Harvest Interns 2010!

The Domaine Serene Harvest Intern Program attracts the best of the best from around the world. Here is our Intern Class of 2010!

Josh Smith arrived from Santa Cruz, CA on August 3, 2010 officially becoming our first intern for the 2010 Harvest. Originally from Orange County, CA, Josh has been attending UC-Santa Cruz., majoring in molecular, cell, and developmental biology. He attended a lecture that Eleni gave earlier this year and successfully secured a spot for his first harvest in the wine industry.

Lidyia Pelova joins us from Bulgaria fresh off a harvest at Drylands Winery in New Zealand. Lidia graduated from University of Food Technologies Plovdiv, Bulgaria with a major in fermentation science. She has worked for a winery in Bulgaria and for Oenofrance Bulgaria, a company for enological products. This is her third visit to the United States.

Robin Hawley has most recently worked a vintage in New Zealand with Mud House Wines. Robin graduated from Oregon State University with a Masters in Genetics but has been in the wine industry for a while now. She has worked the previous 5 years in Oregon with King Estate Winery.

Sylvain Mussigmann (Harvest Enologist) joins us from southern France via a recent harvest in New Zealand with Mud House Wines. Sylvain graduated from Pharmacy University in Montpellier with a Masters in Oenology. He has worked nine previous vintages in France and around the world, including wineries in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Alsace.

Colin Rudy is a Texan. Like many other Texans, he likes (good) wine a lot. He got hooked on wine while studying Spanish in Spain and while working in the restaurant industry. While he believes his future is on the sales and marketing end of the wine industry, he has very much enjoyed spending time on the production end. He has worked two previous harvests, one in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma at Merry Edwards, and one in McLaren Vale, Australia at Mollydooker.

Akiko Shiba is Japanese, originally from Tokyo. She spent 8 years in Germany studying Oenology and Viticulture in Geisenheim, and worked at several wineries in Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Nahe and Baden. Akiko arrived in the US in April 2009 and moved to Oregon. She worked the previous year at St Innocent winery.

Tim Wilson (Harvest Enologist): Originally from Minnesota and armed with a degree in economics, Tim initially embarked on a career in the banking industry. Quickly tiring of life in a cubicle, his interest in science and love of fine wine ultimately led to CSU Fresno, where he completed a B.Sc. in enology. His years of winemaking experience include stops in Seattle and San Luis Obispo, but it was his commitment to pinot noir that brought him to the Willamette Valley.

Bottles, Barrels and Beds ... Oh My!

The 2008 Evenstad Reserve is days away from being completely bottled, which is a celebratory occasion and a sigh of relief for all of us. The bottling line requires our full attention for the better part of the day and It typically involves a lot of “hurry up and wait” tactics. Ah, but when no problems arise, the fast paced work makes the day fly by. Aside from bottling we have been busy at work sampling and labeling 2009 Pinot Noir barrels, as well receiving new barrels from our French coopers. The barrel receiving process takes the entire team to unload and thoroughly inspect each barrel inside and out for anything that could have a negative effect on the wine.

When not bottling wine or inspecting barrels, our focus shifts to the extensive pre-harvest checklist, which consists of examining and cleaning everything involved in the harvest and fermentation process. Due to the late harvest this year, we are able to spend that extra time to double check and be extra prepared for when the grapes arrive … hopefully very soon.

The interns, me included, are all moved in to our house which is walking distance from the winery. We cannot thank the Evenstad's enough for the lodgings. The 2010 interns represent 4 states (California, Oregon, Washington, and Texas) and 4 countries (Bulgaria, France, Australia and Japan). Akiko, our intern from Japan, does not live in the house with us, but in a local town. Since none of us are locals, there has been no shortage of exploring the sights of this part of Oregon as well as some local wine tasting. I think I can speak for us all when I say we have been very impressed with both.

This is my very first harvest and I'm getting extremely excited for the incoming grapes. Bring it on! - Joshua Smith, Harvest intern