The Oregon Wine History Archive Podcast

This interview is with Jenny Burger of Yamhill Valley Vineyards. In this interview, Jenny discusses her journey of taking over as a second generation for the company.   Jenny talks about how Yamhill Valley Vineyards has always been at least a little part of her life. Her parents started the company before she was born, and she recalls spending weekends and summers on the vineyard without any real...

This interview is with Ariel Eberle of Yamhill Valley Vineyards. In this interview, Ariel is interviewed for the second time after 8 years and reflects on what has changed and what the future may hold.   Ariel talks about her initial interest in wine being related to science. She started with an interest in biology that transitioned into botany and wine. Studying biology and minoring in chemistry...

This interview is with Levi Danielson of RAW Cider Company. In this interview, Levi explains his motivation for bringing “fine-dining” cider to the Oregon wine/cider industry.   Levi talks about how his background in microbiology and health. Attending the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, Levi was interested in the healthcare industry, especially nutrition. After working many hours in the healt...

This interview is with Teddi Fuller of Lushington Wines. In this interview, Teddi discusses the lifestyle she has built through wine and art.   Teddi talks about how she ended up in Lyle, Washington. She graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in fine arts without a defined career path. After she moved to California to ski, she worked in restaurants and a wine bar where she learned a lot about...

This interview is with Brandon Hasart of Lingua Franca. In this interview, Brandon talks about his wine journey and how he came to be the vineyard manager at Lingua Franca. Brandon speaks about his original intention to work in veterinary medicine, but becoming interested in wine while attending Washington State University. He charts his path from the initial interest to a variety of internships i...

This interview is with Carrie Alexander of Holocene Wines. In this interview, Carrie discusses the many different roads she has taken that eventually led her to wine.   Carrie talks about the various career paths she has taken. She started pursuing a degree in teaching which she later changed and graduated with a fine arts degree. While she played with owning coffee shops, skate shops, and being a...

This interview is with Eric Weisinger of Weisinger Family Winery. In this interview, Eric discusses his 30 years in the industry and how he came right back to where he started.   Eric talks about how his father always had a dream of owning a winery. Eric was roped into this dream when his father suffered an injury and he had to take over. From there, he realized he was drawn to wine and could make...

This interview is with Mike Brunson of Valley View Winery. In this interview, Mike discusses what it is like to be a winemaker and how that passion brought him to Oregon.   Mike talks about his journey into the wine industry and how he had a natural gift for it. Mike has a good sense of smell and strong palate. This paired well with his former boss, Fred Payne, who passed the job down to Mike. Fre...

This interview is with Mike and Mark Wisnovsky of Valley View Winery. In this interview, the brothers discuss the responsibility of continuing the legacy their parents passed onto them.   The brothers talk about how they were almost born into the industry. They started planting at four and eight years old, learning the ins and outs of harvest. When they were made partners after their father passed...

This interview is with Soléna Andrus Montalieu of Soléna Estate and her mother Danielle Andrus. In this interview, the duo discusses being raised in the industry and the memories that come with it.    Danielle talks about growing up in Napa Valley with her father Gary Andrus of Pine Ridge Vineyards and eventually moving with him to Oregon to start Archery Summit in 1995. After doing a lot of the g...

This interview is with Jen Parr of Valli Wines in New Zealand. In this interview, Jen talks about her plethora of experiences in different wine regions of the world.   Jen talks about growing up in Portland and eventually heading to Stanford University pursuing a degree in English literature. During her time at Stanford, she discovered the wine industry for the first time. After graduating, she tr...

This interview is with Bruce Felix of Pacific Winemaking. In this interview, Bruce explains how he transitioned into the wine industry and his thoughts on the future of Oregon wine.   Bruce talks about working in petrochemicals and paint after he moved to Australia with an exchange student. Not only did Bruce sell petrochemicals, he also sold tartaric acid to winemakers, sparking his initial inter...

This interview is with Jason Flaig of Northwest Distribution and Storage. In this interview, Jason explains his long road into the wine industry and the unique service his company provides.   Jason talks about the beginning of his journey that is rather complicated. He started out as pre-med student before he got married and had a family. When he returned to school he decided to pursue a degree in...

