Interview
This interview is with Travis Culley, a Linfield grad and local wine industry veteran. In this interview, Travis talks about attending Linfield in the 90s, beginning to work at Nick’s Italian Cafe the week before he started his freshman year, and all his adventures since then.
Travis talks about being introduced to wine through Riesling while his dad was in the Air Force and his family lived in Germany. They later moved to Weston, OR near Pendleton, and Travis came to Linfield in 1990. The week before classes started, his roommate took him to Nick’s Italian Cafe to help clean up the kitchen. He ended up working there for the next 11 years.
Travis discusses his involvement with IPNC and how he ended up in the background of a very famous picture outside of Nick’s. During a dinner with dozens of influential winemakers sometime in the late 90s, everyone gathered outside the restaurant to take a picture, and Travis stood on a chair on the other side of the window to be included.
Later in the interview, Travis talks about going wine tasting at various local wineries on Thanksgiving and Memorial Day weekends to visit places that sold wine to Nick’s. It was through these tastings that he started working holiday weekends at Archery Summit and WillaKenzie, and for the last 27 years at Belle Pente Winery.
This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Linfield University’s Nicholson Library on January 26, 2026.
Interview
This interview is with Brian and Jill O’Donnell of Belle Pente Winery. In this interview, the O’Donnells discuss how they decided to get into winemaking, their first impressions of the Oregon wine industry (a very supportive, inclusive environment), as well as the learning curves/challenges that came with their jobs. They also go on to speak about how they came up with Belle Pente— the couple wanted a name that was strongly connected to its place with an old world feel that accurately reflected their wine. Brian speaks about his winemaking philosophy and how it has evolved over time, while Jill talks about her business philosophy. The couple acknowledge that they love to do business with people who want to have a personal relationship with them since they are a small operation. Towards the end of the interview, both touch upon the future of Belle Pente, as well as the Oregon Wine industry as it continues to change and evolve.
This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at the Nicholson Library at Linfield College on April 6, 2019.