Our Story

Our wine label featuring the name “Eminent Domaine” with the wall coming down is related to the legal term, eminent domain, where the government can force you to sell your private property if it is to be used for the public good. In our case, Tri-Met and the City of Portland wanted our property for a new light rail line but forced us to go to court since we suspected the property would not be used solely for the public good and the value they assigned was undeniably low. We won, but having limited resources, the end result was that we were not paid adequate value for the property and the building was never torn-down, but still stands fully intact used for their own offices. In an effort to work together as a family, we decided to turn our ‘sour grapes’ into fine wine by re-investing in our own industry, producing Eminent Domaine Wines and purchasing 7 acres on Ribbon Ridge planted in April 2009.