Who we are
Ora et Labora began as a simmering dream throughout maternity leave and turbulent times in education, but slowly things happened that catalyzed its transformation into a reality. As a former journalist-turned-consultant (Sarah) and high school teacher with a doctorate in curriculum and instruction (Dave), we approach wine through the eyes of perpetual learners. We are new to the wine industry in a professional capacity, but we like to think this gives us a fresh perspective! Our backgrounds certainly give us an ability to connect with others who are eager to learn about wine, which we hope you’ll appreciate.
With a deep love of French, Italian, and Pacific Northwest wines, we have earned a number of different professional credentials to be able to serve our patrons as well as we can (both of us completed WSET 3 with distinction in both theory and tasting, and Dave also earned the French Wine Scholar and Italian Wine Scholar credentials through the Wine Scholars Guild, and the Certified Specialist of Wine credential because he’s a dork). Jack is three-and-a-half years-old (though he sometimes forgets, and introduces himself as being two), and you might catch him around the shop pointing to bottles and exclaiming “wine!”…his palate is most definitely geared toward carbohydrates than anything else. Baby Audrey’s palate is focused exclusively on dairy at the moment.
We firmly believe that drinking wine is about more than sensory engagement. It is an intellectual, critical exploration of all that goes into a glass: history, philosophy, culture, farming, science, and so on. Our goal is to create a welcoming space where people can come explore the expansive world of wine through conversation, tasting, and wine education classes!
MEET THE TEAM
Assistant Manager Gerrett White brings his deep history in hospitality through our doors. He got his industry start in New York at various eateries throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, and spent years in service growing his passion on the job.
A move out west found Gerrett at the Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. Following his curiosity and passion for wine, he pursued the East Side LA Institution, Silverlake Wine. It was there that his ethos around wine took shape. He sees wine as an approachable and communal endeavor. He believes that while there is objective truth in the process, we should delight in the subjective because in the end, we’re all having our own experience anyway.
“Taste it all, spit nothing, this sh*t is supposed to be fun.” - GW
Tanya has more than ten years experience in the wine industry, including Argyle, Amaterra and Ambonnay wine bar. She holds a WSET Level 3 certificate with distinction, completed the Master of Champagne program, and is working on her Italian Wine Scholar certification. Her interest in wine began while living in San Francisco, and expanded when she moved to Oregon more than 20 years ago. She loves sparkling wines (especially Champagnes) and of course Oregon Pinot Noirs. Tanya joined the wine industry in 2013 after a long career in marketing, brand management and digital strategy at various agencies and for social purpose organizations. She loves cooking, entertaining and live music – particularly funk and brass bands from New Orleans, where she travels every chance she can.
Passionate hobbyist turned certified, Kari [Care-ee] is new to the professional wine world. Kari is known in wider circles as Limpy McGimperson, the alliteration- and run-on sentence-loving Blonde, Beyhive betch who hoards Burgundy to pair with Big Macs while blasting Beyoncé. Under her purview, the popcorn and pretentious Coravin shit are always 86’d because they give her severe anxiety (see GERRETT’s bio for that shiZ).
Years ago, "sweet home, Chicago" Kari fully embraced the natural wine trend, only igniting her yearning to aggressively learn (and taste) more. A year into a pandemic offered a relocation opportunity, and Oregon's proximity to wine education coupled with Willamette's comparable Burgundian terroir and vinicultural practices sealed her journey to PDX. She landed as a neighbor of OEL, and Kari’s “regular” patronage—which involved (too) many glasses of Burgundy and late-night Big Macs at the bar—transformed into her being behind the bar as a ray of sunshine insisting that Beyoncé be on perpetual repeat.
“Fuck #flabbycab…welcome to my journey! Bring balloons.”
The meaning behind the name
“Ora et Labora” means “pray and work.” The Latin phrase was–and is–the motto of the Benedictine and Cistercian monks, who were crucial to the preservation and advancement of winemaking in Europe throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Apart from its historical significance and connection to wine, we appreciate this idiom because it’s a reminder that the act of tasting wine begs attentiveness, and has the potential to more deeply draw us into relationships and thoughtfulness. We find this to be a beautiful approach to human existence: recognizing that the sacred can be found in the work of our daily lives, even the most mundane. Wine is a medium that invites contemplation, a “long, loving look at the real,” in the words of Walter Burghardt, SJ: of one’s glass, of oneself, and of one’s company.
Our Philosophy of Curation
We have carefully curated our shelves with wines from around the world, highlighting value at all price points, from daily quaffable drinkers to age-worthy bottles. Our selection is focused on France, Italy, and the Pacific Northwest, although we carry wines from all over the world.
In selecting our wines, we are very intentional about tasting everything we choose to stock (unless selections are exceedingly rare, thereby limiting our ability to do so), the vast majority of which comes from small producers who prioritize sustainable farming practices and minimal intervention winemaking. In order to help you better understand what you’re purchasing and drinking–and the reasons behind your extant (or developing!) preferences–we organize our wall of wine by body, intensity, and/or complexity, rather than by varietal or region.
With all of this in mind, OEL is a space for wines by the glass, tastings, wine education classes, seminars with producers, and small private events. We foreground building relationships with our patrons, getting to know their names, their likes and dislikes, in order to build a community around a shared love of wine. If you’ll allow us to do so, it would be our joy and privilege to accompany you (without the much-feared pretension or judgmentalism) and enhance your interest in fermented juice!
