Thanks to all of our wonderful customers for voting us Hillsboro’s Best Winery and Hillsboro’s Best Place to Taste Wine in Hillsboro Tribune’s “Hillsboro’s Best 2017”.
The propane cannon is working just often enough to scare a robin out of the vineyard while not so often that the neighbors are at the door with pitchforks and torches. The deer and elk are at bay though the elk are mighty anxious to take out the woven wire gate that separates them from the pinot noir which are now no longer green but have taken on the dark colors of harvest.
While the merlot we purchased from Richland, WA afew weeks ago is about to be pressed to produce a full-bodied red and its lighter fractions are fermenting as rose’, our own pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot gris are still low in sugars and high in acids.
Our Weather Wizard, Kyle Dittmer, and the National Weather Service agree that showery, cool weather starts Friday and continues through next week. Fortunately, we made it through the last rainy period without any damage and the same is likely for the next episode. But watch for the third big rain of the fall season. That’s the one that will bring in the birds and finish the 2017 harvest so stay tuned.
On Saturday, November 4th at 6:00 pm in the Jakob Yungen House, Chef Dave Clark is back with a four course feast to celebrate the completion of harvest. Some of the courses included in the meal are crab cakes, stuffed duck, and a chocolate flourless tort. The full menu is available here.
Wine pairings are included with each course. Seating is limited, so reserve your seats now! To buy tickets, go to our eventbrite page.
Hi! I’m Kelly, a new server here at Helvetia Winery. It was at my grandmother’s kitchen counter that I fell in love with wine. The smell of her minestrone soup cooking on the stovetop, one hand stirring and the other holding a beautiful glass of merlot, all the while smiling and sharing stories. Wine and food became the background for memories made and history shared.
It wasn’t until I moved to the Helvetia area and began to fill my families two acres with veggies, vines, bees and chickens that I better understood the craft and care required to give life to a beautiful harvest. Today, I find my greatest joy comes from the pairing of good conversation and a delicious meal served to those I hold most dear. Just like my grandma taught me decades ago, food and wine brings color to our connections in life.
This summer’s growing season ranked among the warmest during the last decade, exceeded only by 2015’s bounty of fruit-forward wines. This week’s rains, though predicted to be around 3 inches, were less than expected, diminishing the chances for botrytis bunch rot.
Botrytis is encouraged by berries bursting their skins when too much water soaks the soil after a long drought which, in the most recent period, was about ninety days. Though the variable weather of an Oregon fall may change our plans, we are expecting harvest during the second week in October.
For wine club members, we are planning a crush party tentatively tied to the time when we press the fermented pinot noir grapes and fill the barrels. This year, we will be seeking your perceptions of a number of new and current wines as to the descriptors that we publish about each of the wines we serve on our tasting menu. Click here for more information on Helvetia Wine Club.
The Valentine's Day dinner was excellent. The host provided name tags for everyone at the table so we wouldn't feel like complete strangers and really helped break the ice during this intimate dinner. Chef David did an excellent job creating a wonderful 5 course dinner that paired excellently with the different wines that were provided throughout the dinner. Overall, a wonderful experience!
Sherry Joe was an awesome hostess.
John, the owner of Helvetia Vineyards, taught us so much about growing good grapes, the soil, water, sun and the temperature! He spent extra time with us and was such an amazing teacher! The history lesson of the region was incredible! I highly recommend the 2017 Pinot Noir! The art on the wine labels is beautiful!!
Great place, we've been coming here a while and always love to chat with John and his amazing staff that is so helpful. Had a great day today with our friends.
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. I enjoyed live music. The staff was gracious. Even the drive to and from the winery was a joy. It was a lovely low key fun evening in the country ending with a spectacular sunset as I drove home.
Beautiful location, excellent hosts! We held my baby shower there, so I wasn't able to sample the wine selection, but my guests were all very happy. I will be back when I can try it out!
What I love about this place is its low-key, completely unpretentious attitude and atmosphere. It's like your favorite neighbors just happen to be really good at making wine. Come for the delicious wines, and stay to learn a lot about winemaking from John. After just one visit, you'll be treated like family.
We bought the Tour package with the goal of wanting to learn a little more about wine and we had an absolute blast. John our tour guide is the best. One of the best educations I have ever had on any subject. We spent almost 2 hours with him. It wasn't about drinking wine but moreso learning about the different wines and how they grow, the history of the Tualatin valley, it was amazing. Best part was smelling wines in the barrels and tasting the chardonnay. Mouthwatering the whole time. We had an absolute blast.
Thoroughly enjoyed our tour and wine tasting at Helvetia Vineyards & Winery this past weekend. Learned so much and tasted some delicious wines. Of course, had to bring home some bottles of our favorites! John was most informative. Everyone was so pleasant and the experience was enhanced by Winery pups, Cocoa, Pippin and the little Boston Terrier whose name I didn't catch.
The young lady that helped us was absolutely fabulous. The poor thing was shuttling several different groups but was still able to teach as well as enlighten us with the different wines and their special tastes. She even helped us with a map of all The winerys in the area and a little bit about them. The wines are very good and very affordable.
Fantastic service. Very friendly folk and an inviting outdoor seating area for a warm summer evening. I'd call it "down home" style with none of pretentious BS that so many wineries try and fail to pull off.
The wines were great and prices decent.
Now that we are locals, I'm sure we'll be back.
I'm so glad we decided to pop over here after visiting the Lavender Festival. I've never been a wine drinker, but their Pinot Gris may just have converted me. Delicious! Laid back atmosphere. Wonderful staff. Peaceful setting. Hopefully one day I'll be able to get some aerial footage (with permission of course) of this tranquil farm where time seems to stand still. Thanks again Helvetia Winery. We WILL be back.
A big thank you to John. We loved our private, informative, and unpretentious tour. You have a great staff & a first class wine selection. We will be back!
Best people to learn about the wine industry in Oregon! Was in an upscale winery. recently and no one even said hello. At Helvetia Winery we have always.been met by John or Elizabeth or Dave
Dillon has been great at the tasting room.
Wed. Hump evening has been a highlight of our summer.
Enjoyed a wonderful afternoon learning so much. I appreciated the craftsmanship of the vintner's processes! Thank you so much John and Katherine. I will continue to enjoy the fruits of your labor and the warmth of your hospitality when I get back to Minnesota. Well worth visiting!
November 4th at 6:00 pm