Keith and Trudy operate a vineyard and
winery in the beautiful country setting above Gaston.
Keith is a
pharmacist three days a week at Hanks in Cornelius. He has worked there
since February 1989. He then works four days plus on their land. He is
an Enologist/Winemaker and is Vice President of the company. His work
involves being the “assistant wine maker”, the “cellar rat”, and the
farmer who takes care of the vineyard, pruning, hiring crews, the
barrels, and all the equipment plus unlimited other work.
Trudy is a
Viticulturalist and the President of the company, who works seven days a
week in the office and tasting room, plus homemaking, etc.
Kramers are a good
team and have a good working dual relationship helping each other find
inventive ways to solve problems. They have recently hired a lab to
test some of their wines, people to who this wine is a new experience
and who have no vested interest so that when they say “no flaw”, it is
truly an excellent recommendation for the wine.
They have been
afforded some flexibility by working as a pharmacist and winemaker –
what with the depression and the intense competition which is affecting
wineries everywhere.
Kramers are
considered a very small winery, which has its advantages. They produce
about 2400 cases of wine a year. Tourists seem to enjoy the small
down-home atmosphere of the wine tasting room and unique Oregon gift
shop.
Keith and Trudy
lived in Scappoose, OR in 1971 for five years. Keith was a pharmacist
there and they attended Grace Lutheran Church. But then they began to
feel the need for a better place and found this land and bought it in
1983. There was the Elk Cove winery next door and two wineries are a
good draw for tourism and business. This land also had a south slope
and it was a pretty place and a good price. It was bare land, cleared
but not farmed. Keith and Trudy and the children worked here on
weekends and camped out in the shed. They actually lived in the “barn”
for a year while they built their house.
In 1984, they began
clearing brush, fumigating land, working and rolling the land, putting
in posts and wire, and planting grapes.
In 1988, they got
their first small crop; in 1989, a full crop, and in 1989, they made
wine. They also built their new house up on the hill. In year 2002,
they produced 34 tons of grapes. It takes one ton of grapes to produce
150 gallons of wine.
Besides the Wine
Tasting Room, they have a beautiful deck and other structures to
accommodate weddings and summer time dinners with a view of the
vineyard. They hire a guest chef for these occasions.
Kramers have three
children:
Kim,
twenty-four years old who is a perpetual student and who lives in Salem.
Mickey,
twenty-two years old, who lives in Vancouver, WA and is a computer
network specialist.
Becky,
seventeen years old, a Junior in high school, who is a talented sport
thrower in track and field. She throws the discus, javelin, and shot.
She hopes these skills will help her in college.
Kramers have one
exchange student now and hopes to get two students from France in the
future. These students would go to school part-time and learn vineyard
work part-time.
Trudy and Keith’s
hobby is visiting wineries and seeing how they do things. They belong
to the Oregon Winetasters’ Club and the club visits wineries everywhere
including other states enjoying seeing new areas and fellowship.
They came to Mt.
Olive Church in 1989 at the same time Pastor Bohlken came.
If we could say one
thing special about Kramers, it is their great enthusiasm for their life
and work. They will be featured in the Oregon Winery paper soon.
(prepared by Annie Jarrell)
