Durant Launches 50th Anniversary Celebration with Dinners in the City Series

Durant partners with Hotel Lucia on March 25 event as Chef Aaron Dionne presents a 

three-course meal featuring wine and olive oil from Durant Vineyards

Dayton, Ore. (February 9, 2023) – Durant, home to the Durant Vineyards Winery & Tasting Room and Oregon’s only commercial olive mill, is celebrating 50 years of growing wine grapes and being stewards of the land on the hill they call home, with the launch of an event series called Dinners in the City. The series will include a couple of events this year, with the first taking place on Saturday, March 25 at 7 p.m., and a second event — a collaboration with Alex Sokol Blosser of Sokol Blosser winery — on Saturday, May 13. The first event takes place at Portland’s Hotel Lucia and features a three-course meal with wine pairings presented by Chef Aaron Dionne, of the Dossier Hotel’s Bistro Alder and formerly of famed Pacific Northwest destination Higgins. 

“The Durant family is deeply grateful to be celebrating our landmark 50th anniversary in the Willamette Valley, and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than with a dinner series honoring the flavors, ingredients and culinary preparations that collectively define Pacific Northwest cuisine,” said owner Paul Durant. “This is also an incredible opportunity to bring the Oregon wine country experience to the city, and showcase our region’s outstanding culinary artisans and purveyors.” 

The menu for the March 25 dinner will feature: 

Passed hors d’oeuvres

• Seared scallop, parsnip cream, bacon, puy lentils
• Fougasse, yogurt marinated lamb skewer, vadouvan, nettle leaf chutney
• Winter squash soup, cocoa powder whipped cream, espelette pepper, crispy leeks

First Course

Smoked tomato braised green chickpeas, seared chicory, socca, parsley-arbequina olive oil, citrus glazed carrots

Second Course

Pan roasted squab, toasted green wheat “risotto”, parmesan crisp, swiss chard, Pinot Noir pan sauce, perigord truffle

Third Course

Durant olive oil cake with caramelized rhubarb, and Ossau-Iraty with smoked salt almond crackers

The dinner is priced at $135 per person, and tickets are on sale now – details and reservations are available here. 

Guests who are attending the dinner and wish to stay at Hotel Lucia on March 25 can enjoy off 20% their room by using the code DURANT when booking online – link here. Hotel Lucia is located at 400 SW Broadway in downtown Portland. 

About Durant

Founded in 1973 in scenic Dayton, Ore., Durant includes Durant Vineyards Winery & Tasting Room, charming accommodations at the one-bedroom Garden Suite and two-bedroom Stonycrest Cottage, and Oregon’s only commercial olive mill, Durant Olive Mill. As pioneers in Oregon’s wine-making industry, the Durant family has become renowned for bright Pinot Gris, lively Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Brut, and food-friendly Pinot Noir. In 2008, Durant founded Durant Olive Mill, consisting of 17 acres of olive trees and a state-of-the-art Italian olive mill. Durant Olive Mill is the premier purveyor of Oregon milled extra virgin olive oil and home to the annual Olio Nuovo Festival. Year-round, visitors are invited to stroll the grounds to see the beautiful gardens, hedges and koi pond, peruse the artful garden pottery for sale and admire the fragrant plantings of rosemary, lavender and other herbs. For more information or to purchase Durant goods online, visit: https://durantoregon.com/.