For nearly 30 years, Grace and Ken Evenstad have been fixtures in Oregon’s Northern Willamette Valley, and in that time they have elevated American winemaking, laying the foundation for an enduring legacy for themselves and generations of the Evenstad family to come. Recently, Wine Spectator magazine honored their decades of tireless work, innovation and promotion of fine wine with the 2018 Distinguished Service Award, recognizing the contributions they have already made, as well as the work they are doing to inspire the future winemakers to continue in their footsteps.
A History of Excellence
From its perch atop an estate in Dundee Hills, the Evenstad’s original Domaine Serene Winery & Vineyards, founded in 1989, now produces wines from six individual vineyard estates located in Yamhill County, Oregon, producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, exclusively. Over the years, however, their portfolio has expanded beyond the Willamette Valley in 2015 to include Château de la Crée, Maison Evenstad and Les Tourelles de la Crée in the Burgundy region of France, birthplace of the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes the Evenstads have spent decades growing and perfecting.
Those decades have produced an incredible body of work for the Evenstads, with over 225 of their wines earning 90+ ratings from Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast, and over 125 in Wine Spectator alone. In addition to those ratings, the Evenstads recently took home two incredible honors at the Decanter World Wine Awards: #1 American Pinot Noir in 2017 and #1 Pinot Noir in the World in 2016. In addition, they earned distinctions from Wine Spectator for the #1 white wine in the world, 2016, and #1 Pinot Noir in the world, 2013 (per the Wine Spectator Top 100 list).
They are Wine Spectator’s most honored American winery.
A Future of Inspiration
As the force behind Domaine Serene, the Evenstad family has already secured its own place in the history of American winemaking. Now, through a six-million-dollar gift to Linfield College, they are creating opportunities for the next generation of winemakers to follow their own inspiration and continue to elevate American winemaking.
Their generous gift has created the Evenstad Center for Wine Education and made Linfield College the first in the world to offer an interdisciplinary undergraduate liberal arts degree in wine studies. The gift, the largest donation to support Wine Education in Oregon’s history and one of the largest monetary gifts ever in Linfield College’s 150-year history, also endowed in perpetuity the Evenstad Chair in wine Education and funded a significant portion of the design and construction of the Evenstad Wine Laboratory, the centerpiece of a $45MM new sciences complex.
Through this gift, the Evenstads have empowered generations of students to learn, explore and improve winemaking, elevating the art and science to which Grace and Ken have devoted their lives. It is a fitting, lasting, tribute to two winemakers who have already accomplished so much and stand poised to do even more.
We at Breakthru are proud to bring their wines to businesses like yours, and we congratulate them on their well-earned honor from Wine Spectator. Talk to your Breakthru Sales Consultant about how you can leverage this great news, and these great wines, to help your business grow.