The Oregon Wine History Archive Podcast

Phaedra is also a DJ, and treated us to a set during the interview. Here is the tracklist:

1. Rameses III - For Jose Maria

2. Ben Bondy - 미안해 with Sunny

3. Purelink - Looked Me Right In The Eye

4. Susumu Yokota - Tears of a Poet

5. Woob - Amoeba

6. 吉村弘 - To-Ki-Me-Ki (Heart Beats)

7. Priori - Segue

8. Steve Jansen & Richard Barbieri - Light Years

9. Priori - Like It Shouldn't

10. blu - Dubmarine

11. Mister Water Wet, Memotone, Ben Bondy, AV Moves, Concave  - Hourglass

12. Saint Abdullah and Jason Nazary - Lost In Your Neck

13.  Woob - Pondlife

14. 吉村弘 - Hi-Mi-Tsu (Secret) (Prieto Mix)

15. Ben Bondy feat. Opheliaxz - XO Salt Llif3

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This interview is with Phaedra Brucato of Optimum Volume Wines.

Phaedra talks about her background growing up in Seattle and Southern Oregon and moving around a lot. She discusses studying at Tufts University, earning her BA and BFA, living abroad in China, and originally wanting to pursue art. Phaedra also shares how living in Boston and working in fine dining led her to develop an interest in wine and wine training.

Phaedra discusses her path deeper into the wine industry, including moving back to the West Coast, working a harvest in 2015, and how hands-on experience helped her understand wine more fully. She talks about moving to Portland in 2016, working in sales and restaurants, relocating to Kansas to work in distribution centers in 2020, and eventually moving back to Seattle in 2022 where she became a wine director at a restaurant before coming back to Portland where she currently lives. 

Later in the interview, Phaedra talks about her work with Optimum Volume Wines, her side career as a DJ, and even shares a fun fact about playing ambient music during the grapes fermentation. She also shares her interest in collaborating with other creatives and getting more involved in art moving forward.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at a maker space in Portland on January 15, 2026.

This interview is with Emily Howard of Hayward. In this interview, Emily talks about growing up in McMinnville, discovering wine, and helping to open restaurants in her hometown.

Emily talks about her first job in hospitality at Pizza Hut in McMinnville. She immediately fell in love with the fast-paced energy of the job and the variety of people she met and worked with.

Emily discusses becoming the wine buyer for El Gaucho in Portland. From this experience she began to focus on food and wine rather than restaurants in general. She spent some time working in London and Seattle before moving back to McMinnville and opening Thistle.

Later in the interview, Emily talks about meeting Kari Shaughnessy of Mac Market, and working together to open Hayward. Originally, Emily worked to design service protocols for the employees, and later she took on wine buying responsibilities as well.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Linfield University’s Nicholson Library on October 14, 2025.

This interview is with Taralyn and Cyler Varnum, with Varnum Vineyards. 

Taralyn and Cyler talk about their early lives and the paths that led them into wine, including Cyler’s background in agriculture, studying abroad, and working in tasting rooms, as well as Taralyn’s journey as a chemist and longtime teacher before transitioning into the wine industry full time.

Next, they discuss their journey as a couple, moving across different states, starting a family, and balancing work, education and winemaking before eventually settling in Oregon and purchasing their vineyard property.

Taralyn and Cyler talk about building Varnum Vineyards, opening their tasting room, experimenting with non-alcoholic wine, creating family-friendly products, and their goals for the future of the winery.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Varnum Vineyards in Amity on January 12, 2026.

This interview is with Kevin Bibler and Heather Anderson-Bibler, with HeaVin Estate Vineyard. They share how they found their way into the wine industry, their backgrounds growing up in the Pacific Northwest, and how family, education, and travel shared their pathway into winemaking.

Kevin and Heather talk about their journey into wine, including Kevin’s first time studying and traveling in Italy, Heather’s background in education, and counseling, and how both of them decided to leave their original careers to try something completely new together.

Next, they discuss building HeaVin Vineyard from the ground up, learning viticulture and winemaking along the way, managing harvests, producing their wines, and creating a tasting room experience that feels welcoming and fun for the community.

