Oral History Interview with Jonathan Oberlander

This interview is with Jonathan Oberlander of J. Scott Cellars. In this interview, Jonathan speaks about his time before wine, back when he was a self-described “surf bum.” He talks about his first job out of college as a wine and spirits distributer, which exposed him to the idea of winemaking as a career. Jonathan discusses his decision to enroll in the winemaking school at Cal State Fresno and what the wine education contained. Later, Jonathan describes post-grad life working as assistant winemaker with Bernardus and later at Silvan Ridge. He also shares what it is like running his own brand, his interest for variety, and his experience working with over 30 varietals.

This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at the J. Scott Cellars tasting room in Eugene on July 13, 2022.