a silky texture, with a clear concentration of fruit, but not overwhelming like other Oregon pinot noirs from this same vintage. There were...

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Posted by Thad W. at 09:57 PM | Permalink