You may be asking, what is Trousseau? Why is this obscure grape variety in the Willamette Valley taking up space that could easily produce more Pinot Noir? What is L&E thinking putting this in the newsletter? These are all valid questions. In answering each of them, we keep coming back to a singular point. When Eyrie Vineyards plants a grape never seen before in the Willamette Valley, good things tend to happen. David Lett pioneered Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris here in the 1960s, leading the first generation of Oregon’s wine revolution. His son Jason put these Trousseau vines in Eyrie’s Sisters vineyard in the Dundee Hills, precisely because wherever Pinot Noir thrives, this obscure grape from France’s eastern Jura region does too. Trousseau offers up a menu of aromas just as long as Pinot Noir, but distinct from it. Spicy black raspberry and cherry pie, black pepper, red rose petals, wild mountain lowbush blueberry, underbrush, potting soil and orange blossom. The palate is richly textured and fills every corner of the palate with juicy, refreshing acidity and dusty tannins. Lively black raspberry, blackberry, cranberries and blueberries mix with a crust of clay earth and a dash of orange that lingers on the finish. When pairing this wine to food, look for savory, well salted dishes. One important note, decant this wine for at least an hour before serving to let the aromas develop. Upon tasting this wine, we simply couldn’t resist featuring it for Oregon Wine month, because, after all, where would Oregon wine be without its pioneer risk-takers: people who came to a valley known for hops and hazelnuts, and saw a second Burgundy.