The Privé Story
Tina and Mark Hammond started Privé Vineyard on their beautiful property in 2000. They worked as a team, learning along the way how to nurture the vines into beautiful wines. They invited their wine club members into their home creating a wonderful Privé family that has flourished for twenty years.
In 2020, Piper found Privé Vineyard and the Hammonds through mutual friends. Tina and Mark immediately invited her in as family and it didn’t take long for Piper to experience how special Privé Vineyard truly is. Piper is now fortunate to be the winemaker and vineyard steward of Privé Vineyard.
Piper inherited her love and appreciation for wine from her father who has collected wines from around the world his entire life. She started her first harvest in 2015 at Flowers Vineyard and Winery along the Sonoma Coast where she gained an appreciation for beautifully crafted Pinot Noir, and the science mixed with art that takes place in the cellar. After that harvest, Piper was hooked! She began classes through the UC Davis Enology and Viticulture program. Another harvest at Joseph Phelps Vineyard and Winery in St. Helena, California, working with a team to open an urban winery, and trying her hand at the distillery world brought her finally to this little piece of Burgundy in Newberg, Oregon.
Since site and soil are such important factors in the production of elegant, quality Burgundian-style Pinot Noir. Le Nord, the northern vineyard, sits at approximately 600 feet in elevation, while Le Sud, the southern vineyard, sits a bit lower at 500 feet elevation. The elevation change results in a slightly different microclimate creating wines that are unique to the Le Sud and Le Nord vineyard blocks, a subtle difference that has been enjoyed by our wine club members for many years.
“At Privé you have our complete commitment to thoughtful loving care for every vine at every stage of development.”
-Piper
Privé added the West Wind Vineyard in Ribbon Ridge AVA in June of 2021. Upon the first walk through the vines while looking out at Mt. Jefferson and experiencing the Western wind patterns, we immediately felt the magic. This marine sediment vineyard has a wonderful variety of elevation, clones and aspects which we knew would make fabulous blends that have a profound sense of place — much like Privé Vineyard. We look forward to continuing the legacy.
Our grapes are picked when we are assured the balance between sugar and acidity is perfect. We then gently ferment and extract the grapes in order to create wines with complexity, longevity and reasonable alcohol levels of 13-14%.
Our non-estate wines are made with fruit sourced from growers who have similar ideals regarding sustainability and minimal intervention. For our Chehalem Pinot Noir we source only the best grapes in the Chehalem Mountain AVA being sure to cultivate relationships with our growers and our grapes. As for the Reserve Syrah we have a longtime partnership with Les Collines Vineyard. Les Collines is known for their beautiful growing style centered on organic, sustainable farming, and you can taste it.