Winemaker Notes
Latchkey Vineyard is situated at 500 feet on a southern aspect in the Dundee Hills of Oregon's Willamette Valley. Planted mainly to Pinot Noir from the Pommard family as well as Chardonnay, the vineyard spans 13 acres that stretch from the top of the hill down to the road below. It sits directly South of Haakon/Lenai Vineyard.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Pinot Noir Latchkey Vineyard is from 18-year-old vines grown on ancient volcanic soils. A bit deeper ruby red, it’s aromatic of black raspberries, rosemary, pressed flowers, and anise. Medium to full-bodied, it is ripe with a rounded, plush, approachable feel, but it has seamless structure and is going to age gracefully over the coming 12-15 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Pinot Noir Latchkey Vineyard comes from dry-farmed Pommard vines planted in Jory soils in 2006. It has intense, layered aromas of blueberry, pomegranate and rhubarb, plus nuances of rooibos tea leaves, earth and soaring floral perfume. The medium-bodied palate is bursting with generous, spicy flavors. It’s structured by velvety tannins and vibrant acidity and has a long, layered finish.
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James Suckling
This is bright and vibrant, with red-fruited character offering notes of spices, cedar and bergamot. Medium- to full-bodied with a dusty texture to its tannins and generous fresh fruit. Chalky and minerally with a lingering finish.
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Wine Spectator
Refined yet energetic, with expressive cherry and pomegranate flavors laced with cinnamon and zesty spice notes. Finishes with medium-grained tannins.
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Wine Enthusiast
The Latchkey is a twocourse meal, with roasted pork shoulder and dark raspberry aromas accented by traces of cardamom and grilled watermelon. The flavors are as simple as big dark chocolate-coated cherry. This is an easy sipper, with a slick and slippery texture that whispers, “Pour another glass.”
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2022 Purple Hands Latchkey Vineyard Pinot Noir is elegant and savory. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of oaky notes, sandalwood, and bright red berries. Enjoy it with a piquant lamb stew. (Tasted: November 24, 2023, San Francisco, CA)
Purple Hands Vineyards celebrates site-specific pinot noir and chardonnay that unearth the Willamette Valley’s long evolutionary history. Using traditional winemaking techniques, they strive to produce wines that convey an honest expression of each of their vineyards—its grapevines and cultivation, soil and stone, sunshine and rain. All of their wines undergo native fermentation and remain unfined and unfiltered at bottling to preserve their natural, wild character. Achieving elegance in this pursuit is the passion and art of their craft.
Over the past 40 years, Cody’s family has created a legacy of quality in the Oregon wine industry. Their winemaking styles and techniques helped Oregon’s Willamette Valley become the premium Pinot noir producing region in the world. At Purple Hands, Cody continues to build on the standard of excellence initiated by the previous generation.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Home of the first Pinot noir vineyard of the Willamette Valley, planted by David Lett of Eyrie Vineyard in 1966, today the Dundee Hills AVA remains the most densely planted AVA in the valley (and state). To its north sits the Chehalem Valley and to its south, runs the Willamette River. Within the region’s 12,500 acres, about 1,700 are planted to vine on predominantly basalt-based, volcanic, Jory soil.