McMinnville · Dundee Hills Fruit
The Eyrie Vineyards Wine Tours.
Wine tours to The Eyrie Vineyards run between Portland, Oregon pickups and the estate at 935 NE 10th Avenue, McMinnville, OR 97128 in the Dundee Hills AVA (estate vineyards). David Lett — “Papa Pinot” — planted the Willamette Valley's first Pinot Noir vines in 1965 and America's first Pinot Gris, and his 1975 South Block Reserve stunned the French at the 1979 Gault-Millau Paris tasting; his son Jason Lett runs the house today from the original McMinnville cellar. Eyrie's 1975 South Block Reserve placed against Burgundy's best at the Gault-Millau tasting in Paris — the result that put Oregon Pinot Noir on the world map. A vetted chauffeur who knows the wine-country road network handles the about 65 minutes drive so the guest steps out at the tasting-room door on the scheduled minute, and the vehicle holds on the property through the full appointment.
- Licensed & Permitted
- $1M Insured
- 5.0 / 177 Reviews
- W-2 Chauffeurs
- 35-Point Inspection
Last updated: August 12, 2026
Quick answer: The Eyrie Vineyards wine tours cover the estate at 935 NE 10th Avenue, McMinnville, OR 97128 in the Dundee Hills AVA (estate vineyards). Eyrie's 1975 South Block Reserve placed against Burgundy's best at the Gault-Millau tasting in Paris — the result that put Oregon Pinot Noir on the world map. Tasting runs by reservation; Portland pickups run about 65 minutes door-to-door (40 miles). Volvo S90 $110/hr (three-hour minimum), Escalade ESV $135/hr, Sprinter $165/hr, VIP Lounge Sprinter $190/hr — the 20 percent service fee is included in every rate. Book at (503) 706-8662.
01 The Eyrie Vineyards & the Dundee Hills (estate vineyards)
David Lett,
The Estate Story.
David Lett — “Papa Pinot” — planted the Willamette Valley's first Pinot Noir vines in 1965 and America's first Pinot Gris, and his 1975 South Block Reserve stunned the French at the 1979 Gault-Millau Paris tasting; his son Jason Lett runs the house today from the original McMinnville cellar. Eyrie's 1975 South Block Reserve placed against Burgundy's best at the Gault-Millau tasting in Paris — the result that put Oregon Pinot Noir on the world map.
At the 1979 Gault-Millau Wine Olympics in Paris, Eyrie's 1975 South Block Reserve placed among the top Pinot Noirs against Burgundy's best — and in the 1980 Drouhin-organized rematch it ran second by a fraction of a point. Those two results are why Domaine Drouhin bought Dundee Hills land and why the world started taking Oregon Pinot seriously. The bottle library in the McMinnville cellar still holds the era.
David Lett and the 1965 planting
David Lett drove north from California in 1965 with a station wagon full of cuttings and planted the Willamette Valley's first Pinot Noir in the Dundee Hills, along with the first Pinot Gris vines in America. The industry that now surrounds every page on this site traces to those rows. Jason Lett, his son, has run the house since 2005 with the same low-intervention convictions.
The Paris tasting that made Oregon
At the 1979 Gault-Millau Wine Olympics in Paris, Eyrie's 1975 South Block Reserve placed among the top Pinot Noirs against Burgundy's best — and in the 1980 Drouhin-organized rematch it ran second by a fraction of a point. Those two results are why Domaine Drouhin bought Dundee Hills land and why the world started taking Oregon Pinot seriously. The bottle library in the McMinnville cellar still holds the era.
Tasting in the original cellar
Tastings pour at the winery on NE 10th Avenue in McMinnville's industrial quarter — the same unglamorous building the Letts have used since the beginning, by design. Flights run through current-release Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Chasselas, with reserve and library formats reaching back through five decades of estate fruit. It reads like a working cellar because it is one.
McMinnville's downtown wine quarter
The winery sits blocks from downtown McMinnville's Third Street, which holds its own cluster of tasting rooms plus lunch options that make the town the natural midpoint of a Yamhill County day. R. Stuart and the Third Street rooms pour within walking distance while the chauffeur stages, and the Dundee Hills estates sit twenty minutes back up 99W.
Old-vine estate wines, low intervention
The estate vineyards in the Dundee Hills — including the original 1965 blocks — still feed the house, farmed without irrigation or synthetic inputs since the start. The wines run lighter, higher-toned, and longer-lived than the valley norm, and the library releases prove the point with decades of age. Nobody else can pour Oregon wine history from its own first vineyard.
02 Service Standard
Vetted Chauffeurs, 35-Point Inspection,
And City Permitting.
The Eyrie Vineyards wine tour service runs on four operator standards that separate Marquee from rideshare and out-of-state operators arriving in the Dundee Hills AVA (estate vineyards): payroll chauffeurs, a daily 35-point vehicle inspection, Portland private-for-hire permitting held since 2018, and $1 million commercial liability on every ride to McMinnville.
