First Fruit of 2011

Let the Games Begin!

This year’s harvest is indeed right around the corner. We’re anticipating an exciting beginning to the 2011 vintage today! Domaine Serene’s first scheduled pick this year is clone 777 from our Jerusalem Hill Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills. The weeks preceding the commencement of harvest have been interesting to observe. At this point, the season has been somewhat comparable to 2010 in terms of grapevine phenology (e.g. budbreak, flowering, etc.). September was very generous in terms of sunlight and degree days. October has been cooler and slowed down development slightly. However, we have seen very good flavor and tannin development is skins and seeds. Our observations in the field have shown that flavor development has well surpassed sugar development – a positive and welcome attribute of this cool vintage. Right now, I am very optimistic about what 2011 has to offer and I believe the wines may be comparable to 2010 (wines with good flavor, balanced richness and structure). We’ll simply have to wait and see how things unfold. Let the games begin! - Erik Kramer, Winemaker

2010 Vintage Recap

The 2010 growing season was one of the longest on record, with early bud break followed by late bloom and the latest harvest start in our 21 years of winemaking. Yes, it was a cool vintage, but that is one of the things that makes Oregon so special; it focuses flavors and intensifies the structure of our wines. Our continued commitment to dry farming gives us vines with deep root systems that contribute to the natural resilience of the plants themselves as well as to the soil structure. Cool weather, combined with longer hang-time provided slow, even development, free from heat spikes, giving us wines of elegance and finesse. Through clonal diversity, exacting vineyard management, and meticulous winemaking techniques we feel that the 2010’s have achieved wonderful flavor development, age-worthy acid structure, well developed tannins and the lower alcohols commonly associated with Oregon wines. Yes, 2010 will have lower alcohol without sacrificing flavor. Only nature can pull this off with elegance and balance.

Short, sweet and delicious!

Ken and Grace’s Thanksgiving dinner! By far the highlight of harvest meals happened today. Turkey, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, curry peas, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. Complete with pumpkin pie and ice cream! Spoiled, full and happy. Delicious… Back to the grapes! - Rachel Zasdani, Lab QC Technician

Purple hands and pumpkin pie!

It’s getting so exciting. Today I had to come early in the morning to check Brix and temperatures. It was dark, scary and foggy around the vineyards I walk through. First grapes we got were syrah and most of it is still fermenting. My hands are all purple after the shift. All the punchdowns and pumpovers are waiting for me and Akiko. I love punching down the syrah, too bad it’s almost over and we have to press it soon. It looks great and we are proud of it, because we worked hard to push down the cap twice every day. Now, it’s pinot’s turn! Maybe I’ll get to do some barrel work today after lunch. We still have some new barrels to prepare and season.

I’m glad I can be off almost the whole afternoon every day, so I can have a rest in the Ritz. Last weekend I got to work, but only on Saturday and enjoyed a rainy Sunday off. Weather is getting crazy around here, you can spot a rainbow during the day and then see a lighting at night. But I’m sure we’ll get some good weather this week. Grapes still need sun.

Oh, and I love our cook. Yesterday we had the best tacos I have ever tasted. Thank you, James! Please do the sweet potatoes dish again, oh and the white chocolate brownies… and the pumpkin pie!! - Lidyia, Harvest Intern

Harvest has properly arrived!

Finally! It’s been a late one up here in Oregon. Pinot is rolling in by the tons, literally. Guadalupe Vineyard arrived first, with Legacy Hill a close second. It smells and feels like Harvest 2010, with our Syrah fermenting happily, Pinot Noir cold soaking and Chardonnay being pressed. Needless to say, we’re quite busy around the winery. We’ve even found time for bottling our 2008 Winery Hill, with prized 2008 Monogram in line for tomorrow. Happy harvesting! Ready. Set. GO! - Rachel Zasadni, Lab QC Technician

Fruit at last!

Starting October 4th we are finally getting our hands red and sticky. We received Syrah from Seven Hills Vineyard, Walla Walla Oregon, and it looked beautiful. All of us in the cellar are very excited to get the ball rolling on harvest and make some fine wines for the 2010 vintage. We are ready to fill all our perfectly cleaned tanks with juice and must. Cheers to the start of 2010 vintage. Pinot is next! – Robin, Harvest Intern

We are waiting for you, Grapes!

I can’t believe it’s been almost 2 months since I arrived in Oregon. All of us interns are getting ready for harvest. Everything in the winery should be shining before receiving any fruit. Our first grape experience in Domaine Serene will be syrah. This is one of my favorite varieties, by the way. I just love its complex aroma and deep color. We already got some samples of the grapes from Walla Walla Valley and the rose colored juice looked wonderful. So after a few weeks of bottling it is nice to have a break and work on some vintage preparation. We split into teams to be more efficient and I think we are doing really well and moving quickly. Moving around all our picking bins and fermentation tubs provide forklift practice since most of us are still beginners. It’s a very useful, but dangerous vehicle. Be careful everyone and always wear your seat belt! We are getting excited to know what everyone’s harvest assignment will be. I know there will be more than enough work for all of us once those grapes arrive.

Domaine Serene provides wonderful housing, just a vineyard’s stroll away from the winery. We walk up the hill every day to the cellar so by the time we start working we are already warmed up. It is actually very beautiful to walk by the vineyards and see how they ripen day by day.
This past weekend was our last whole weekend off. We explored the area, recharged our batteries and got ready for the impending Syrah!

It is my forth vintage, but my first one in Oregon and I can’t wait to see the whole process between grapes and wine in this region. – Lidyia, Harvest Intern

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

Bottling! Always an adventure!

This week Domaine Serene Production has been jam packed with transferring our 2008 Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir into bottle, corked and capsuled for your drinking pleasure. If you’re curious of what bottling is like, just think back to Laverne and Shirley. Perhaps that should be the Harvest tee-shirt theme?

It has been a busy week in the cellar and in the lab. Along with bottling fun, blends have been arranged. Barrel recipes have been carefully pieced together, one milliliter at a time, and the 2009 Yamhill Cuvee and 2009 Evenstad Reserve Blends have been finalized. All the individual lot samples of 100ml each are scattered throughout the lab for tasting. It is truly a spectrum of pinot! - Rachel Zasadni , Laboratory Technician

Cheers to 2009!

The Domaine Serene 2009 vintage will be completely pressed off in a matter of days. The winery is buzzing with excitement in anticipation of regular days off.

We are currently one intern down as Emmanuel has returned to France to finish up a school project. He received news a week before he left that his school was actually closed because of the swine flu. We all tried to convince him to stay a little longer until the flu was clear, but I think he was set on seeing his girlfriend, which tells me that in France, love is much more important than getting sick. Needless to say, we all miss Emmanuel and wish him the best.

With the presses no longer running, we have a lot of man power to focus on my favorite part of harvest … BARRELING DOWN! Our barrel cellar is completely organized with barrels waiting to be filled with the 2009 bounty. Since we use over 15 different coopers with multiple timbers and toasts, it can be quite a challenge getting everything organized. Then again, it’s nothing a week on a forklift can’t take care of. Cheers to 2009! - Justin Cox, Cellar Assistant

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