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

Sticky, sweet, and yummy!

Berries! They arrive by the bucket load from the vineyard all for me to analyze. And what a process it is. Upon arrival we will note berry size, color, cluster formation, and even all of our friendly and helpful ladybugs. The exact same meticulous and gentle care with which we treat all of our fruit in the cellar must also be observed in the lab. Every day we spend at least 2 hours gently popping individual pristine berries from our many vineyards and blocks. Once every berry is popped we do a cold soak in the fridge in order to simulate the famous pre-fermentation Domaine Serene cold soaks that our lots will undergo during processing. After the cold soak is complete the real fun begins; TAs, Brix, pH, and tasting!

All of this analysis allows us to make picking decisions that will optimize the flavor and potential of the grapes. This process also makes the lab a veritable brain trust during the harvest months. If you want to really know what’s going on and where the action is, forget the crush pad … come to the lab! Not only will you get the latest info on picking decisions and analysis numbers, but you can also get a thrilling play by play of the latest Badgers (Wisconsin) or Ducks (Oregon) football games. And please pardon the sticky floors and counters (there is a complete scrub down about 4 times a day … feel free to help out). And be sure to be especially kind to the many ladybugs, or “coccinelle” in French. Clearly the lab is also a place to learn other languages. – Sam Poehlman, Lab & QC Technician.

Let the rituals begin. If you have a beard you shaved it, and if you are courageous, a buzzed head will always do the trick. It is funny even to see myself beardless. I barely recognize the clean shave. My mother would be happy to see my clean face. We received our first fruit of the harvest this week. For fun we weighed in to see who loses or gains the most weight during the hard long days of harvest. We all rocked the new 09’ Harvest Team shirts. Sixteen tons of Syrah came from the Seven Hills Vineyard in Walla Walla AVA. The day one of processing for harvest went smooth and we all had the hang of it by mid-day. It helped that by that time, our stomachs were full and we were happy. Ken, Grace, and company cooked some great food pulled pork, cornbread, coleslaw, and a warm plum tart to satisfy the sweet tooth and fill the stomach. I feel spoiled getting fed throughout harvest, but absolutely no complaints from my end. I met Sean today too. Sean will be our "chef de harvest"; I am curious what is in store for the menus.

It has been so beautiful out. It felt like autumn was coming last week, but this week it is a taste of summer again. This week is mid nineties and high eighties. Perfect. Well it could turn everything ripe all at once. I just heard mention of some California winery getting sixty five tons all in one day. Will this happen to us? If it does, we are prepared. We have a day team and a night team. Processing will run around the clock if necessary. Day team 6 to 6, Night team 6 to 6. We all know what our assigned jobs and tasks are to make this a successful harvest. Receiving, processing, inoculating, temps and brix monitoring, punch downs, pump overs, racking, pressing, and barreling down. Bring it on! - By Nick Sansone, Harvest Intern

Sorting the Syrah ...

I am very excited to get my hands purple again. I have worked in New York’s Hudson River Valley making wine. I moved out to the Portland area just over three months ago and plan to establish myself in the winemaking community here in Oregon. Oregon (pronounced Or-e-gun, not Or-e-gone for all my fellow east coasters) is a great change in lifestyle and will allow me to learn as much as I can. So far it has been beautiful.

Life is all about experiences. After a twenty day cross country trip, I spent three weeks looking for work and checking out the city and Oregon’s beautiful Northern Coast. I have secured a serving position at Farm to Fork Restaurant, open only fourteen weeks, and I’ve been there since day one. I'm working at the custom crush facility, 12th and Maple, doing bottling, Barrel racking and blending 08 Pinot Noirs at Torii Mor Winery with Jacque Tardy and Jon Tommeselli, and now working hard again and living on the property of Domaine Serene. I would say everything has gone as planned. Hit a bump here and there, but can not complain. - By Nick Sansone, Harvest Intern

“The true story of seven strangers, all living and working under one roof at the world famous Domaine Serene Vineyards and Winery”… While MTV’s “The Real World” will probably never make it to the Dundee Hills, America’s original reality TV program does have certain parallels to starting life at Domaine Serene. Of the seven interns currently sharing space we represent three countries, two genders, varying degrees of experience, and one common love; great wine. Our residence is lovingly referred to as “The Ritz” and the highlight so far has to be the culinary expertise and diversity of our housemates. We are lucky to have two French natives (always food critics and experts), an Indian Curry master, and even a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. I recommend the Eggs Florentine ... divine. Between the 7 of us we have already run through our first tank of propane on the BBQ. The weather has been beautiful. - By Alex Kenzler, Harvest Intern

Another Great Vintage!

We are possibly three weeks away from another fabulous vintage at Domaine Serene Winery! The weather this summer has been beautiful and the fall seems to feel like it has already crept into the valley creating very cool nights and bringing in our beautiful fall colors into the Northwest. Eleni and I were able to walk through our Legacy Hill Vineyard earlier this week and things are definitely moving along there as sugar levels are already at 19 degrees Brix (% sugar). I have no doubt that we will some great Pinot Noir this vintage and we will likely see it before the month is over.

