The Oregon Wine History Archive Podcast

This interview is with Evan Rose, a winemaker at Stoller Family Estate. In this interview, Evan talks about his early love for wine and how his passion paved his career path. Evan shares about his childhood and growing up in Ohio. He dives into how he stumbled upon wine at the ripe young age of fifteen and has never looked back. He goes on to talk about his first wine job as a kid and how his wine...

This interview is with DJ Cook of Stoller Wine Group. In this interview, DJ speaks about growing up with a passion for plants and learning horticulture and botany. A chance to work with grapevines sparked his interest and he talks about how he pursued viticulture in California and New Zealand. A desire to come back to Oregon brought him first to Archery Summit and then to Stoller. He speaks about...

This interview is with K'Sondra Fredrickson of Stoller Wine Group. In this interview, K'Sondra speaks about finding an enthusiasm for wine while working in a tasting room, and then a passion once she started to work in production.  From there she talks about working at various places in California and New Zealand, including work in a research winery. She discusses how she had desired to come back...

This interview is with David and Angela Anderson of Syndicate Wine Bar. In this interview, David and Angela talk about their lives and journey to opening Syndicate.  David, a Linfield Alumni, talks about his early life and his memories of finding wine. He then goes on to share about his career in web design. Angela talks about her time as a business student and her early career related to escrow....

This interview is with Doug Shumaker of Shumaker Vineyards. In this interview, Doug speaks about his early life and interest in farming, followed by his career in medicine. He discusses an interest in having a vineyard and producing wine, which factored in the decision to purchase a house that had potential vineyard land. From there, he talks about planting his vines and starting the brand, includ...

This interview is with Jesse Lange, head winemaker of Lange Estate. In this interview, Jesse shares about his experience growing up around wine and how he paved his own path in the industry. Jesse talks about finding his own passion for wine and how it first centered around agriculture and the vines. He shares about his time attending OSU and a sister university in New Zealand. He then goes on to...

This interview is with Ursula McCabe. In this interview, Ursula talks about the early Portland wine scene and her role as a trailblazing wine saleswoman. Ursula shares how she got into wine through restaurants and talks about the burgeoning Portland wine and restaurant scene of the seventies. Ursula also dives into the adaptation of these industries and their consumers over the years. She then goe...

This interview is with Sam Ecenia of Antiquum Farm. In this interview, Sam speaks about his early work in wine, which took him to California, Oregon, and New Zealand. He then talks about finding his way to Littorai Wines in California and the transformative educational experience he had working for Ted Lemon there. He discusses his evolving winemaking philosophy and his efforts in organic and biod...

This interview is with Cassandra Beldowicz of Corcilla Cellars. In this interview, Cassandra shares her journey to becoming a winemaker and owning and creating Corcilla Cellars. Cassandra talks about growing up in Washington, and how she found her way to the East Coast during her first career. She shares about being a nurse for about twelve years and how she found a passion for wine when she was t...

This interview is with Dean Sandifer of Domaine Coteau. In this interview, Dean speaks about being bitten by the wine bug while living and working in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. He talks about his early home winemaking and co-owning a wine shop while living there, in addition to some of the aeronautical computer work he was doing for the US Navy. He then discusses how he came to Oregon and looke...

This interview is with Pilar Oun. In this interview, Pilar talks about her family's business, Lemma Wines, and her transition from working in the wine industry to becoming a consumer.  Pilar shares about being raised around wine. She talks about how her parents were involved in the industry and how that influenced her career path. She goes on to talk about her upward movement within Lemma Wines, a...

This interview is with Ariel Daly of Adelsheim Vineyard. In this interview, Ariel speaks about her career in acting in New York and her introduction to wine through working in restaurants. From there, she talks about her move to Oregon and her decision to dive into viticulture and vineyard management. From courses at Chemeketa Community College to internships to full-time work, she talks about the...

