David Lett

David Lett (1939 – October 9, 2008) was the founder and winemaker for The Eyrie Vineyards in the U.S. state of Oregon.

In 1964, he graduated from UC-Davis with a degree in winemaking and grapegrowing, and a mission to find an appropriate place to grow Pinot noir outside of Burgundy.

In early 1965, against the advice of the professors at the University of California, Davis, he moved to Oregon and planted the first Pinot noir, Chardonnay and related vinifera wine varieties in the Willamette Valley.

In 1966, he and his wife Diana purchased hillside acreage near Dundee, a small city about 45 minutes south of Portland, and named it The Eyrie Vineyards, after a nest of hawks at the top of the vineyard.

In a retirement farewell to David Lett, this wine and every other reserve Pinot noir were poured in a special vertical tasting at the winery in July 2008.

David Lett, owner-winemaker at The Eyrie Vineyards in Oregon with a bottle of the 1975 Eyrie Vineyards South Block Reserve—the bottle that put Oregon on the world's Pinot noir map.