The gift is being hailed as the largest in the history of the Oregon wine industry. It will create the Grace and Ken Evenstad Center for Wine Education at Linfield College, McMinnville, Ore. It will also fund an endowed faculty position and construction of the Evenstad Wine Laboratory.
Linfield’s wine education program already offers the first interdisciplinary liberal arts bachelor’s degree in wine studies in the United States.
Traditional viticulture and enology programs focus primarily or exclusively on the craft of growing grapes and making wine. In contrast, the Grace and Ken Evenstad Center for Wine Education will include a Wine Studies degree that incorporates the historical, geographical and environmental aspects of growing grapes and the making, bottling and selling of wine, as well as coursework on sensory-evaluation techniques and industry-specific communication issues.
“Ken and I were drawn to the fact that this new and unique program will focus on all aspects of running a successful and sustainable wine business,” said Grace Evenstad. “In our opinion, the real benefit is that it focuses on building a high level of quality throughout the entire business of wine—in winemaking, management, accounting, sales, marketing, etc. This gift will enable thousands of future students to follow their passions in the wine business. It will prepare them for success and will enable the American wine industry to benefit for generations, even centuries, to come.”
Linfield currently offers a wine studies minor that can be paired with other academic programs and is in the process of developing a standalone major. The Center for Wine Education at Linfield also offers wine management and wine marketing certificates online, holds a wine lecture series, provides a summer Wine Industry Immersion Program and hosts one of the world’s premier wine events—the International Pinot Noir Celebration—each summer. The Oregon Wine History Archive is housed at Linfield.
“This tremendous gift is not only a boon to Linfield College, it’s a major investment in the future of wine education in our state,” said Linfield College President Thomas L. Hellie. “We are deeply grateful to Grace and Ken for this important gift—and we’re proud of their faith in Linfield’s wine education program.”
In June 2017, internationally known wine climatologist Gregory V. Jones succeeded Ellen Brittan, the founding director of the Center for Wine Education. Jones will become the first to hold the Evenstad Chair in Wine Studies title.
“From the first day that we set foot in the Dundee Hills, we have been on a never-ending quest to grow and produce the finest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the world,” said Ken Evenstad. “By making this donation to Linfield College, we are investing in the future thought-leaders of the global wine industry. With this partnership, it is our hope that the newly endowed wine studies program acts as a magnet to attract the brightest minds from around the world to further propel our industry to even greater heights on the world’s stage.”
Charitable giving is an essential part of the fabric that makes up the culture at Domaine Serene and the legacy of Grace and Ken Evenstad. With the Linfield gift, the Evenstads have now donated or raised more than $20 million for philanthropic causes nationwide.
Grace and Ken Evenstad founded Domaine Serene in the Dundee Hills of Oregon in 1989.
The partnership between Domaine Serene and Linfield is already underway, with on-site educational programs hosted by the winery and a January study-abroad trip for Linfield students that included a visit to the Evenstad’s French winery, Château de la Crée in Burgundy.