Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/534849
50 Long before Oregon Pinot Noir became all the rage with star sommeliers, wine buyers and critics, the Willamette Valley was a simple pastoral setting known for growing hazelnuts, tree fruit, beans and large-pro- duction crops. This started to change in 1965, when David Lett planted the first vinifera grapes – nearly 3,000 cuttings of the Wadenswil 1A clone and a small amount of Pinot Gris – in the majestic valley located southwest of Portland. This year marks the 50-year anniversary of Lett's visionary planting. The journey began a few years earlier when Lett fell in love with the Pinot Noir grape, and the wines of Burgundy and Alsace, while studying viticulture and enology at UC Davis. When Dr. Harold Berg told him there were only a The region's pioneers look backward and forward The region's eers look backward and forward backward and forward The region's backward and forward backward and forward backward and forward backward and forward backward and forward B Y C H R I S T OP H E R S A WY E R 4 8 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | J u l y - A u g 2 015 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m