DAYTON, Ore. – More than 135 wine lovers packed the annual Summertime ¡Salud! event, raising $40,000 to provide health care for Oregon vineyard workers.
¡Salud! is a nonprofit program through Tuality Healthcare that provides health care services to seasonal vineyard workers and their families. The event took place July 24 on the eve of the annual International Pinot Noir Celebration.
Stoller Family Estate played host to The Big Dinner, and it was presented by The Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg. It featured the cuisine of Sunny Jin, chef for Jory, The Allison’s restaurant.
“We would love to host the Big Dinner again!” Gary Mortensen, President of Stoller Family Estate, told Great Northwest Wine. “It was really well done, and all the feedback was extremely positive. We would be honored to host again.”
Some 18 wineries from Oregon, California and France took part in the event, including:
- Anam Cara Cellars
- Argyle Winery
- Brick House Vineyards
- Coeur de Terre Vineyard
- Matello
- Matzinger Davies Wine Co.
- Ponzi Vineyards
- Raptor Ridge Winery
- ROCO Winery
- Stoller Family Estate
- Trisaetum
- Winderlea Vineayrd & Winery
- J Vineyards and Winery
- La Follette
- Red Car
- Siduri
- Bachelder
- Maison Ambroise
¡Salud! helping others since 1991
¡Salud! began in 1991 by a group of Oregon winery owners, led in part by Nancy Ponzi, co-founder of Ponzi Vineyards. It was created with the goal of addressing and solving the issues of providing basic health care for seasonal workers who cannot meet their own basic needs with only a few months’ worth of income to stretch over an entire year.
Because the majority of field workers move from one crop to another, their temporary status with each employer does not make them eligible for any kind of affordable health coverage. As a result of not having health care, many vineyard workers go do not seek professional help for themselves or their families until a medical problem becomes a crisis.
¡Salud! has set a goal of bridging this gap by helping seasonal workers sort through the complex maze of medical resources available to them.
The next major ¡Salud! event is the annual Oregon Pinot Noir Auction, which is Nov. 14-15. It opens with the ¡Salud! Cuvée Tasting & Auction at Domaine Drouhin Oregon. The next evening is the Dinner and Auction Gala at The Allison Inn & Spa. The entire package, which includes lodging, transportation and events, starts at $1,500 per couple.
For more information, call ¡Salud! at 503-681-1850 or The Allison Inn & Spa at 877-294-2525. Or go to www.saludauction.org.
Leave a Reply