MonksGate Vineyard Winemaker’s Dinner

Rebecca’s agricultural roots run deep coming from a lineage of hard-working farmers and cattlemen.  Denied her destiny as a cowgirl when her family left the ranch, fate ultimately ran full circle decades later.  After spending 20 years in the Napa Valley, her parents were inspired to build their own vineyard in the new frontier for grape growing, Oregon, as a way to get back to the land.  Rebecca spent a great deal of time on the farm during the development and initial running of the vineyard, pouring wine alongside her parents and developing a deep appreciation of and affinity for the Oregon wine community.

In 2010, events conspired to allow Rebecca to work a full harvest and that was that.  The opportunity to work the land and be hands on with the fruit, not to mention drive the tractor, led her to make a leap of faith.  Since then, she has done every job there is to do both on the vineyard and in the cellar.  She likes to say she went from a career where she had one day a week off to a lifestyle with no days off but wouldn’t have it any other way.

Since day one Rebecca has relished being the boots on the ground in the vineyard, the meditative nature of running the tractor (horsepower is horsepower) and the grueling work of punching down the ferments.