The Oregon Wine History Archive Podcast

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 University of Hawaii, where he worked for a bookstore and started a hobby farm in their backyard.

Jack talks about moving back to Oregon in 1973, purchasing a farm in McMinnville, and hearing about “the vineyard up the hill.” After meeting the four owners of Hyland Orchard, as it was known originally, Jack became the vineyard manager on January 3, 1976.

Jack shares the early days of the Oregon wine industry, including working with other pioneers to prune and trellis the vineyard, attending monthly meetings at the Tigard Fire Hall, and digging up one of the first vines known to be infected with phylloxera. Jack was president of the company at the time of the sale in 2007.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Jack’s home in Newberg on September 10, 2025.

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 he joined a wine tasting group and his interest was sparked.

Michael talks about starting to work for another importer and beginning to travel to Europe to meet producers. When he felt like it was time to start his own business, Vin de Garde (“cellar-worthy”) was born. He speaks to the differences between US and European producers and the importance of knowing who you’re working with.

Later in the interview, Michael shares what he sees for the future of the wine industry, both locally and internationally. He sees that many people now purchase wine online rather than in bottle shops and how that shift is changing the game for importers.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Michael's home in Portland on August 26, 2025.

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 several times to see family and taste wine.

The family talks about the process of bringing the vineyard online, building their family home, and later starting to make wine from their estate fruit. In 2016, they opened their new tasting room and welcomed the public. Their brand, Fairsing, means “bountiful” or “wide vista” in the Irish language.

Later in the interview, Mike, Mary Ann, and Meara talk about their various hobbies including gardening, beekeeping, and Irish dancing. They also talk about their work with various sustainability projects and Mike’s work with the Willamette Valley Wine Foundation.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Fairsing Vineyard in Yamhill on August 25, 2025.

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 spread the word about which bands were coming to town.

After her friend opened a wine bar, she started working there and even  managed it for several years, allowing her to taste wine from all over the world. She was hooked, and in 2019 she moved to New Zealand to work at a winery called Huia.

Later in the interview, Anna talks about moving back to the States right before NZ shut down in 2020 and coming to Oregon shortly thereafter to work at Johan Vineyards. She also worked at Sequitur before finally landing at Granville. She speaks to the various learning experiences she has had at each vineyard, and the importance of sharing that winery’s story.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Granville Wine Co. in Dundee on August 20, 2025.

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 attending Oregon State to study earth science and oceanography.

Later in the interview, Eric discusses his more recent cellar job at Left Coast and what it was like to work in the cellar full-time rather than just during harvest. He also talks about his passion for the rehabilitation of the oak savannah ecosystem, which Left Coast devotes a portion of their land to.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Erratic Rock State Park in McMinnville on August 19, 2025.

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, and soon began traveling internationally to taste and learn more.

After starting a backyard vineyard in San Diego, Blair and L.J. came to IPNC to experience the Willamette Valley. They quickly fell in love with the area and decided to invest in a vineyard.

Later in the interview, Blair and L.J. talk about the process of taking over what is now the LucidWild Estate, what went into designing the new tasting room and all its unique spaces, and what they hope guests take away from their experience.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at LucidWild in Dundee on August 19, 2025.

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 desire to make a physical product that she could share with people. Her parents already owned a vineyard, which she managed in exchange for the fruit. After going back to school through Chemeketa to learn more about winemaking, she and her husband started their winemaking operation in her parents’ garage.

Nick grew up in wine country, living across the street from the Ponzis. When Dana started to develop an interest in winemaking, he also expressed a desire to join the industry. He talks about discovering a love for the Carménère varietal and helping to source fruit from Eastern Washington. He also designed their tasting room and production space that now sits on Dana’s family vineyard.

Later in the interview, Nick and Dana talk about their newest project, Blizzard Ridge, and the planning that goes into planting a vineyard. They also share about the future of their sparkling wine program.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Blizzard Wines in Hillsboro on August 18, 2025.

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 shape.

Later, she talks about the space, the events, and the wines/people she is working with. She speaks about the unique challenges of Gearhart and about what the future might hold for her and her shop.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt on August 13, 2025 at Daughter's Wine Shop in Gearhart.

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 Pacific Northwest, and he had to know about wine in order to better serve guests.

While originally he was more interested in beer, Nicholas and his mom took a course with the Court of Master Sommeliers to understand more about wine. Many of his friends in the area worked in wine, so he joined a harvest at Betz Family Winery in 2015. After that, he worked harvests in New Zealand, California, Chile, and finally Burgundy before coming back to Washington.

Later in the interview, Nicholas talks about moving to Oregon as the wine scene seemed more “punk rock.” While working at Limited Addition, he started his own wine experiments that would later set the stage for his label. In 2024, he released his first vintage of Secus (which means “to the contrary”) Wines which included a Riesling and a Syrah.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Linfield University’s Nicholson Library on August 15, 2025.

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 wine marketing at the University of Adelaide, he returned stateside to find a job in wine.

While working with a distributor to adapt their computer programs to automate warehouse functions, Rob met many people from Oregon who were excited about wine. He traveled to Oregon in 1999 for IPNC and quickly fell in love with the wine region.

Later in the interview, Rob talks about moving to Oregon and starting his first job at Domaine Serene in 2001. He left in 2005 to start his own business, a wine brokerage called Northwest Core Collective, and held a few other positions in the industry before starting at Adelsheim in May 2020.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Adelsheim Vineyard in Newberg on August 14, 2025.