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Helvetia Vineyards & Winery Update

Never too early to celebrate Earth Day

This Saturday afternoon, April 14th, from noon until 4:00

It’s never too early to celebrate Earth Day and let’s hope we’re never too late.  For the last two years we’ve held our Earth Day event at the winery where we hosted local community supported agriculture (CSA) representatives.This year, our guests will include the owners and farmers of Stoneboat Farm, Marion Acres, Wingham Farms, Helvetia Creamery, and Adelante Mujeres. Each will be available to answer your questions about what the good earth of the Tualatin Valley has to offer.  Meet our local farmers and find out how tasty, healthy, and nutritious local foods can be.  Saturday, April 14 from noon until 4:00.

 

Three Rosés – Drink Pink!

Rosé can be produced by either adding a red wine to a white wine base or by crushing the dark-skinned grapes and allowing the juice to stay in contact with the skins for a few hours before removing the juice and starting fermentation. The winemaking terms are “cold soak” and “skin contact.”  Our rosé is made using the saignée method (meaning “bleeding” in French) whereby a small portion of the juice is taken off the crushed grapes before fermentation and after about 18 hours of skin contact.  The result is a delicate, pink wine from juice fermented separately with unique wine yeasts from what is taken off the skins, and a full-bodied red wine produced from the remaining juice fermented on the skins for up to three weeks.

Sangiovese

This sangiovese rosé came from the Padgett Vineyard in the Yakima Valley near Zillah, Washington in the Rattlesnake Hills AVA. It was harvested on October 18, 2017.  Aromas of lime, strawberry, and rhubarb with a crisp, full-bodied structure.

Pinot Noir

Our estate pinot noir rosé grapes were ripened in the foothills of the Tualatin Mountains and harvested on October 8th with sugars of 23.2° Brix.   A gentle acidity with aromas of raspberry, apple, orange, and cranberry.

Merlot

The grapes crushed to produce the merlot rosé were harvested from Jim Jamison’s vineyard in the Columbia Valley near Yakima on September 9, 2017. Full-bodied and smooth with aromas of pineapple, cherry, strawberry and blood orange.

 

 

 

Pairing Recipes at the Release Party, April 22nd

Deviled Ham Salad on Marbled Rye Bread

Prep Time: 25 minutes

4 servings

Ingredients
½ pound smoked ham, coarsely chopped
½ cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ teaspoon sweet paprika
Hot sauce and salt, for seasoning
8 slices of bakery-style marbled rye bread, crusts removed, or 32 slices of cocktail rye
1 ½ cups alfalfa sprouts

1.) Pulse the ham in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer the ham to a medium bowl. Stir in the mayonnaise, parsley, jalapeno, mustard and paprika; season the deviled ham salad with hot sauce and salt.
2.) Lay half of the bread slices on a work surface and spread them with the deviled ham. Top with the alfalfa sprouts and close the sandwiches. If making larger sandwiches, quarter them before serving.

MAKE AHEAD: The deviled ham salad can be refrigerated overnight.

Pair with Helvetia Winery’s rosé of sangiovese.

Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar

Prep Time: 10 minutes
+ 1 hour marinating

Serves 4

Ingredients
750g (1 1/2lb) ripe small strawberries
¼ cup (60 g/2 oz) caster sugar
2 tablespoons good-quality balsamic vinegar
½ cup (125 g/4oz) mascarpone, to serve

Directions
1.) Wipe the strawberries with a clean damp cloth and hull them. Halve large strawberries.

2.) Place the strawberries in a glass bowl, sprinkle the sugar evenly over the top and toss gently to coat. Leave for 30 minutes to macerate. Sprinkle the vinegar over the strawberries, toss and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3.) Spoon the strawberries into four glasses, drizzle with the syrup and top with a dollop of mascarpone.

Pair’s best with Helvetia Winery’s rosé of merlot

Shortbread Cookies

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Makes 20 cookies

Ingredients
¾ pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 -teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
6 to 7 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped.

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1.) In bowl, mix with electric mixer the butter, and sugar until combined. Add vanilla.

2.) In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, and add them to the butter-and sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

3.) Roll the dough, ½-inch thick and cut with a cookie cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased backing sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Cool to room temperature.

4.) When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put 3 ounces of chocolate in a class bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir with a wooden spoon. Add the remaining chocolate and cool to room temperature, stirring often until smooth. Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled.

5.) Drizzle ½ of each cookie with just enough chocolate to coat it.

Pair with Helvetia’s rosé of pinot noir

Lillian Pitt at Helvetia Winery

Lillian Pitt and “She Who Watches”

Renowned Native American Artist at Helvetia Winery, Friday, November 24, 1:00 – 3:00 pm

Lillian Pitt, Warm Springs artist, will be with us on “Black Friday” to present some of her recent works and visit with our patrons.

A Columbia River Artist

Lillian Pitt is a Pacific Northwest Native American artist whose ancestors lived in and near the Columbia River Gorge for over 10,000 years.Called simply the Big River or the Nch’i-Wana by her ancestors, the Columbia River was the backbone of one of the largest trade networks in all of Native America.

