A Day Off?

36 hours. It’s not quite a weekend, but in the middle of a busy harvest I imaged it to be akin to the rumspringa tradition. Leaving the “farm” on a Friday night and knowing I did not have to be back until 10am on Sunday was a wonderful and anxious feeling. Anxious in the sense that there is always work to be done during an eventful harvest and wonderful since it was my first day off since September 20th! There is so much to accomplish in such a short amount of time. Perhaps sleep, talk to family and friends long since neglected for grapes. Maybe some laundry?

In my case all of this fell by the wayside in favor of the Oregon Kickball Club tournament weekend! Forget resting up and making sure you stay fit and healthy to finish out another vintage, it’s time to stand in the field and get soaking wet and slip and slide around en route to a championship game. Fortunately, I play for a fantastic team with an amazing cast of characters that there was no hesitation that this day, October 17th, and this day alone would be the one I asked off for.

As we have begun rotating through days off here and there I think we now realize that being away from the “farm” not only gives you the chance to tell the tale of the tireless hours that go into creating Domaine Serene wine but to reflect on how the vintage is unfolding, and how important it is to have balance not only in your wine, but also in your life! - Sam Poehlman, Lab & QC Technician

Today is the best day of harvest so far ... the last day of 2009 fruit processing! It is a little strange and slightly unbelievable that it is actually here. All of the fruit for 2009 is in! It was a fabulous day to end things as well and we were able to process both whites and reds. There were three lots of Chardonnay from our "Cote Sud" vineyard and three lots from the "Mark Bradford" vineyard. We were also treated to a fabulous lunch that Ken and Grace cooked for us and a wonderful Champagne toast at the end of the day. To say the least, it's weird that it is finally over.

Fruit receival went really smooth this year thanks to so many hard workers. I really can't thank our amazing interns enough. They sorted the fruit at the beginning and then our amazing temps sorted it till the end. Truly a team effort. Also a HUGE thank you to Nick and Chris for their hard work. Nick was an amazing fork lift driver and got along really well with the temps. He made them feel at home and always tried to boost their moral when they felt a bit "burned out". He told me one day, “I would go stand in the middle of the room on my head if I knew it would help out”.

Chris also did an amazing job receiving the grapes at the bottom of our slide and getting them into the different fermenters. He also dealt with countless one ton plastic ferments ... always a little trying. I think we ended up having more than 150. I also cannot forget to thank the vineyard crew. They made it so easy to communicate and get a better idea of when the grapes were arriving day to day, which made things run very smoothly. They also had such a cheerful , happy attitude every time they delivered the grapes. Maybe it was because they knew they to were closer to the end with each drop off.

I feel so lucky that I was able to be apart of fruit receival this year. I feel like my knowledge of the process for when grapes come into a winery and when they end up in a bottle is a bit more rounded. You get to taste grapes from each vineyard - the acid, the sweetness, the tannins - and then follow them throughout the year to see how the grapes change and grow into fine wine. I feel like I was able to be apart of the "toddler years" of the amazing wine that is to come. Even though some days were taxing and difficult, it was all worth it in the end.

Thank you so much to everyone. But now, even though it was one small ending in the grand scheme of harvest, time to get back to work. - Katie Santora, Cellar Assistant

No fruit coming this last Tuesday. It was half-time break, as we can see on the big harvest calendar in the lab. Half of the grapes are in tank, half of the grapes are still ripening in the vineyard. I can tell you that this year’s harvest is very tasty. I tasted them on the sorting line and in the vineyard when I was sampling at the beginning of harvest. Sampling, I love this particular job! The Dundee Hills are so gorgeous. I sampled early the morning and I saw the sun rise above the Willamette Valley mist. I am French (sorry for my English), so I have the culture of terroir. For me, in the great vines terroir, there is a beautiful light. With their red volcanic soil and this light, the Dundee Hills are definitely made for vineyards. How I can describe the Evenstad Estate? Magic! There are vines in every direction except on the North slope. From the top of the Côte Sud vineyard you can see Mount Hood. Grace vineyard, Gold Eagle vineyard and Clos du Soleil are on the East Slop. Here, the sun is so sweet in the morning, but my favourite vineyard is Mark Bradford on the West slope. The Pommard Clone is so tasty from these vines.

