Eleni Papadakis, winemaker at Domaine Serene

We were at the end of a busy night, so I cut to the chase:  How’d you land such a sweet job?  Well, she responded in her easy-going, unpretentious, earth-mother sort of way, “a lot of years of hard work.” 

The wine world has a well-deserved reputation for snobbery and hoity-toityness and yet we get winemaker after winemaker in here who are just an easy going, unpretentious lot.  And yes, the winemaker from the ultra-premium Oregon Pinot producer, Domaine Serene, was another salt of the earth sort of gal.  But she’s serious about what she does and her love of these excellent wines shines through.  In the middle of what we hope is the worst recession of our lifetime, she sold us out of a mountain of wines ranging from $50 to $140 per bottle.  Okay, with a case discount (and most people bought cases!), you can knock off 20%.  The point is still clear.

As you can tell by her name, Eleni grew up in a Greek/American household and with the Mediterranean influence, she said someone was always brewing something somewhere.  In high school, she did a year abroad in Germany, landing with a family in rural Baden Baden.  Her German is excellent, by the way.  She still visits her host family and she said that this junior year abroad played an important role in her development.  She didn’t elaborate, but my feeling is that it had to do with her developing sense of independence & adventure as well as the opportunity for cultural exchange & understanding.  Simply said, it changes you to live abroad and I had the impression she was grateful for this opportunity and impact it had on her life. 

In college she studied philosophy and then followed her father’s footsteps into law, but was dissatisfied with her experience in this field.  At some point in her studies, she landed a part-time job at a winery tasting room in Santa Cruz.  It was through this job that she discovered/reconnected with her interest in the analytical side of winemaking combined with the social, temperamental, emotionally-charged, Mediterranean-rooted aspects of creating wine.  Following her heart on this one, she went back to college to learn the science of winemaking.  After finishing, she did internships around the world, including Champagne, where she said she was gladly paid in food & drink.  Back in the U.S., work for nearly 15-years with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the Santa Cruz Mountains, moving to Oregon in early 2008. Initially she was hired as the Associate Winemaker at Domaine Serene, working with Drew Voit (former associate winemaker) as the Consulting Winemaker but was promoted to Head Winemaker within her first year(though she requested to continue blending work with Drew Voit for two full years to maintain consistency).  

She said it’s such a pleasure working for the Evenstad’s because they are dedicated to the tradition that they’ve built up of producing superior Pinot Noir and that they’re willing to make the tough short-term decisions for the long-term preservation of their name which is associated with Oregon Pinot Noir of the highest  quality.  

Because Eleni was so fun to listern to in her (often anthropomorphic) descriptions of the wines, I’ve tried to capture close to what she said during our inteview:

Domaine Serene 2007 Coeur Blanc  (limited) $78.99 | Case $71.99
With this wine, we’re just fermenting the juice of the grape so that it’s light in color, but not in its flavor/texture profile. In fact I find the wine quite rich. What is ‘light’ is the ridiculously careful pressing of the grapes to extract the ‘white heart’ of the Pinot Noir.  I have a love-hate relationship with this wine because it’s a pain in the backside [explaining that it’s a time sensitive process that she had stop everything she’s doing at a particular moment and race over to deal with the grapes].  It’s a little crazy to take your best Pinot Noir lots and turn them into white wine – but people love it.
 
Domaine Serene 2007 Clos Du Soleil Chardonnay  $49.99 | Case $44.99
I am thrilled to death with the ’07 Chardonnays – there’s magic in those wines!  I love the crisp, fresh characteristics – “just a lot of brilliance.  They sparkle.”

Domaine Serene 2007 Yamhill Cuvée Pinot Noir WA90 $47.99 | Case $43.99
This wine is “pretty”. It’s a snapshot of the evolution of the wine. I think it’s going to develop into an elegant wine.

Domaine Serene 2006 Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir WS92 $63.99 | Case $57.99
This wine [their flagship] is everything a wine should be. It’s a culmination of a lot of magic and a lot of hard work.

Domaine Serene 2006 Grace Pinot Noir (limited) (93 pts Parker)  $142.99 | Case $124.99
This vineyard has grown into its name.  The wine is feminine, graceful, the tannins are really elegant. It’s something quite exotic, not a classic Pinot. It can be a little herbaceous with tea-like characteristics.  Something elegant in the tannic structure. When I took a sip tonight, I thought “silk pajamas”.

