Purple Hands Winery

Considering there is circa 694 vineyards and 507 wineries within the Willamette Valley according to the website
; it is hard for one specific winery to stand out. However, in my opinion, Purple Hands Does stand out.
First of all, lets start with the name Purple Hands Winery. I think that tells so much story in the name, and is so visual of the heart & soul that they put into their work, leaving their hands purple. It is meaningful name, and a unique name. After a point, if you have been to a couple of wineries it is hard to remember the name, a lot of them have «Ridge» in the name or «Crest» or «View» and Purple Hands resonants as a name that sticks with you and you will remember at the end of the day (even after multiple glasses of wine!)
Secondly, as you drive up to the winery you will notice the *BUMPY, gravel road. So, it is fun to get out into true «Wine country» a bit, but it it is not too far off the beaten path. I can’t throw a baseball very far, but, ultimately you can throw it in any direction and hit a different winery! There are many wineries in that area, so you can go to a couple nearby and make a trip of it. But, I think Purple Hands is great as a destination in itself, there is a picnic area. (Also, you can tell a difference between the true Oregon wineries vs. the California-​style wineries, The Oregon ones definitely allow you to picnic and bring food. But, the California style ones, think it is «Tacky» I guess? So, they generally don’t allow outside food at all, and when they don’t provide food either, it is a little grating. Regardless, Purple Hands winery does Oregon proud and allows picnicking! They also allow dogs outside on the property, which is nice!)
I also love the outside, it is boutique and cute, and rustic but it is also simple! It is not overly bearing– Rustic-​country-​cute. I’ve been to several wineries in Oregon that focus more on be cutesy and rustic and the trendy idea of the style, instead of actually focusing on the most important thing: the TASTE of the wine! But, Purple Hands does it right. It is not overly trendy, you are not gonna walk away with your mediocre bottle of wine in a cute little red and white cute polka dot bag, wrapped up in coordinating tissue paper. Their priority is the wine and I respect that.
I’ve been lucky enough to be here twice so far, and I hope to go there more. Their tasting flight is a little bit spendy at about $ 15 a taste, and I don’t believe it gets waived for wine purchases. But, they are fun to taste and to drink, and worth the price! Also, bringing up the number of wineries in the Willamette Valley region again, a lot of them tend to be Pinot Noir. Of course! There has been a lot of research over the years, and the grape thrives in this region. And, naturally, if you have been more to one winery or vineyard in a day, you get a ‘lil tired of the Pinot Noir-​eccentric tastings. However, these guys do Pinot Noir’s well! In my recent flight, I tasted 4 different Pinots, and they were from different vineyards and years (Holstein, Freedom Hill, LatchKey, Shea) And, it was fun to think about the geographic regions and how that effecting their tasting profile. The Tasting Room Associate, Cole, helped me visualize it and where the locations were. For example, Freedom Hill is located very west, almost in the Oregon Coast region. And, many thousands and thousands of years ago that soil was actually in the ocean!!! So, the wine actually tastes saline, it tastes salty! haha j/​k the ocean doesn’t taste like the ocean, but it is fun to imagine it. And, to quote Cole, it is «history captured in a bottle.» And, the bottle that caught my eye was from the Holstein Vineyard with jory soil, it is volcanic. I believe that vineyard is in the ribbon ridge AVA (I’m not 100% certain on that statement, you might want to fact check it.) And, a brief explanation of an AVA, is an «American Viticultural Area». And, basically that is a fancy way to describe a geographic area with similar geographic characteristics where grapes are grown. I also loved the bottle from the Latchkey Vineyard it was very unique and complex, and lead to a lot to think about while drinking it. Cole, also taught me a lot about their Native Fermentation processes. And, the unique processors that the winemaker has that makes their wines bold and unique. Cody, the winemaker does things a little untraditional, but it sounds like he has very strong wine making foundations. With his dad being Ken Wright, and his step-​dad also being a wine maker in the industry as well. And, Cody does a good job of fusing the science and the tradition of wine making along with the art expression with it.