Chauffeurs on the Marquee payroll
Every chauffeur on a The Eyrie Vineyards tour sits on the Marquee payroll as a vetted professional rather than a 1099 gig contractor, with workers' comp on duty and the $1 million commercial liability policy on every wine-country ride. The chauffeur answers to Marquee leadership for punctuality and estate-arrival protocol at McMinnville rather than a gig app's surge clock.
Wine-country-ready 35-point inspection
Every vehicle clears a 35-point inspection before the day's first tour — tires, brakes, fluids, cabin detail, climate. Attention runs higher in the wet season on the farm-road approaches around McMinnville, and monthly detail keeps the cabin clean for guests heading into a seated tasting at The Eyrie Vineyards.
Full fleet across four classes
The Volvo S90 at $110 per hour covers couples; the Escalade ESV at $135 carries up to 6; the Sprinter at $165 handles groups to 14 across multi-estate circuits; the VIP Lounge Sprinter at $190 turns a celebration run to The Eyrie Vineyards into the party's first venue. All rates include the 20 percent service fee.
City permitting since 2018
Marquee has carried Portland Bureau of Transportation private-for-hire permitting since 2018 with continuous renewal. Corporate coordinators booking The Eyrie Vineyards retreats receive the permit, W-9, and insurance documentation within an hour of the first request — the compliance file procurement teams ask for before approving a wine-country vendor.
03 Tour Day Experience
The The Eyrie Vineyards
Tour Day, Sequenced.
A The Eyrie Vineyards tour day runs on four anchors from the Portland pickup to the drop back home. Domaine Drouhin Oregon — in Oregon because of Eyrie's Paris results — makes the definitive pairing, twenty minutes back up in the Dundee Hills. McMinnville's Third Street rooms cover the walking-distance option, and R. Stuart pours nearby. Two stops plus lunch runs 7 hours door-to-door. The full itinerary runs as one continuous booking with the chauffeur holding at each stop.
Into McMinnville's wine quarter
The run out to McMinnville takes about 65 minutes down 99W through Newberg, Dundee, and Lafayette. The winery sits in the industrial blocks northeast of downtown, and the chauffeur drops at the cellar door on the reservation minute.
Five decades in a flight
The flight moves from current releases into whatever the library format holds — verticals that reach back through decades of the same estate blocks. It is the closest thing Oregon wine offers to a history seminar in a glass, hosted where the history happened.
Third Street lunch leg
Downtown McMinnville's Third Street sits minutes away for the lunch leg, and the chauffeur repositions while the party eats. Afternoon add-ons run either the Dundee Hills on the return or the McMinnville AVA foothills west of town.
The pilgrimage pairing
Eyrie pairs naturally with Domaine Drouhin Oregon — the French house that came to Oregon because of Eyrie's Paris results. Telling that story across two tasting rooms in one afternoon is the best single-day narrative in the valley, and the drive between them runs twenty minutes.
04 Booking Your Tour
Reservation, Chauffeur Match,
FlightAware, 24/7 Dispatch.
Booking a The Eyrie Vineyards wine tour runs through the same four-step process as every Marquee wine-country reservation: itinerary confirmation on the first call, a chauffeur matched to the party, FlightAware on any fly-in leg, and a 24/7 dispatcher at (503) 706-8662 for day-of adjustments.
Confirmation email plus day-before text
Call (503) 706-8662 or book online at any hour. Dispatch confirms the pickup address, the The Eyrie Vineyards reservation time, the passenger count, and the vehicle on the first exchange; a confirmation email lands within 10 minutes and a day-before text closes the loop. Guests who have not yet booked the winery get lead-time guidance for the about 65 minutes run out.
Chauffeur matched to the itinerary
Dispatch matches the chauffeur and vehicle to the tour profile — couples in the S90, milestone groups in the Escalade, celebration circuits in the Sprinter classes — with a chauffeur who knows the McMinnville approaches and the estate-curb positioning across the surrounding AVA map.
FlightAware on PDX arrivals
Fly-in wine weekends run on FlightAware: live wheels-down data feeds dispatch, the chauffeur meets the numbered PDX pick-up location, and the The Eyrie Vineyards reservation holds even when the inbound flight moves. A delayed flight shifts the pickup with no meter running on the wait.
24/7 dispatcher, not a call-center bot
A live dispatcher answers (503) 706-8662 around the clock for same-day adjustments — a stretched tasting, an added stop at a neighboring estate, or a harvest-season reroute around 99W traffic on the way to McMinnville. Late-evening returns reach a person, not a queue.
05 Nearby Coverage
Service Areas Near The Eyrie Vineyards,
Same Fleet, Same Chauffeur Roster.
Marquee dispatch maps The Eyrie Vineyards into the broader Portland and Willamette Valley coverage grid. Pickups just outside the city line use the same vetted chauffeur roster, the same 35-point vehicle inspection standard, and the same three-hour minimum at (503) 706-8662.
Frequently Asked
Questions, Answered.
How much does a The Eyrie Vineyards wine tour cost?
The Eyrie Vineyards tours book on the hourly rate — the Volvo S90 at $110 per hour on the three-hour minimum, the Cadillac Escalade ESV at $135 per hour for up to 6, or the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter at $165 per hour for groups up to 14 — with the 20 percent service fee included and the Portland round trip absorbed. The quote is fixed before pickup, with no surge pricing.
