Exclusive: Silver Oak’s Duncan Family Unveils Oregon Label Prince Hill Vineyards

The Duncan family, owners of California fine wine brands Silver Oak, Twomey, Ovid, and Timeless, is introducing a new Oregon label, Prince Hill Vineyards. The new brand takes its name from the 34-acre Dundee Hills vineyard the Duncan family acquired from pioneering Oregon winemaker Dick Erath in 2017.

Prince Hill’s initial lineup includes a Chardonnay Willamette Valley ($75), Pinot Noir Dundee Hills ($70), and single-vineyard Prince Hill Pinot Noir Dundee Hills ($95), all from the 2022 vintage. Initial production is small at 5,000 cases among the three wines, with proprietor David Duncan telling SND they’ll primarily be aimed at the on-premise and the company’s mailing list. “We’ll definitely have an on-premise focus with these wines,” he said.

While Prince Hill isn’t the Duncan family’s first bottling from Oregon, the launch of the new brand marks a significant step for the company. “We’ve made wines from all over the Willamette. But now our focus is definitely in the Dundee sub-app,” says Duncan. “We haven’t launched a new brand from scratch since Timeless Napa Valley in 2017. At Silver Oak, it takes us five years to make a bottle of wine, so nothing happens very fast. This has been a labor of love for a number of years now, and it builds a lot of anticipation internally and from my standpoint to put these wines out to the world.”

Duncan expects strong demand for Prince Hill, which joins the family’s formidable fine wine portfolio, led by Silver Oak, which has produced around 100,000 cases annually in recent years, split between its Napa Valley and Alexander Valley wineries, with key labels including Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($200) and Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($100). The range also includes high-end boutique label Ovid from the Napa Valley; Timeless, also from Napa; and Twomey, focused on Pinot Noir from the Russian River and Anderson Valleys.

Commenting on conditions in fine wine overall, Duncan acknowledged challenges like destocking and inflation over the past year, but added, “In the last couple of months I’ve been in New York, Florida, LA, Paris, London, and every restaurant I’ve been to is packed with young people drinking wine, having a cocktail.

“I think in the premium category it’s been more of a struggle. But Napa is definitely picking up right now,” Duncan continued, noting an increase in the flow of visitors recently. “I think some of the adjustment and refocus for producers is healthy, frankly. We’re still allocated and selling out of our wines. The duty right now is just encouraging people to pull one more cork.”—Daniel Marsteller

Tagged : Ovid, Prince Hill Vineyards, Silver Oak, Timeless, Twomey

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