Before harvest is here we have a lot of things to get done at the winery. We will begin blending on our 2008 Yamhill Cuvee next week and I am thoroughly impressed with how the 2008 lots taste right now. Another great vintage! - Lindsay Boudreaux, Harvest Enologist

Four Glorious Days

With first fruit merely weeks away, weekends turn into a very special time. One reason is that we only have a guaranteed 4 days off before the grapes arrive, and another is because we have interns from ALL over world right here in Oregon who actively want to take in the beautiful Oregon scenery. Four days to take in the sites. Four days to visit with friends and loved ones. Four days of sleeping in ... then wave it all goodbye ... ITS HARVEST TIME!

The excitement for the crush is picking up. We have been spending the last week getting the winery in tip-top shape. With eight interns, all armed with scrub brushes, it turns into a dizzy whirlwind of cleaning and prepping. Luckily we have a great group of interns this year that know the importance of maintaining the Domaine Serene standard. Not only are they excellent at scrubbing down floors, drains, and fermentors, but they individually bring a lot to the harvest team. With that said, throughout the blog, you will meet them all individually, and find out what they are experiencing throughout the 2009 vintage. It’s going to be a good year! Stay tuned! - Justin Cox, Cellar Assistant

2007? The proof is in the bottle!

There has been a lot of negativity surrounding the 2007 vintage in Oregon. I’m happy to report that proof to the contrary is in the bottle! The 2007 vintage will answer all requests for lower alcohols. The wines are beautifully integrated and drinking much softer at an earlier age – that is to say these are beautifully nuanced wines that are enjoyable now. The vintage, though initially criticized by those with little understanding of year-long viticultural practices, has recently been lauded by more independent critics such as Jancis Robinson and Jay Miller.

Tick tock ...

It's almost time! We are scant weeks away from the start of Harvest 2009 and everything is looking good. Currently we are experiencing veraison .vuh-ray-shun. (noun, taken from the French): the period when grapes stop growing and begin to ripen. They usually get softer and change color. White wines become more golden in color and red wines more purple.

There does not seem to be a set amount of time from when veraison begins until the grapes are ready to pick. Also, grapes do not ripen at the same speed. Crop yield estimates are made at this time, and all but one cluster per shoot may be removed and discarded to achieve the desired yield of under 2 tons per acre.

Finally pressed off, we now busy ourselves with racking our settlers off the heavy lees and barreling down. The idea is to be as gentle as possible with the wine at this juncture; we do not use any pumps to transfer the wine into barrel but instead allow the head pressure in the tank to push the liquid down a series of fixed lines into the blending level, a floor below. The flow rate is then controlled by a valve at the barreling wand. This is a function is commonly referred to as "gravity-flow" and results in fresher, less-oxidized wines than when compared to barreling with a pump.

Although there is still much work to be done--the majority of the wines from this vintage won't be released for two years--many of the interns will close out their tenure at Domaine Serene by the end of the month. Due to our imminent departure, I think the mood in the cellar has become a little introspective of late, as we attempt to put the past few months in perspective. As I look back on the harvest, I cant help but wonder what it is that drives seemingly normal, sane people to repeatedly commit to such an overwhelming undertaking. Whats more, a harvest is not just the baggage that comes along with making wine, it is unequivocally the highlight of our year. Many of us even go to great pains to participate in two every year.

Obviously all of us in the cellar are enthralled by wine; we must be interested to an almost absurd degree to devote our lives to it. However, at some point during the harvest, after a month of Mondays, roughly three hundred gallons of coffee, and woefully little sleep, there has to be something else in it besides wine.

As best as I can figure, the hidden beauty of a vintage is the suspension of reality that comes with the crush. Only in this mode does it seem perfectly reasonable to run around wearing a camouflage bandanna covered in grape juice, an unruly beard, and terribly unkempt hair in one's workplace. In this "harvest zone" we relinquish the stale names for the days of the week and replace them with different markers: Sunday becomes the day Frank Sinatra serenades the cellar in the morning, Tuesday is dry ice delivery day, and Thursday, the day we feast on tacos for lunch. Furthermore, we will proudly display our harvest hands (blackened semi-permanently from grape juice) to anyone who will cast a passing glance, blissfully unaware that gnarled and beaten-up hands aren't as revered by all.

When, at long last, we finally emerge from this parallel reality back to our normal lives, we are pleasantly surprised to realize that we have participated in something monumental and indelible, at least until many years down the road when the very last bottle of the vintage is uncorked and savored. – Written by Zach Bryant, Harvest Intern. Photos by Megan Jones.

Can You Dig It?

