Privé 2008 le nord was included in PinotFile's list of 2009 Oregon Pinot Noir All-Americans. Our wine was one of only eleven Oregon wines to be so honored.
2008 Privé Vineyard le nord
Moderate reddish-purple color in the glass. Lovely aromas of black cherries, black raspberries and a hint of exotic spices. Rich and forthcoming with a blackberry and black cherry core clothed in caressing tannins and possessing the right touch of balancing acidity. More lush and forward than the le sud bottling. A dreamy wine with a creamy texture that is approachable now but will benefit from more time in the cellar. If this wine was a lover instead of a wine, it is the one that would make you abandon your family, leave your job, and forfeit your hard-won position in the community for just one more fling.
2008 Privé Vineyard le sud
Moderate reddish-purple color in the glass. The nose exhibits plenty of green garden, Provencal herbs, brier patch and savory spice from the oak. A moderately rich berry core is very tasty with memorable midpalate saturation that picks up intensity with time in the glass. An herbal edge dominates the fruit initially, but the next day from an opened and re-corked bottle the fruit and spice came out to play with complete resolution of the herbal influence. Flat-out delicious the next day. This wine is meant for aging while you drink the le nord, and will be every bit as good in 3 to 5 years.
I have to say first off that Tina and Mark Hammond are some of my favorite wine personalities in the Willamette Valley. Their enthusiasm for everything they do and the love that they have for the land that they call home and make wine from is nothing short of contagious. Every year, I wish I had just a bit more of the generous allocation they share with us. They have been friends of the Ponzi Wine Bar since we opened and our friendship continues to this day. In fact, we remain the only retail outlet in the world for their two Pinot Noirs. The Le Nord bottling, sourced from the northern-most vineyard, is always pretty and feminine in style. It consistently has an intoxicating floral perfume to the nose with background nuances of freshly dug forest floor, ripe bing cherry and raspberry preserve flavors fill the mouth. With just about 150 cases produced, our allocation never lasts for more than a couple of weeks. If you love pure, sexy Pinot, you owe it to yourself to try one of the best!
Privé 2006 le sud was included in PinotFile's list of 2008 Oregon Pinot Noir All-Americans. Our wine was one of only eleven Oregon wines to be so honored.
Both the 2004 Privé le sud and le nord were included in PinotFile's list of First Team Pinot Noir All-Americans 2007. Our two wines were the only Oregon wines included among the eleven selected wines.
If you want the wines made by our Oregon Winery to Watch, you might want to hurry.
Privé Vineyard near Newberg is perhaps Oregon's smallest winery at 250 cases, and it's quickly becoming one of the state's most exclusive. Under the direction of wife-husband team winemaker Tina Hammond and viticulturists Mark Hammond, Privé Pinot Noir is gaining high acclaim.
At last year's Northwest Wine Summit, the largest judging of Northwest wines, the Privé 2001 Le Nord Pinot Noir earned Best Oregon Wine. And that was the Hammonds' first release.
Word of the wines traveled fast. The first vintage sold out in six months, the second in two weeks. Now, everything goes quickly on futures, and there isn't even enough for wine shops. Just three restaurants get Privé for their lists: The Dundee Bistro, Joel Palmer House in nearby Dayton and The Herbfarm in Woodinville, Wash.
While it seems success has happened almost immediately for the Hammonds, it's actually been a long time coming.
Their two one-acre vineyards contain Pommard clone Pinot Noir vines that are nearly a quarter-century old. The Hammonds bought the place nine years ago and sold their grapes to top Yamhill county producers.
"We knew the potential of our vineyard because we had been growers for several years," Tina said.
In 2001, they took the plunge and launched Privé.
Their house and winery sit in the midst of the vineyards, which are called Le Nord (North) and Le Sud (South).
Le Nord is about 75 feet higher in elevation and results in 170 cases of wine by the same name. It sees 100% French Oak - 30% new - and sells for $37 per bottle.
"It's got an unusual personality," Tina said, "It's an elegant Pinot Noir with nice layers and complexity. It's our crowd-pleaser."
The lower vineyard, Le Sud ripens a bit earlier, but the grapes are allowed to get ever-so-slightly riper, and the wine sees 100% new French oak.
"This wine was an experiment to see if these old vines could hold up to so much new oak," Tina said. "I felt the intensity of the wine would do well and would give it a little better aging."
The wine shows well in its youth but also should age beautifully. The 85 cases retail for $45 per bottle.
Privé (French for "private") isn't expected to grow in case production. The Hammonds are hands-on and want to keep it that way. They carry every cluster from the vineyard to the winery and inspect each before it is crushed.
"We can't buy grapes like we're growing," Tina said. "Unless I stumble upon some, we don't plan to expand."
Now, Mark has built a Burgundian-style winery with stucco walls and a red-tiled roof that feels Old World and might well remind visitors of a stroll through Côte de Nuits. The Hammonds even planted a lavender field around the winery to further that feeling.
For now, the winery is open during Yamhill county's big Memorial Day weekend event and by appointment. With so little wine available, the Hammonds have decided to stay closed during the Thanksgiving weekend event. Instead, they will focus on special events. Mark is building an outdoor wood-fired brick oven, and the winery will have vineyard luncheons for mailing list customers.
The good news is the mailing list is still open, so if you love hand-crafted Oregon Pinot Noir, your opportunity to enjoy Privé is now.