This interview is with Brian Zielinski of Scenic Valley Farms. In this interview, Brian shares about growing up on the farm and how wine worked its way into the family’s livelihood.   Brian talks about how grapes made their way into the family’s farm. The farm was constantly rotating the crops to best utilize the land. From strawberries to beans to corn, the farm has seen a lot of produce. Once th...

This interview is with Jillian Barnhart of Lux Nova Creative. In this interview, Jillian shares her many experiences as a photographer, marketer, and the many hobbies she has collected along the way. She believes these experiences give her a unique set of skills that benefit her clients. Jillian talks about how she began in photography by moving to Los Angeles to work in the music industry and fel...

This interview is with Avery Hadley of Gala Creative Agency. In this interview, Avery talks about his young company and what it aims to do for hospitality-based clients. Avery talks about after graduating from Oregon State University, he sent out 380 applications in search for a job. Originally from Salem, Avery knew some local businesses that he was able to photograph for and eventually manage th...

This interview is with Diego Valeri of Conur Wines. In this interview, Diego talks about his journey of becoming a professional soccer player with the Portland Timbers and eventually creating his own wine company. Diego talks about how creating a wine company was not actually his idea, but his wife, Florencia’s scheme. However, Diego planned to wait until he retired to begin the endeavor. After ni...

This interview is with Jim Maresh of Arterberry Maresh. In this interview, Jim talks about growing up on the family farm, becoming interested in wine, and starting his own wine label. Jim talks about his family’s history in Dundee. His grandparents Jim and Loie purchased the property on Worden Hill Road in 1959 and began planting many different crops. Jim’s dad, Fred Arterberry, met his mom, Marth...

This interview is with Emily Rozga of Soter Vineyards. Emily is originally from Santa Rosa, California, and talks about growing up around food, agriculture, and the outdoors. She shares how those early interests led her to attend Cal Poly with the focus on wine and viticulture, initially believing winemaking would be her future. Through internships, harvest experiences, and working in tasting room...

This interview is with Wayne Oppenheimer of A Great Oregon Wine Tour and WineUp. Wayne is originally from Seattle, Washington, and was raised in Beaverton, Oregon. He talks about first becoming interested in wine in his early twenties after attending a tasting and realizing how different wines could be from one another. The curiosity led him to dive deeper into what he describes as “liquid geograp...

This interview is with Jay Pscheidt of Oregon State University. In this interview, Jay talks about how he came to be in Oregon, transitioning from studying potatoes to all kinds of woody perennials. Jay talks about his journey from pre-med to bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin. After attending a lecture by a plant pathologist, he realized he could apply all his newfound knowledge for the...

This interview is with Anna Jesse of Forest Hills Farms, a third-generation farmer helping lead a family operation that has grown from strawberry fields in the 1950s into thousands of acres producing blueberries, wine grapes, corn, and other crops across Oregon.  Anna is from Cornelius, Oregon, and talks about growing up in Forest Hills Farms, spending years working in vineyards and agriculture, a...

This interview is with Davis Palmer of McMenamins Edgefield Winery. In this interview, Davis talks about his early fascination with fermentation leading him to working at McMenamins in beer production. Working in a variety of brewpubs within the company allowed him to work on honing the house style while also experimenting with new fun recipes. He talks about being intrigued by winemaking and view...

This interview is with Morgan White of Amaterra. In this interview, Morgan talks about her career in the wine industry, from moving to Oregon without having a harvest job lined up to becoming the winemaker at Amaterra. Morgan shares about going to the University of Florida for physiology & kinesiology with plans of becoming a physical therapist. After graduation, she and a friend visited Mendo...

This interview is with John Platt of Helvetia Winery. In this interview, John talks about moving off a houseboat to Helvetia, planting grapes, and expanding his business into a winery. John shares about moving to the Helvetia area after a piece of land came up for sale and meeting with an extension agent to determine what kinds of crops he should plant. Among the list was grapes, which John and hi...