A Visit to Wine Country, Oregon

Dear Oregon SOM Alumni, What a wonderful day we had in wine country! On Saturday, September 29, eleven alumni and partners spent the day in the Willamette Valley visiting with the owners of three different wineries and having a delicious lunch at Recipe in Newberg. A few pictures are attached, but if you would like to see more, please visit: https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A3JtdOXmYcNKA After a 10am pick-up in Portland, we piled into the van and drove for about an hour to Patton Valley Vineyard where we were greeted by owner Monte Pitt. Out among the vines, where we ate grapes and drank Pinot Noir, Monte told us how, as an MBA student at Kellogg in the '80's, he and his classmate, Dave Chen, dreamed of opening in a winery, and in 1995 they did just that. Now, nearly 20 years later, they are making delicious wines and doing it sustainably, participating in the LIVE certification process. Our next stop was at Anderson Family Vineyard, owned and operated by Cliff and Allison Anderson for more than 20 years. Cliff, a former marketing executive with close ties to Microsoft, gave us a special treat by sharing wine straight from the aging tanks, as well us allowing us to listen to and smell the wine fermenting in the barrels. True traditionalists, the Andersons make just three types of wine - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris - and only use cork. Our last stop was at the beautiful Adelsheim Vineyards, one of the early pioneers of the Oregon wine country and a much larger facility than the prior two vineyards we visited. Co-founder David Adelsheim shared a glass of wine with us as he told us about the beginnings of the now booming wine industry in Oregon, from planting their first vines at the wrong time of the year to working as a sommelier to learn about the nuances of wine. What a great way to end the day. We must give huge thanks to Mary Czarnecki (SOM/FES '06) for sharing her expertise of the area and coordinating our wonderful tour guide, Ron, and to the SOMAA for their generous financial support. This was our last event of 2012, but we will stay in touch over the next few months and let you know about our 2013 events coming up. Enjoy these last few days of sun! All the best, Emily Brod & Matt Donahue, Co-Chapter Leaders

Additional Information

• Contact

  Emily Brod emily.brod@yahoo.com 503-501-6505

• Location

  , Oregon USA