In 1966, when David Lett planted Pinot Noir at Eyrie Vineyards, there was not a single winery producing vinifera wines in the state of Oregon . Nowadays the Pacific North-West is the USA 's number two wine region. Oregon leads the way in terms of headline-grabbing achievements, winning countless medals and tasting competitions against the best that France and California have to offer and, in particular, making a speciality of the world's most temperamental red wine grape - Pinot Noir.
Although Oregon began making wine as long ago as the 1820's, Prohibition effectively wiped out these efforts and it wasn't till the late 1960's that a revival began. It started when some of the wine pioneers of California realised that their hot, even climate would never produce the light, fragrant styles of Germany, the Loire valley and especially Burgundy; Oregon, with its cool growing season and 40-plus inches of rain a year, became the focal point. Others realised that they'd never be able to afford to buy into the burgeoning Napa and Sonoma wine scenes.
But from the very start Oregon has been a wine community of smallholders, which, although meaning that there are some inconsistencies in production, it also means that there are an increasing number of devotedly hand-crafted wines being produced. The pioneers started in the relatively warm Umpqua Valley 180 miles south of Portland , but then centred their efforts on the Willamette Valley just to the West and South of Portland.
Pinot Noir was then, and is now, the grape everyone wanted to tame, and results show that growers like Knudsen Erath, Bethel Heights , Yamhill Valley and above all Rex Hill are getting there. As proof ten Oregon 1983 Pinot Noirs were set against seven Burgundian 1983's and took the first three places. Such tastings are never conclusive, but they do show that Oregon 's claim to be America 's answer to Burgundy has some substance. Pinot Noir dislikes easy growing conditions and mass production, and the Oregon vineyards, on a similar latitude to Bordeaux , and largely cultivated by bands of committed enthusiasts in numerous hilly sites may well be the new 'Promised Land' for Pinot Noir.
Chardonnay, as so often, works well in Oregon , achieving a cool crisp character rather similar to a lightly wooded Chablis. Both Oregon Riesling and Gewurztraminer are excellent, lighter and sharper that Californian versions, but with a delicious grapy spice. They're even making a speciality of Pinot Gris, and Oregon sparkling wines are exceptional. There is a little Cabernet and Merlot production in the Umpqua Valley , but such wines are usually made with grapes bought from Washington .
This practice of trucking grapes inter-state is allowed, but it must be stated clearly on the label since Oregon has the strictest labelling requirements in the USA . There are legally four delimited areas which must be stated on the label - the southerly Rogue River region, the Umpqua Valley , the Willamette Valley , and the newer plantings in the east on the Columbia river . Each wine must contain at least 90 per cent of the grape variety stated. All in all, Oregon wines have now gained the pedigree to match other regions and the reviews of Oregon wines have never been better.
