Linfield College on Thursday announced a $6 million gift, one of the largest in the school's 160-year history, that administrators hope will help produce the state's next generation of wine leaders.

The school publicized the donation from Grace and Ken Evenstad, the founders of Domaine Serene winery in the nearby Dundee Hills, at an event at Portland's Sentinel Hotel. School officials, winery staffers and other industry representatives celebrated the gift with an early glass of Domaine Serene's R 10 rosé in a new Domaine Serene tasting room set to open to the public in April.

With the gift, the small, private school in the heart of Yamhill County's wine country will create a new Center for Wine Education named after the Domaine Serene owners, and it will design and build a wine laboratory on campus. Linfield now only offers a minor in wine studies, but it is creating a standalone major in the discipline expected to be offered starting this fall.

Linfield's outgoing president, Thomas Hellie, said the gift is the largest single donation to wine education in Oregon history.

"We're thrilled and we're deeply grateful," he said to Grace Evenstad.

The school says its program, led by Linfield wine climatologist Gregory V. Jones, will differentiate from traditional viticulture and enology programs, which historically have focused on growing wine grapes and producing wine. Linfield says its program will include aspects of that but will focus more on building skills to create new wine industry employees in business, social media and other skills.

The program will also look at the environmental factors at play in growing grapes, the history of the industry and other aspects of running a successful and sustainable enterprise.

"I would love to see a program that has at least 50 students who are pursuing wine studies in one way shape or form," Jones said. He believes the program will serve the state's 725 wineries well with internships and future employees.

In a statement, Grace Evenstad said that was one of the reasons the winery was drawn to Linfield's approach. "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.," she said in a statement.

"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."

Ryan Harris, Domaine Serene's president, said the winery has 50 employees in Oregon and 10 more at its winery in France. Hiring qualified employees can be a challenge, he said.

"They either learn on the job or we recruit them from elsewhere," he said.

The McMinnville school already has connections to the wine industry. It houses the state's Wine History Archive and hosts the International Pinot Noir Celebration.

The family doesn't have a connection to the college, but Ken Evenstad said in a statement the family is on a "never-ending quest" to grow and produce the world's best chardonnay and pinot noir.

"By making this donation to Linfield College, we are investing in the future thought-leaders of the global wine industry," he said. "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."

Oregon State University has a Wine Research Institute, and Umpqua Community College has its Southern Oregon Wine Institute, which offers certificates and two-year degrees as well as classes for community members.

THe school hopes to create easy pathways for students at Chemeketa Community College, which also has a wine studies program, to transfer to Linfield and obtain a four-year degree.

Jones started a certificate program at Southern Oregon University focused on wine business before he left for Linfield last year. He said Linfield is not trying to play on the same field -- initially -- as wine-making juggernauts like the University of California Davis.

He said Linfield is modeling its program in some ways on Sonoma State University's approach to building the industry's next managers and leaders.

"We're trying to address the kind of needs that a student would have in management, marketing, social media, interpersonal skills, economics, finance, environmental science," Jones said.

The event ended with a toast, cheering on the program's future.

-- Andrew Theen

The Oregonian/OregonLive