Where is The Eyrie Vineyards located?
The Eyrie Vineyards sits at 935 NE 10th Avenue, McMinnville, OR 97128, in the Dundee Hills AVA (estate vineyards), roughly about 65 minutes from Portland and 40 miles out. At the 1979 Gault-Millau Wine Olympics in Paris, Eyrie's 1975 South Block Reserve placed among the top Pinot Noirs against Burgundy's best — and in the 1980 Drouhin-organized rematch it ran second by a fraction of a point. The chauffeur handles the final approach and drops at the tasting-room entrance.
Who founded The Eyrie Vineyards and why does the story matter?
David Lett drove north from California in 1965 with a station wagon full of cuttings and planted the Willamette Valley's first Pinot Noir in the Dundee Hills, along with the first Pinot Gris vines in America. The industry that now surrounds every page on this site traces to those rows. Jason Lett, his son, has run the house since 2005 with the same low-intervention convictions.
Which AVA is The Eyrie Vineyards in?
The Eyrie Vineyards pours from the Dundee Hills AVA (estate vineyards). The winery sits blocks from downtown McMinnville's Third Street, which holds its own cluster of tasting rooms plus lunch options that make the town the natural midpoint of a Yamhill County day. R. Stuart and the Third Street rooms pour within walking distance while the chauffeur stages, and the Dundee Hills estates sit twenty minutes back up 99W.
What does the The Eyrie Vineyards tasting include?
Tastings pour at the winery on NE 10th Avenue in McMinnville's industrial quarter — the same unglamorous building the Letts have used since the beginning, by design. Flights run through current-release Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Chasselas, with reserve and library formats reaching back through five decades of estate fruit. It reads like a working cellar because it is one.
What vehicles are available for a The Eyrie Vineyards tour?
The Volvo S90 runs $110 per hour for couples and solo tasters visiting The Eyrie Vineyards. The Cadillac Escalade ESV carries up to 6 at $135 per hour for milestone trips and small groups. The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter handles up to 14 at $165 per hour for celebration circuits; the VIP Lounge Sprinter runs $190 per hour for up to 10. All rates include the 20 percent service fee.
How long is the drive from Portland to The Eyrie Vineyards?
Portland to The Eyrie Vineyards runs about 65 minutes door-to-door — about 40 miles to McMinnville. Weekend wine-country traffic can add 15 to 25 minutes in harvest season from late August through October, which dispatch builds into the departure plan. The chauffeur checks ODOT TripCheck before rolling and adjusts the route rather than the reservation.
Can you combine The Eyrie Vineyards with other wineries?
Yes. Domaine Drouhin Oregon — in Oregon because of Eyrie's Paris results — makes the definitive pairing, twenty minutes back up in the Dundee Hills. McMinnville's Third Street rooms cover the walking-distance option, and R. Stuart pours nearby. Two stops plus lunch runs 7 hours door-to-door.
How far ahead should I book a The Eyrie Vineyards tour?
Book 14 to 21 days ahead for standard weekend afternoons and 30 to 45 days ahead for summer Saturdays, harvest weekends, and the Memorial Day and Thanksgiving open-house weekends, when both The Eyrie Vineyards reservations and vehicle availability tighten. Sprinter bookings for 10 or more lock 45 to 60 days out. The winery's own reservation confirms separately through their site; dispatch coordinates the timing.
What makes The Eyrie Vineyards distinctive?
This is the origin point: the valley's first Pinot Noir vines, America's first Pinot Gris, and the Paris tasting result that forced the wine world to take Oregon seriously. The visit trades polish for provenance — a working cellar, library verticals, and the family that started everything.
Does the chauffeur stay during the The Eyrie Vineyards tasting?
Yes. The chauffeur stages on the The Eyrie Vineyards property and holds through the full tasting window on the hourly rate, so the vehicle is at the door the moment the party wraps — no mid-visit repositioning, no app request from a wine-country dead zone. Longer formats simply extend the hold; the rate structure does not change.
How much is the tasting fee at The Eyrie Vineyards?
The Eyrie Vineyards sets its own tasting fee and it moves with the experience booked, so the current price confirms when the reservation is made through the winery's site. The transport side is the fixed part: the chauffeur holds on the property through the appointment on the hourly rate, Volvo S90 at $110 per hour with the 20 percent service fee included, and the booking page returns your exact tour quote.
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Book your The Eyrie Vineyards wine tour now. Call Marquee Chauffeur at (503) 706-8662, available 24/7. This is the origin point: the valley's first Pinot Noir vines, America's first Pinot Gris, and the Paris tasting result that forced the wine world to take Oregon seriously. The visit trades polish for provenance — a working cellar, library verticals, and the family that started everything. The run from Portland or PDX, the on-estate hold through the tasting, and the multi-winery sequencing with Domaine Drouhin Oregon and the McMinnville rooms all run under Portland private-for-hire permitting with vetted chauffeurs, a 35-point inspection, and $1 million commercial liability on every ride.