This interview is with Ashley Leonard of InnoVint. In this interview, Ashley speaks about going to UC Davis and learning the technical side of winemaking before working in a number of California wineries in production and management roles. She then discusses her pivot into technology and her growing desire to build technology to help wineries. From there she talks about the creation and growth of...

This interview is with Shardul Ghogale of Left Coast Estate. In this interview, Shardul speaks about his career in wine and how he has always found upward movement and success.  Shardul shares about growing up in Canada and how he fell in love with flavors and scents through his father’s involvement with the mint industry. He goes on to talk about how this passion paved his path into the wine indu...

This interview is with Dave Holstrom of Guy du Vin. In this interview, Dave speaks about his career in restaurants, from line cook to general manager. He discusses all the places he lived and worked, and the trials and tribulations of restaurant management. From there, he talks about working more in wine, from creating and running wine programs to fixing ones that were broken. He speaks about comi...

This interview is with Andria Shirk of Laelaps Wine. In this interview, Andria talks about finding her passion for wine and the journey that led her to become a winemaker.  Andria shares about being born and raised in Portland by her parents who were part of the show-business industry. She dives into being a Jazz singer in Japan and eventually a Madonna impersonator. She then goes on to talk about...

This interview is with Hari and Paru Mahesh of Smera Vineyard. In this interview, Hari and Paru speak about their early life in India, their move to the United States, and their work in engineering and technology before discovering an interest in wine. From there, Hari and Paru talk about finding the Willamette Valley and searching for their home and vineyard there, as well as getting the vineyard...

This interview is with Jeffrey Weissler of Pairings Portland Wine Shop & Bar. In this interview, Jeffrey talks about his relationship with wine and his winding path to owning and opening his own shop. Jeffrey shares about his first interactions with wine, which centered around dinner and tasting everything on the table. He goes on to talk about how his passion for wine grew and shaped some of...

This interview is with Amira Makansi of Stoller Wine Group. In this interview, Amira speaks about discovering wine and getting excited initially about wine production. She talks about her first wine internship at Benton Lane Winery in 2010, and about discovering her love of the Willamette Valley From there, she also talks about her parallel career as a successful author - first writing a trilogy w...

This interview is with Laurent Percheron of Andante Vineyard. In this interview, Laurent speaks about growing up in France and around wine, but never anticipating it being his path in life. He then talks about his first wine experience and diving headlong into viticulture and enology. From there, Laurent talks about traveling to work in wine, meeting his wife Erin, and eventually coming to Oregon....

This interview is with Erin Percheron of Andante Vineyards. In this interview, Erin speaks about learning about wine, first on the tasting room side and later in production after graduating from the University of Oregon. After working in a tasting room, she found a passion for wine and diverted into winemaking. She talks about traveling around the world to work on harvests, and eventually meeting...

This interview is with Dustin Wyant of Park & Main restaurant. In this interview, Dustin speaks about following a hospitality path that led him to starting a restaurant in Carlton. After an early career selling wine at Willamette Valley Vineyards, Dustin talks about running the food and hospitality program at a resort in Glacier National Park and all the lessons he learned there.  After return...

This interview is with Andy Fortgang of Le Pigeon, Canard and Flor. In this interview, Andy speaks about growing up in New York City and developing an interest in food, wine, and restaurants. He describes how he came to work at Gramercy Tavern and how that launched his career. Later, Andy talks about how he came to Portland, and became involved with Le Pigeon Restaurant and later Little Bird, Cana...

This interview is with Mark Gotelli of Heavenly Creatures. In this interview, Mark talks about his life and love for all things wine and poetry.  Mark shares about his early life and growing up in the suburbs of California. He goes on to talk about how he discovered his passion and love for wine. He dives into how it was not one moment where he fell in love with wine, rather it was through wine's...

This interview is with Jillian Bradshaw of Beaux Frères. In this interview, Jillian talks about her journey in finding Oregon and wine.  Jillian dives into her early life and growing up in New York. She shares about her early desires to live in a city and how those desires eventually shifted. Jillian goes on to talk about how she ended up in Oregon thanks to her now husband. She then talks about f...