In 1965 a stubborn graduate student planted a grape the experts swore could not ripen in Oregon. A decade later, his wine would humble Burgundy — and put a whole valley on the map.
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.
On a wet February day in 1965, David Lett rooted a few hundred Pinot Noir cuttings in a nursery block near Corvallis — the first wine-grape planting of the modern Willamette Valley — and started an argument with the entire wine establishment.[4] His professors at the University of California, Davis had told him plainly that Pinot Noir — the heartbreak grape of cool Burgundy — could never ripen in a place as cold and rainy as western Oregon.[1] Lett did not believe them. What he started that winter became the modern Willamette Valley, and it sits at the heart of the history of Oregon wine.
The grape nobody wanted him to plant
Lett was not alone — he had company from the very start. That same spring, Charles Coury, fresh from U.C. Davis and a year in Alsace, planted his own cuttings in Lett’s Corvallis nursery before returning to California and leaving the vines in Lett’s care.[4] In 1966 the two men moved to their permanent sites: Coury to Forest Grove (today’s David Hill), Lett to the Dundee Hills, where he founded The Eyrie Vineyards. Dick Erath followed in 1969 with Chehalem Mountain Vineyard in the hills above Newberg, and in 1971 the large Hyland Vineyard near McMinnville became the valley’s first major grower-only planting.[5] But Lett was first, and first to commit to Pinot Noir as the valley’s signature: Eyrie produced Oregon’s first commercial Pinot Noir in 1970.[2] Oregon was not yet a name anyone said with a straight face.
Lett did not just plant a vineyard. He planted an argument: that this cool green valley could speak the language of Burgundy.
The shot heard round the wine world
Then came Paris. In 1979 the French food magazine Gault-Millau staged a “Wine Olympiad,” a blind tasting of more than 300 wines from 33 countries. Lett’s 1975 Eyrie South Block Reserve Pinot Noir placed tenth among the Pinot Noirs — though Lett himself later remembered it as third — a near-impossible result for a wine from a region most judges had never heard of.[3] The Burgundian negociant Robert Drouhin, certain there had been a mistake, staged a rematch at his own cellars in 1980. The Eyrie finished second — behind Drouhin’s own 1959 Chambolle-Musigny, a village wine with two decades of bottle age, and by just two-tenths of a point.[3]
Drouhin’s response was the ultimate compliment: he bought land in the Dundee Hills and founded Domaine Drouhin Oregon, sending his daughter Veronique to make the wine. Burgundy had come to Oregon, and it had come because of David Lett. You can still walk this story today on a Willamette Valley wine tour.
Why “Papa Pinot” still matters
Lett earned the nickname “Papa Pinot,” and it stuck because it was true: nearly every vine and every reputation in the valley descends from his stubbornness. He was also an early conscience of the industry, fighting to keep Oregon’s labeling laws honest. When he died in 2008, he left a region that had grown from his few hundred cuttings into one of the great Pinot Noir addresses on earth — the next chapter in the Valley’s early history and a thread we trace through the Willamette Valley wine timeline.
Frequently asked questions
Who was David Lett, ‘Papa Pinot’?
David Lett, nicknamed Papa Pinot, was the founder of The Eyrie Vineyards and the man who planted the first Pinot Noir in Oregon’s Willamette Valley in the mid-1960s – the vines that launched the region’s wine industry.
Why is David Lett important to Oregon wine?
He bet, against expert advice, that the cool Willamette Valley could grow world-class Pinot Noir – and proved it. His 1975 Eyrie South Block Reserve stunned the wine world by placing tenth among the world’s Pinot Noirs in a landmark 1979 international tasting.
Related reading: The Pinot Noir grape · Willamette Valley early history
- 1965
- David Lett roots his first Pinot Noir cuttings in a nursery near Corvallis — the first wine grapes of the modern Willamette Valley. Charles Coury plants in the same nursery weeks later.
- 1966
- Lett moves to the Dundee Hills and founds The Eyrie Vineyards; Coury establishes his Forest Grove site (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.
- 1979
- The 1975 Eyrie South Block places tenth among the Pinot Noirs at the Gault-Millau “Wine Olympiad” in Paris.
- 1980
- Robert Drouhin’s rematch: the Eyrie finishes second by two-tenths of a point — and Burgundy comes to Oregon.
Sources
- “Oregon Wine History,” Oregon Wine Board. oregonwine.org/discover/oregon-wine-history
- “The Eyrie Vineyards” (founding 1966; first commercial Oregon Pinot Noir 1970). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eyrie_Vineyards
- “Oregon: 50 years in the making,” The Drinks Business; “Wine Olympics,” overview (1979 Gault-Millau; 1980 Drouhin rematch). thedrinksbusiness.com
- 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 (Chehalem Mountain Vineyard, planted 1969); “The Vineyard,” Hyland Estates (first planted 1971 near McMinnville). erath.com/about/history
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
Voodoo Vintners: Oregon’s Astonishing Biodynamic WinegrowersKatherine ColeAs an Amazon Associate, Wine History Tours earns from qualifying purchases. This supports our research at no extra cost to you.