Kevin and Heather talk about their future plans for the vineyard, including expanding production, building a winery and distillery on their property, marketing their wines beyond just Oregon, and what excites them most about contuining to grow HeaVin.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at HeaVin Vineyard in Aumsville on January 14, 2026.

This interview is with David Harrelson, founder of Amaa Wines.

David talks about his background growing up in the Pacific Northwest, including being born in Eugene, Oregon, growing up in Tacoma, Washington,  before moving to Dundee, Oregon. He discusses his family, including his father being a mountaineer, spending much of his childhood outdoors, and how these experiences shape his connection to land and culture. David also talks about being an Indigenous tribal member and the importance of his cultural identity, traditions, and relationship to land. He discusses his work with his tribe, including working in cultural resource and later becoming a department manager. 

Next, David discusses his education and early career path. He talks about attending Lewis & Clarke College, being a rower, studying abroad in South Africa, and originally wanting to become a firefighter. He explains his time working seasonal fire jobs and how wine began as a side interest rather than a main career goal, also mentioning other experiences such as being a beekeeper. 

David also talks about his journey into winemaking. He explains how a trip to Georgia in 2019 was a turning point for him, inspiring his approach to wine and house wine traditions. David discusses the transition from making wine at hoe to producing wine commercially, using shared vineyard space. He reflects on the Oregon wine community being welcoming and expresses pride in being an Indigenous winemaker, hoping to see more Indigenous representation in the wine industry.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Linfield University’s Nicholson Library on January 7, 2026.

This conversation is with David Adelsheim about the 40th Anniversary or the Willamette Valley AVA. In this interview, David speaks about how the Willamette Valley AVA was established and dives into the intricate details of double petitions, nested AVAs, and the effect of the AVA on the wine industry. David finishes his interview by cheersing to 40 years of the Willamette Valley AVA. 

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt in the Nicholson Library at Linfield University on January 22, 2024.

This is a discussion with Harry Peterson-Nedry about the Willamette Valley’s recent Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) Status. In this interview, Harry speaks about how the status was attained, why it is important for Willamette Valley wines, and what it means for the future of Oregon wine. 

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Ridgecrest Vineyard in Ribbon Ridge on July 28, 2021.

This is a discussion with Harry Peterson-Nedry about the Willamette Valley’s recent Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) Status. In this interview, Harry speaks about how the status was attained, why it is important for Willamette Valley wines, and what it means for the future of Oregon wine. 

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Ridgecrest Vineyard in Ribbon Ridge on July 28, 2021.

This interview is with Ryan Clifford of Alloro Vineyard and The Allison. 

Ryan talks about his early life growing up in Detroit, Michigan, where he developed interests in biology, animals, and aquarium science, which later influenced in his interest in wine. 

Next, Ryan discusses his education and career path, including attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, moving to Portland, Oregon and studying wine at Chemeketa Community College, transferring to Oregon State University, and completing the WSET coursework at Linfield University.

Ryan also talks about his first harvest experience in the Willamette Valley, the pandemic and how it caused him to move back to Michigan, interrupting an internship, and eventually moving back to Oregon for a job at Élevée. He now works as an assistant winemaker for Alloro Vineyard and at The Allison as a sommelier for Jory.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Alloro Vineyard in Sherwood, Oregon on January 6, 2026.

This interview is with Mike Osborn of Willamette Valley Vineyards. In this interview, Mike talks about starting “wine.com” and later becoming the CEO of Willamette Valley Vineyards.

Mike shares about first becoming interested in wine through hospitality. While starting up software businesses, he would often go out to restaurants with clients or employers and drink wine.

Mike talks about this interest in wine leading him to start a wine database software to help others more easily find the wines they were looking for. What began as eVineyard.com later became wine.com, and what initially was a database of about 1,500 wines has now swelled to around 40,000 wines.

Later in the interview, Mike discusses becoming the CEO of Willamette Valley Vineyards. Through innovation and adapting to the current state of the industry, he hopes to improve Oregon’s claim over national wine markets both for WVV and for all Oregon brands.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Domaine Willamette in Dayton on December 16, 2025.