478: Jason Lett Is Not At Peace

I'll Drink to That! Wine Talk

Levi Dalton

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4.8 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2020

⏱️ 115 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jason Lett is the co-owner of The Eyrie Vineyards, in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.

Jason discusses how his father, David Lett, helped transform the Willamette Valley into a growing region for Pinot Noir, acheiving worldwide acclaim for his efforts. Jason, who was born shortly after his father arrived in Oregon, retraces in this conversation the path that led his father there. He also talks about the character of his father, what he was trying to accomplish and why. Jason is clear about the state of winery, the wines, and his relationship with his father at the time of the transition to his own leadership at The Eyrie Vineyards.

Jason explains realizations he has made working with other grape varieties besides Pinot Noir in Oregon, such as Chasselas and Trousseau. He also talks about how the farming at the family properties has changed since his father's day. And he discusses how his approach to certain wines is different from his father's practice.

Jason is open about how trips to Burgundy and interactions with Burgundians have affected him and his work. He specifically talks about people like Gérard Potel, André Mussy, the Drouhin family, Michel Lafarge, Patrick Bize, and Romain Lignier. Some of Jason's comments about these people are further fleshed out in this episode by additional commentary spliced in from other interviews in the I'll Drink to That! archive.

Climate change is also discussed in this episode, as Jason addresses how this reality might be approached in the vineyard. And he talks about how the region that his father made famous for Pinot Noir has itself changed over the decades since.

This episode also features commentary from the following people:

Mimi Casteel, Hope Well Wine

Jacques Seysses, Domaine Dujac

Dominique Lafon, Domaine Comtes Lafon

Michel Lafarge, Domaine Michel Lafarge

Christophe Roumier, Domaine Georges Roumier

Becky Wasserman-Hone, Becky Wasserman & Co.

Russell Hone, Becky Wasserman & Co.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	And the Most people know Becky Wasserman as an exporter of domain bottled burgundy, but a key moment of the Jason Let interview that you'll hear later on revolves
0:26.1	around an earlier period of Becky's life when she sold wine barrels to American wineries.
0:32.1	And to understand how Becky found herself selling French
0:34.7	Cooperage in the United States and how that was also the beginning of her wine
0:38.6	export business, let me play for you a clip from episode 430 of all drink to that, which is an interview with Becky Wasserman.
0:48.6	And I ended up having a California connection because I was a barrel peddler.
0:53.6	You ended up working for Francois Ferran and Terran, so?
0:56.6	Yes, correct.
0:57.9	And you see I'd gone to California.
1:00.3	Actually my sons and I were sent away in the summer of 1975 because there was a resident
1:06.8	mistress from New Zealand.
1:08.8	So we were told to go.
1:11.9	And we'd met people in California or come to visit for one reason or another.
1:16.0	And so I went off to California with my two sons.
1:19.0	She was an adventure and ended up in Montana. was the last stop and feeling you know sort of quite
1:27.1	out of sort but I was offered a job in Yellowstone Park cooking because the friend of mine who you know took us in in Montana said Becky's a very good cook and I suddenly realized good happens I can do something and perhaps we ought to stay in Yellowstone you know have the boys
1:47.9	go to school there and so on so forth but I can actually do something and get paid
1:52.4	for it.
1:54.0	Got back here and Jean-Francis said,
1:58.0	well you've been to California and I said yes.
2:01.0	And he said, well, I wonder if you could sell a few barrels for me so you know the
2:07.1	proverbial Eureka this is something that could happen.
	...

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