Domaine Serene 2006 Jerusalem Hill Pinot Noir (limited) WS92 $79.99 | Case $71.99
When I was little, my dad was a rancher and one of the cattlemen had a horse that was rambunctious, adolescent, very reliable, but strong-willed.  That’s this wine.  Smoky, red smoke with blue plum.  I originally thought this vineyard would be an earlier harvest, but it has a different soil profile and it has ended up being one of our latest to harvest.  I used to call this wine “the teenager”, but now it’s just becoming a strong-willed young adult. This wine is for people who think they don’t like Pinot Noir or that Pinot is wimpy.

 Eleni, you were a delight and we welcome you back with open arms!

Cheers to everyone as you enjoy these wines.  Note to our customers, we also carry Domaine Serene’s Roadblock series, which wasn’t in the lineup at the tasting, but is available.

Julie

Marcus Goodfellow: Indie Oregon Winemaker @ Matello

 

Unlike so many stories you hear about how wine guys got into the business, Marcus laughingly says that he didn’t get the bug until much later in life because the wine that his parents drank in his house growing up was more punishment than pleasure.  It wasn’t until he moved from rural Oregon to LA to go to college that he met a friend who worked in a wine shop and at an orphans Thanksgiving one year, the friend showed up with two bottles of wine:  a bottle of Columbia Crest Merlot and a bottle of 1990 Cuvee Theo Weinbach Gewurztraminer.  He remembers thinking that the Merlot was fine, but for him the Gewurztraminer was revolutionary.  His springboard from getting the wine bug to getting the Pinot bug happened when visiting London a few years later.  He was lamenting his birthyear (1968) with a friend as the vintage was not notable.  The friend (who also worked in a wineshop) pulled out a bottle from his birth year (1947) and together they drank a Louis Jadot Bon Mares.  His infatuation with Pinot began and has done nothing since then but expand. 

We had the pleasure of having Marcus at Portalis last month for a tasting.  He’s the head winemaker at Bishop Creek Cellars and we currently serve their Pinot Noir by the glass at the wine bar.  But the tasting was dedicated to his side job and probably his love … the Matello label that he started in 2003 with just 183 cases.  He told me that the hardest thing about being an indie winemaker on a shoestring budget is getting your name out there.  So we’re trying to help as the wines were really good!

Matello 2007 Pinot Blanc $21/case price $16.80
Flavors of pear, melon & white flower blossoms. Rich mouthfeel.  Made for scallops and Dungeness crab. This wine makes you think of summertime.

Matello 2007 Pinot Noir Rosé $21/case price $16.80
Marcus was going for the color of strawberry juice, so it’s a much richer pink than other lighter rosé. Nice creaminess, but still crisp & fruity.
 
Matello 2006 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir $29.50/case price $23.60
Marcus fondly says that this is the least good wine that he makes.  By that he means that he just works with the grapes he has and that this is a nice introductory wine.  Pretty, drinkable & good with food. Can manage the oiliness of salmon. Won’t overpower chicken. Calls for game (pheasant, quail, rabbit) with mushrooms.

Matello 2006 Whistling Ridge North Pinot Noir $37.50/case price $30
This wine is made from grapes grown on 1 3/4 acres in Ribbon Ridge (a sub-appelation).  Marcus made this wine with 50% of the fruit left on the stems and 50% de-stemmed(de-stemmed is more typical in modern winemaking.) This really adds to the structure and gives it a sense of depth and potential. Beautiful nose of cherries & earth.  Great fruit. Rustically made. This wine was a favorite at the tasting.  It’s a wine to drink now or to hold onto for up to another 10 years, but will really be best in around 2012-2015.

Matello 2006 Reserve Souris Pinot Noir $43/case price $34.40
This wine is a blend of Marcus’ favorite barrels in the cellar.  It has beautiful pie spice (cinnamon, all-spice, and perhaps a little cardamon as well) in the nose, lush strawberry and cherry in the mouth with a perfect texture blending weightlessness, richness, persistence, and finishing with juicy ripe acidity. The winemaker’s personal favorite. This is a great wine to hold onto for a few years.

Contributor:  Julie Howe