The Oregon Wine History Archive Podcast

This interview is with Ben Eyer and Stephanie Bojarski of Finite Cellars. In this interview, Stephanie and Ben talk about how their shared interest in wine began in graduate school. Ben was pursuing a Ph. D. in organic chemistry, and Stephanie was an engineering Ph. D. student.  They share their story of moving from Pennsylvania to Oregon, despite having no prior familiarity with the state—where B...

This interview is with Lisa Parks of Brut Wine Bar. In this interview, Lisa talks about her journey from working in crisis counseling and concert promotion to owning a wine bar and building community in Astoria, Oregon. Lisa shares about her time living in Denver and later moving to Oregon — her first time living on the West Coast. After years of working in psychology and event work, she wanted a...

This interview is with Thomas Houseman of Radiant Sparkling Wine Company. In this follow-up interview, Thomas talks about what he has been up to since we last spoke in 2018. Last time we spoke to Thomas he was working at Anne Amie as the winemaker. He was just starting to make sparkling wine and he worked with Radiant to bottle it.  Thomas talks about making the move to Michigan to make wine with...

This interview is with Tiquette Bramlett of Henderson Ave Wines. In this follow-up interview, Tiquette talks about what she has been up to since we last spoke in 2021 and her new wine label. Tiquette shares about her wine education and becoming a sommelier. In her class, she was most drawn to Oregon wines, and a mentor encouraged her to visit Oregon wine country. Tiquette talks about coming to the...

This interview is with Jody Bogle of Bogle Family Vineyards. In this interview, Jody talks about her family’s wine business and her time at Linfield. Jody shares about her family’s history of farming: her grandpa was an early wine pioneer in the Clarksburg region of California. Her parents started Bogle Family Vineyards in 1968, so she jokes that she never knew there was another career option outs...

This interview is with Jules Moseley of Harvest Moon Sangria Bar. In this interview, Jules talks about her work in the hospitality industry and how it led her to sangria. Jules shares about growing up in Newberg and working her first hospitality job at Jem 100, a classic diner in town. She loved working with people and “the instant gratification of a tip,” so she knew she wanted to stay in the ind...

This interview is with Patrick Spencer of the Natural Cork Council. In this interview, Patrick shares his journey from restaurants to wine to cork. Patrick was born and raised in Conneticut, where his parents owned a "classic American steakhouse." He was involved in the restaurant world early on, and in 2005 opened his own French restaurant in the Berkshires. In 2008, he moved to Oregon and was hi...

This interview is with Angela Gargano of Fresh Take Creative. In this interview, Angela talks about her journey to start her boutique marketing agency and some of the careers and hobbies she’s explored along the way. Angela shares about growing up in the midwest and working in her family’s fine-dining Italian restaurant. She remembers wine being very special to her family, and her dad asking her o...

This interview is with Jack Trenhaile of Hyland Estates. In this interview, Jack talks about becoming the vineyard manager at Hyland in McMinnville and his work over those 31 years. Jack shares about growing up on a farm in northeast Nebraska, attending a one-room schoolhouse until high school, and then leaving home to join the Air Force. In 1968, Jack and his wife moved so he could attend the Uni...

This interview is with Michael Bathurst of Vin de Garde. In this interview, Michael talks about starting his own wine importing business and his travels through France to meet producers. Michael shares about growing up in Detroit before moving to the west coast as an adult. He worked many years as a CPA and later with mergers and acquisitions, both in Portland and San Francisco. It was in SF that...

This interview is with Mike, Mary Ann, and Meara McNally of Fairsing Vineyard. In this interview, the McNally family talks about their move from Texas to Oregon, and the shift from grape growers to wine producers. Mike, Mary Ann, and Meara McNally share about moving to Oregon in 2005 in search of a new project. Mary Ann had studied wine at Grayson College in Texas, and she had visited Oregon sever...

This interview is with Anna Hanson of Granville Wine Co. In this interview, Anna talks about first getting into the wine scene in northwest Indiana and her eventual move to Oregon wine country. Anna shares about her first career in photo journalism and videography, in which she took pictures and videos of events in her hometown. She was also a concert promoter, taking that media and using it to sp...