One of the most important rites of passage of a harvest is to dig-out a tank for pressing. After spending weeks caring for the grapes as they go through their cold-soak and fermentation, nothing is more satisfying than crossing the fermentation vessel number off the punch-down list and knowing that the next day you will put that batch to rest - or at least to settling tank - where it can slip comfortably from the forefront of our minds.

The process is deceptively simple.

Upon arrival at the winery in the morning we are greeted by a stack of work orders which list the fermenters that need to be pressed. Today, for example, one of our five-ton fermenters (F210) was first in the queue. We start by opening the valves and draining off the free-run juice, or juice that we can gather without pressing. When the tank stops draining of its own accord, we slowly crank open the door and scrape the surrounding grape skins into a stainless steel bin. This is to clear an area for a person to descend into the tank and dig it out.

Safety is our number one concern at Domaine Serene. We all get to dig out at least one tank this harvest, and only after we have properly secured our safety harness, leash, and O2 meter. We also position a fan at the top of the fermenter to blow off any lurking CO2. Once all precautions are taken, only then are we permitted to descend into the depths of the skins. Armed with a food-grade plastic shovel and tank-only gum boots that are cleaned before and after each use, we are unleashed on the skins to usher them out of the tank in any way possible.

Personally, I favor a shovel-hand combo, while some others are strictly shovel advocates. The idea is to clear the tank of skins as quickly as possible, while leaving the lees and seeds behind. The skins are then dumped from the stainless bins into the press and then lightly squeezed to remove more juice without breaking any seeds and contributing unwanted green tannins to the wine. The pressed wine is stored separately from the free-run, and left to settle until it is racked and barreled.

The end is in sight! Today we began the first of our rackings off of heavy lees, and by weeks end we will have pressed off our last ferments and began barreling down. Our work days are getting shorter and morale is high; we've nearly completed what has turned out to be a fantastic vintage. – Written by Zach Bryant, Harvest Intern. Photos by Samantha Poehlman.

Famous Corn Casserole

Well, we can’t have harvest without the famous Corn Casserole. For years this was served at our annual July 4th party at the winery. I found the recipe in a Bon Appetite Magazine in 1979, and everyone loves it. It is high calorie, but you can try light sour cream and low fat cheese. ( I haven’t tried it). For harvest the crew needs the calories.

FAMOUS CORN CASSEROLE

Preheat oven to 350 Serves 14-18

5 cups corn kernels. Best to use fresh, use canned drained if fresh not available
2 -1/2 sticks melted butter
5 eggs

Buzz in cuisinart in batches until almost pureed, then put in large bowl.

2-1/2 Cups sour cream
2-1/2 Cups diced Monterey Jack cheese
1-1/2 Cups cornmeal- I like a fine grind
2 – 4 oz cans diced mild chilis
1-4oz can jalapeno chilis. Drain well
1 T. + ½ tsp salt

Mix into large bowl with the corn mixture.

Butter a 10x16x 2 glass baking dish. Spread mixture into it.
Bake uncovered 60-70 minutes or until golden brown and set

We double this recipe for harvest and typically make 4 pans for the 4th of July. If you cut the recipe in half, check for doneness after 50 minutes of cooking. – Written by Grace Evenstad. Photos by Megan Jones.

Here comes the rain again ...

The wet weather has arrived! I'd been warned about its impending arrival countless times over the past three months, but by the end of October I must admit that I was becoming a bit dubious. However, from our perch atop Hilltop Lane we've had a front row seat for the endless parade of clouds that cant quite seem to take flight. Since all of the Domaine Serene interns live on property, our daily commute to the winery is by footpath through the vineyards. On our morning trek I don't think we've had more than ten feet of visibility through the thick pea soup of fog in nearly a week. I wouldn't think it possible to get lost on a five minute walk, but somehow I take enough meandering blind turns that my commute time has doubled.
The wet weather couldn't have been better timed in terms of winery operations. The day before the rains hit, we brought in our last fruit of the vintage: Chardonnay from the Clos du Soleil vineyard on the Evenstad Estate. By the time the first drops fell we were all comfortably indoors, our sorting table done for the season and spotlessly cleaned.

Although we took a short breath to congratulate each other on a successful harvest, we quickly resumed work as the realization dawned that the real work was yet to come. Although the fruit receival phase of the vintage is concluded, we have a winery brimming with grapes waiting (some patiently, others less so) to be become world-class wine. Our fermentations are in full swing, and our presses are fired up and running around the clock. We are absolutely in the thick of it. – Written by Zach Bryant, Harvest Intern. Photos by Megan Jones.

Unico Italiano Disperso Quassu in Oregon!

Salve a tutti gli italo-americani collegati.

Mi e' stato chiesto di scrivere un paio di cose in italiano.....purtroppo or ora siamo alle prese con una immnesa quantita' di PINO (fratello di Mario) che ha "pressa" matta di essere pressato.....quindi rimandero' a piu' tardi un mio intervento.

loris ... unico italiano disperso quassu in Oregon! – Written by Loris Tartaglia, Harvest Intern. Photos by Megan Jones.