Vista Hills Internship

Hey everyone,

My name is Jen Boston I am a senior at Linfield College with a major in elementary education and minor in music.  This fall I am interning at Vista Hill Vineyard in Dayton Oregon and will be working there for the year.  I will experience many aspects of the wine industry including the scientific side, marketing and business and hospitalities.  

Week 1 Sunday September 18 11:30-5:30 :

My first experience finishing a full day of work at Vista Hills was amazing.  Going in I was nervous to already be pouring and felt my wine knowledge was not sufficient enough to provide the experience for the tasters.  My nerves were quickly subdued, my coworkers helped me along and I quickly picked up on the flow of the tasting room.  After only a short time I felt more confident in my understanding of wines and excited for how much I learned in such a short amount of time.  It was a Sunday so it was a bit on the slow side but for a first day it was perfect.

I spent most of the day behind the bar pouring and talking with clients.  I met people from all over the States who were excited to talk and learn about wine.  Meeting so many travelers made me think of my experience studying abroad and I loved the atmosphere it created. 

By the end of the day all my nerves were gone and I was excited about the days experience and already looking forward to next week. 

Week 2 Saturday September 24 11-6:

Saturday brought in a lot more tasters than last Sunday.  We had a constant flow of tasters throughout the day and large group parties to fill the tasting room, at one point we had at least fifty people in. This was a higher stress environment but I still loved it.  I was able to use my experience with hospitalities from previous jobs to supply everyone with what they needed and keep them enjoying their wine.  

Along with my skills I have gained from previous jobs I have been able to use skills I have learned in my major; elementary education.  I was not expecting to really use concepts from elementary ed in an internship for a vineyard.  My ability to communicate and provide information about the wine was made easier with my knowledge and experience with teaching kids.  Yes, the tasters are adults but communicating new material to them is similar.  My time in the education department has given me the tools to do well at teaching even if it is outside of my major subject area. 

Week 3 Friday September 30 1-5:30

Friday was very slow compared to my other days of work, tops I served 30 people.  I did get to meet the other interns from George Fox and do a grape sampling.  We went out to the vines and walked through a few rows and collected berry samples from every few vines.  We then combined them and labeled which block they came from; we tested two different blocks.  After collecting enough fruit we headed back to the tasting room to run a test on the fruit to see their brick count.  This is a measurement that helps decide if it is getting closer to harvest.  Sadly, the fruit is behind and some blocks have not even come to color.  

The slow day was nice because I was given the chance to get out in the field for the first time.  I really enjoyed walking around the vineyard learning more about the vineyard management aspects of my internship.  I might look into this side of the wine industry for my project and presentation.