I am part of the Domaine Serene Dream Team (the Night Team) with Kelley, Lauren and Shri. All of us miss our boss (and the daylight) a lot. We work well with Griffin and he is a great cellar master. Usually, we start at 2 o’clock in the afternoon and finish between midnight and five o’clock the next morning. It depends on how busy the day is. For example, punch down and pump over are a long process every night. Maceration and fermentation are made in small tanks to keep every block of vines (different locations, different clones, different rootstocks…) separated so that Domaine Serene can find exquisite and consistent blendings to make Yamhill Cuvée and Evenstad Reserve. Punch down and pump over are interesting jobs. You can smell and see how maceration and fermentation are progressing.

I miss the other interns working on the day team too. Still, we remain one big team in spirit. We built a strong complicity before the harvest rush. It is just fantastic to live and to talk about wines and life with young people from all over the world. We have a very good relationship with the full-time Domaine Serene staff and a real bond. It is sweet to work as a team to produce the best wine we can. I particularly love to work with Katie on the sorting line, to help Chris filling the tanks, and to smash grapes for Sam’s samples in the lab.

I come from the Loire Valley. My parents are winemakers in Anjou. They produce notably Chenin blanc and Cabernet in the Family Estate called Domaine Ogereau It is very funny to process fruit here at Domaine Serene and to follow harvest at home by phone at the same time. The weekly call to my parents (between presses) lasts at least a half an hour because of my Dad’s numerous questions. I am very lucky. It seems to be a great vintage on both sides of the Atlantic: Willamette Valley and Anjou. I have definitely had a great time in Oregon and I’m already a bit sad that I Will soon leave this place and these great people at the beginning of November. It is too short! – Emmanuel Ogereau, Harvest Intern

Harvest Fuel ... Kentucky Butter Cake!

Ken and I have been cooking for the winery harvest crew since the mid 1990’s. In our old winery in Carlton we had no kitchen and everything had to be prepared at home and eaten room temp, and the dishes brought back to the house to be washed. We were a lean crew then with dear friends and neighbors on the sorting line volunteering their time. When we built our new winery in time for harvest 2001, we knew we needed a kitchen so our hard working crew could get proper meals. Until 2007 Ken and I cooked every meal, often feeding 30 or more people at a time. Last year we hired a professional chef to cook 5 days a week, so Ken and I cut back to cooking on his 2 days off.

This year we have 8 interns from around the world, and 2 shifts each of 8 or so temporary employees on the sorting line helping our regular production crew of 5. Over the years there have been favorite recipes that everyone likes. I have been requested to blog some of these.

My Kentucky Butter Cake recipe came to me 30 years ago from my sister-in-law, Suzie Evenstad. It is a buttery pound cake without frosting, and was the perfect cake to Fed Ex every year to our kids, Serene and Mark, for their birthdays when they were away at college. I would package it up with candles and unblown balloons and birthday banners with love and kisses. It travels well in its bundt pan and doesn’t get stale. – Grace Evenstad

KENTUCKY BUTTER CAKE

3 Cups sifted flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Combine these ingredients in small bowl and set aside

1 Cup room temp butter

2 Cups sugar

Cream together in large mixing bowl with electric beater

1 Cup buttermilk

2 tsp pure vanilla

Combine and set aside

To the butter and sugar mixture in the large bowl add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then, add your set-aside dry ingredients, alternately with your buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and beating after each addition.

Pour into buttered bundt pan or 9x13 pan and bake in 325 degree oven for 60-65 minutes. Run spatula along edge of pan. Prick cake several times with a fork, and pour sauce over the cake.

SAUCE

Heat in saucepan:

1 Cup sugar
½ Cup butter

¼ Cup water

When melted together and sugar is dissolved, add

1 T. vanilla

1 T. rum flavor

Pour sauce slowly over cake. It will all soak in.

For harvest, make 2 or 3 cakes