The Focus of Her Art

Lillian’s focus is on creating contemporary works of fine art that delight today’s art lovers, and at the same time, honor the history and legends of her people. Primarily a sculptor and mixed media artist, Lillian’s lifetime of works include artistic expressions in clay, bronze, wearable art, prints, and most recently, glass. Her works have been exhibited and reviewed throughout the Pacific Northwest, nationally and internationally, and she is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions.

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday Dinner 2017

A Festive Holiday Dinner at the Jakob Yungen House at Helvetia Winery

First Course – Smoked Salmon Chowder 

Second Course – Roasted Winter Vegetable Salad w/Holiday Dressing

Entrée Course – Smokehouse Roasted Beef Tenderloin Stuff w/Goat Cheese & Spinach

Dessert – Raspberry Cream Pie w/White Chocolate

Each course will be complemented by a fine vintage Helvetia wine.  A library wine will also be paired with the Entré

 

Join us for this Holiday Winemaker Dinner on December 9th.

 

Hillsboro’s Best Winery!

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”.
To view all of Hillsboro’s Winners Click Here 

Best Place to Taste Wine

Gold: Helvetia Vineyards & Winery

Silver: Primrose & Tumbleweeds

Bronze: Abbey Creek Winery

Best Place to Taste Wine

Gold: Helvetia Vineyards & Winery

Silver: Oak Knoll Winery

Bronze: Blizzard Wines

Best Place to Buy Wine

Gold: Primrose & Tumbleweeds

Silver: Helvetia Vineyards & Winery

Bronze: Renaissance Premium Wines & Cigars

Waiting and Watching: Helvetia Vineyards Report 9/27/17

 

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.

Harvest Dinner 2017

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.

 

 

Welcome Kelly!

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.

Helvetia Vineyards Report 9/20/17

 

 

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.

2017 Harvest/Crush Update

It’s hard to imagine any vineyard or winery manager in Oregon coming up with a song like that unless they had an excellent memory of their childhood or just weren’t in the business very long. September is a kind of hurry-up-and-wait month. Hurry up to prepare and then just wait. Prepare for the onslaught of hungry birds by netting the grapes or setting up propane cannons. Prepare for fall rains following the summer drought to foster botrytis, the stuff that makes a grape cluster look like a snowball. Prepare for harvest and crush by checking the equipment so that when the forklift or the steam pressure washer breaks down, it will be the bracket or seal you didn’t check that provides the surprise.

Then wait . . . wait for the sugars to rise and the acids to decline . . . wait for the flavors to develop . . . and wait for the weather to reveal itself.

September is the month of the year that can best make or break a vintage. In 2013, after finally escaping the cloudy cool weather of La Niña’s visit in 2010 and 2011, the first weekend of that month brought three and one-half inches of rain that split the thirsty berries and opened them to disease. We lost 70% of our pinot noir that year.

Now we get to wait and see what this year’s fall weather has in store for our estate grapes, those we manage adjacent to the winery. Our Weather Wizard, Kyle Dittmer, is predicting a half-inch of rain each day on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of next week. That will be enough to saturate the dry ground and be sucked up by the vines. While we would hope for a more mellow transition to fall weather, the weather doesn’t care about our wishes. We’ll just have to wait and see.

As of September 12, we have just about finished the “hurry up” work and the waiting has just begun. Color change is just about complete. Today, we finished removing the clusters outside of the vines’ fruiting zone that won’t ripen. Instead they would have sapped the clusters of the nutrients they need to complete their growth cycle before winding up in a barrel. We’ve also crushed a ton of merlot from Tri-Cities that will be split between rose’ and a full-bodied merlot. Not much of a backup; at least we know that the crusher and press are working. In any event we’ll still keep our hopes alive and make an attempt at being mellow.

An Evening in España

Helvetia Winery and Jimmy Carrasquer join to create a winemaker dinner unlike any Helvetia has seen before . . . An Evening in España. 





Paella, the signature dish of Spain, has been a tradition in Jimmy’s family for generations. Family gatherings have long centered around making and eating of paella. Jimmy first made paella nearly twenty years ago. He learned the receipe from his Tia and Tío at their humble cottage in the Valencian countryside. He started preparing paella at home for a few guests and was soon catering friend’s parties just for fun. Before long he put his high-tech career on hold to make paella full-time. And thus, pdx Paella was born!


On Saturday June 24th at 6pm we invite you to join us for a special paella winemaker dinner. Dinner includes Paella, side salad and bread. Seating will be under the beautiful summer sky and wine will be available for purchase.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-evening-in-espana-tickets-35191515771

Humpday Bouteille “Kickoff to Summer”

For the lat two years, we’ve celebrated summer evenings with music and fine tapas-style cuisine lovingly prepared by Chef Dave Clark. On Wednesday May 31st from 5pm-8:30pm,  Galynne Davis opens our summer season with her vibrant voice and guitar.  Come fill your bouteille.  It’s not a growler!