This interview is with Eric Foster. In this interview, Eric talks about his experience working with several different wineries, including Keeler, Duke’s, Andante, and Left Coast. Eric shares about his introduction to the wine industry when a friend asked him to join the harvest crew at Keeler in 2017. After this, he worked another harvest at Duke’s and at Andante. Around that time, Eric was also a...

This interview is with Blair and L.J. Nicholas of LucidWild Estate. In this interview, Blair and L.J. talk about their life in California before wine and how they ended up owning a vineyard in Dundee. Before wine, L.J. worked in the fitness industry in operations and marketing, and Blair worked as a security fraud lawyer. They started becoming interested in wine as an alternative to other alcohols...

This interview is with Nick and Dana Blizzard of Blizzard Wines. In this interview, Nick and Dana talk about their entry into the wine industry after working office jobs in the city and their next steps planting their vineyard. Nick and Dana met in high school, went to college together, and then moved from office life into the wine industry. Dana had joined an amateur winemaking club with the desi...

This interview is with Megan Masterson of Daughter's Wine Shop. In this interview, Megan speaks about her early interest in wine, food, and hospitality and how she and her mother had always hoped to open a hospitality space together. Megan speaks about her life growing up and her college experience in Montreal. She then describes how she came to Oregon and how the idea for Daughter's began to take...

This interview is with Nicholas Caluori of Secus Wines. In this interview, Nicholas talks about his variety of experiences working wine harvests all around the world and how he started his own label. Nicholas shares about growing up in Kirkland, Washington, where his family owned an Italian restaurant. When he started working at the restaurant in the early 2000s, wine was starting to boom in the P...

This interview is with Rob Alstrin of Adelsheim Vineyard. In this interview, Rob talks about his initial career in tech, when wine sparked his interest, and how he made his passion his job. Rob shares about working for a semiconductor company both in the states and later in Australia. He first moved to Sydney in 1990 and would take weekend trips to the Hunter Valley wine region. After studying win...

This interview is with Lydia DeRoss of Beyond the Vine. In this interview, Lydia talks about how her passion for wine was sparked and how that passion drove her to leave the world of accounting to join the wine industry. Lydia shares about growing up in Tumalo, Oregon, and starting a career in accounting. After an initial interest in wine, she took a WSET class with Linfield in 2020 in order to le...

This interview is with Luisa Ponzi of Ponzi Vineyards. In this interview, Luisa talks about growing up in the wine industry and finding her own place in it. Luisa shares about what it was like to grow up in the early Oregon wine industry, making friends with other kids in wine families and others not really understanding what her family did. Though she originally went to school for biology to ente...

This interview is with Jacques Lardière of Résonance Wines. In this interview, Jacques speaks about his early introduction to wine and his passion for the science behind winemaking. He then talks about the Oregon part of his career, after 40 years working for the Jadot family in Burgundy. He speaks on how Jadot found and acquired Résonance and how the project has gone so far. And he talks about th...

This interview is with Bailey Mayer of Proteus Wines. In this interview, Bailey talks about how he ended up owning a vineyard in Oregon and what he has learned in the process. Bailey shares about growing up in Colorado and attending the University of Colorado in Boulder to get a degree in finance and accounting. Shortly after, he moved to Philadelphia and worked in bank regulatory compliance for 2...

This interview is with Michael Krikorian of Bottle Bodega. In this interview, Michael talks about his experience working in various restaurants and how his passion for wine has grown. Michael shares about growing up in Montana on his family’s 6,000 acre farm. In 1998 he moved to the west coast, where he spent 11 years working at a San Francisco restaurant called The Cove. When the owners opened an...

This interview is with Mike Bacus of Bacus Vineyards. In this interview, Mike talks about his early career in computer programming and databases and how he made the transition into the wine industry. Mike shares about growing up in Chicago while his dad worked as a biomedical engineer. This led to an interest in biotech engineering, which was his focus in college. After helping to develop a progra...

This interview is with Lauren Clark of Bergström Wines. In this interview, Lauren talks about how she got into wine and why she wants to continue learning. Lauren shares about growing up in central California in an agricultural region, and how it was always part of her life. She moved to Oregon to attend Oregon State University, get out of California, and get away from agricultural work. Instead,...