Before Oregon was a great Pinot Noir address, it was a few hundred cuttings in a nursery row near Corvallis. The true story of the Valley’s first vineyards is more specific — and more interesting — than the legend.
Researched and drafted with AI, then verified three ways for accuracy — cross-checked against independent sources, audited by a separate AI accuracy pass, and reviewed by editor Ken Wytsma.
The popular version is tidy: David Lett planted Pinot Noir in the Dundee Hills in 1965, and the modern Willamette Valley was born. The truth — preserved in Lett’s own journals and the Oregon Wine History Archive — is better. The Valley’s first vines went into the ground not on a famous hillside but in a nursery block near Corvallis, and within a few years a handful of stubborn newcomers had turned a fringe idea into the history of Oregon wine.[1]
1965: the first vines, near Corvallis
In February 1965, David Lett rooted his first Pinot Noir cuttings in a nursery block near Corvallis while he searched for a permanent vineyard site — the first wine-grape planting of the modern Willamette Valley.[1] He was not alone for long. That spring, Charles Coury — fresh from U.C. Davis and a year in Alsace — planted his own cuttings in that same Lett nursery, then returned to California and left the vines in Lett’s care.[1] The two founders of Oregon Pinot Noir, in other words, started side by side in the same nursery row.
The Willamette Valley did not begin on a celebrated hillside. It began in a nursery row near Corvallis.
Grape cuttings are usually rooted in a nursery row before being planted out to a permanent site. So the 1965 Corvallis nursery and the 1966 vineyards are two stages of the same beginning — not two competing “firsts.”
1966: two vineyards take root
In 1966 the two men established their permanent sites. Coury planted at Forest Grove, on the property known today as David Hill. Lett moved to the Dundee Hills, where he founded The Eyrie Vineyards — the home of the wine that would, a decade later, stun Burgundy in Paris. (Whose vines went back in the ground first is still debated among historians; both sites date to 1966.)[1]
1969: Erath and the Chehalem Mountains
The Valley’s third vineyard belonged to Dick Erath. After acquiring a 49-acre site in the Chehalem Mountains above Newberg in 1968, Erath planted his first roughly four acres in 1969 — Chehalem Mountain Vineyard — using cuttings from Richard Sommer, the Wente family, and Barney Fetzer.[2] Note that this first Erath planting was in the Chehalem Mountains, not the Dundee Hills with which his name later became associated. A few of those original acres still survive today.
1970–1971: a commercial first, and the first big grower vineyard
In 1970, Eyrie produced Oregon’s first commercial Pinot Noir.[3] The following year brought a different kind of milestone. In 1971, four families established Hyland Vineyard near McMinnville — a large planting (today one of Oregon’s oldest and biggest) that stands out as the Valley’s first major grower-only vineyard, planted to sell fruit rather than to make wine.[4] The Valley now had pioneers making wine and pioneers growing it at scale.
Why these first sites still matter
These earliest vineyards are the Valley’s living roots: some of their original, own-rooted vines are still in production, and the choices their founders made — cool-climate sites, Burgundian grapes, a faith in place — set the template every Willamette winemaker still works from. It is the story we love to tell in person, where you can stand in the rows and taste the result, on a private Willamette Valley wine tour.
Frequently asked questions
Who planted the first vineyard in the Willamette Valley?
David Lett planted the first modern Willamette Valley Pinot Noir in the mid-1960s. His very first vines were started at a nursery in Corvallis in 1965 before being moved to the Dundee Hills in 1966, and he was soon joined by pioneers like Charles Coury and Dick Erath.
When did the Willamette Valley wine industry begin?
In the mid-1960s. The valley’s reputation for Pinot Noir is only about sixty years old, dating to the first plantings by David Lett and a small group of pioneers who believed the cool climate could ripen the grape.
Related reading: Papa Pinot: David Lett & The Eyrie Vineyards · Willamette Valley early history · The Willamette Valley wine timeline
- Feb 1965
- David Lett roots the first Willamette Valley cuttings in a nursery near Corvallis; Charles Coury plants in the same nursery weeks later.
- 1966
- Lett establishes the Dundee Hills site (The Eyrie Vineyards); Coury establishes Forest Grove (today’s David Hill).
- 1969
- Dick Erath plants Chehalem Mountain Vineyard above Newberg — the Valley’s third vineyard.
- 1970
- Eyrie produces Oregon’s first commercial Pinot Noir.
- 1971
- Hyland Vineyard is planted near McMinnville — the Valley’s first major grower-only vineyard.
Sources
- Charles (“Charley”) Coury interview and early-vineyard records (Lett and Coury shared a 1965 nursery near Corvallis; permanent sites established 1966), Oregon Wine History Archive, Linfield University — the authoritative source for early Oregon wine history. oregonwinehistoryarchive.org
- “History,” Erath Winery (49-acre Chehalem Mountains site, 1968; first ~4 acres planted 1969; cuttings from Sommer, Wente, Fetzer). erath.com/about/history
- “The Eyrie Vineyards” (Oregon’s first commercial Pinot Noir, 1970). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eyrie_Vineyards
- “The Vineyard,” Hyland Estates (first planted 1971 near McMinnville; one of Oregon’s oldest and largest vineyards). hylandestateswinery.com
Want to read more?
Books we drew on and recommend for going deeper.
Oregon Wine: A Deep-Rooted HistoryScott Stursa
Pacific Pinot NoirJohn Winthrop Haeger
9000 Years of Wine: A World HistoryRod PhillipsAs an Amazon Associate, Wine History Tours earns from qualifying purchases. This supports our research at no extra cost to you.