Severely disappointed. Was recommended by Shea Vineyards, whose wines are spectacular. Was looking for a smaller vineyard. Unfortunately, Purple Hands is far too new. Their wines aren’t great — which I can live with — but their atmosphere can only be described as bro-​y. The ambiance screams Ed Hardy, and the wine descriptions use the same «happy wine» vernacular for every wine. Simply put: there are far too many good wineries in the Willamette Valley to stop by Purple Hands.

This was the highlight for myself and my husband on our trip to Portland. I hate myself for not getting any pictures here… but the wine was so good and the staff was so friendly we forgot about our phones. (Don’t you love it when that happens!?!)
We came on Friday after Thanksgiving and were their first tasters! We got to meet Ken Wrights son, Cody. I’m not sure if he is always there but it was great hearing his story and knowing he didn’t get a hand out from his father to start his winery. They had a great spread of 7 wines and tons of bread and cheese.
I literally cannot express how good their pinots are. If you like a clean finish, light but jammy pinot, this is your place to go! This was the only place that we actually joined their wineclub. (We really don’t like joining wine clubs that are too far away that we aren’t able to take advantage of the perks, like discounts and pick up parties.) It’s $ 300 a year plus shipping. 6 bottles once a year in March. OMG, we cannot wait until March to get our first shipment. So we bought 3 bottles here to tie us over until then! They guys waived the tasting fees and gave us the 20% club member discount.
This place is still small enough to have a great homey/​boutique feel but man oh man do they know their pinots!!!
This is probably the only place that we would return to in a future trip to Portland. GO HERE! You will not regret it!

This is a mitzvah, we heard about this up and coming vineyard on our way to pick up our member shipment nearby.
The tasting room is cozy but spartan nevertheless the gal behind the counter Mary made everyone feel beyond welcomed. I admired how she catered to the nonstop flow of visitors from fielding questions to keeping the tasting rotation and ringing up sales. The tasting experience is always accented by the hospitality of the pourer. Thank you Mary we shall return.

This place is great, one of my favorites in Dundee Hills. Its really the perfect small winery tasting experience … fantastic wine, not insanely priced … All pinot as you would expect, but a nice variety of vintages and different sub AVA choices … A very friendly tasting room staff who really take the time to talk to each customer and provide helpful recommendations. to guide your day. The tasting room itself was very well done, nicely setup and a great transformation of the farmhouse. This is one we’ll bring our friends to when taking tourists about town.

Very friendly people at this winery. Came here on the weekend to try some wines and had a small picnic. The tasting room is very cute. Enjoyed all their wines. We did the tasting and then bought a bottle to drink outside with our lunch. There is a cute picnic area just outside the tasting room. Will definitely be back. Only thing that was weird were the prices of the wine were more than listed on the website. Not sure why. Still really enjoyed our time here. Also bought a bottle to take home.

Purple Hands Winery is a great example of a boutique winery in the Willamette Valley. The wines are lovely and the tasting room (and Mary) are very warm and inviting. The vineyard is located just above the tasting room for a beautiful vista.

A lovely experience. The tasting room is a little off the beaten path, but the wines are well worth the trip. Mary, the tasting room manager was warm and friendly. Being a bit of a novice in tasting but knowing what I like, I soaked in all the knowledge she willingly shared. My favorite was a 2011 Stoller Vineyard pinot noir. This winery is marked for return.

Owner needs to take a class on how to talk to customers. He was so curt I was embarrassed to be standing there. I considered just leaving but I didn’t want to create a scene. He was mean to me but friendly to a group of tourists. Maybe he thought they’d buy wine. Well, he sealed that deal. As soon as I finished the tasting I put down my 15 dollars for the tasting fee and drove away. The wine was OK but I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

Boutique winery specializing in Pinot Noir.
Great wine glasses for tasting and high marks for quality of wine. Wine tasting room quaint and room outside to picnic. Cody adds a personal touch to your service.