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Williams sells a fine family wine
Doug Flanagan/Post-Register
Allan Williams appreciates the Jack Jones family’s rich farming heritage in the Quincy Valley.
The coming year could be the best ever for the Jones of Washington winery, and that’s saying something, considering the fact that its sales were up 100 percent in 2009 over the previous year.
Allan Williams, the winery’s director of sales and marketing, is excited about the possibilities for the winery as it aims to expand its scope for the first time.
The winery, which has been in operation since 2001, hopes to gain distribution rights in Oregon and California in 2010. Williams said distributorships in Washington, D.C, Virginia and Florida are also interested in possibly importing the Jones brand to the East Coast.
Four of the new wines that Jones introduced in 2009 will also return this year with increased supply to meet the demand that caused the varieties — a pinot gris, a viognier, a chardonnay and a syrah rosé — to sell out quickly. The winery is also planning on introducing two new labels this year, an ice wine and a new red blend.
Also, the winery will be part of a local alliance to bring an official American Viticultural Association designation to the Ancient Lakes area in an effort to promote local tourism.
For Williams, there’s a lot to look forward to. Despite the fact that he didn’t necessarily seek out a life in wine as a youngster, he has learned to embrace what used to be a hobby as his profession, and, on the surface it would seem to be a great job: he gets to go around telling people how great Jones of Washington wine is.
“But since it’s such a high-quality wine, it’s easier for me because sometimes it sells itself,” Williams said. “Once the wine hits the glass, that’s the key for me. Once they recognize the quality, it’s easier to sell it. I really feel fortunate to be able to work for the Jones family. They own their own vineyards, so they have control of the wine that I’m selling. And whenever there’s a question, it’s easy to find somebody with the right answer as opposed to working for a corporation.”
Williams began working for Jones in 2007 as an agent and took the director of sales and marketing position last year.
“I get to tell the story about the wine and the Jones family,” Williams said. “It’s really a compelling story, too — they had planted grapes that weren’t contracted, so they started their own winery. They say that the quality of a wine is due to the quality of the farm, and that’s one of the reasons our wine is so good. Often, somebody can come into the tasting room and meet one of the Jones family members right there, and that isn’t the case in a lot of places.
“Greg (Jones) does a great job growing the wine, Victor Palencia does a great job making the wine and Megan (Jones) did a great job packaging everything together.”
Williams was born in Cottage Grove, Ore., and moved with his family to Pendleton, Ore., when he was a youngster. He attended Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton before working first in agriculture and later beverage and wine distribution in Pendleton, Seattle and Spokane before relocating to the Quincy Valley in 1992.
Williams worked for four distributorships before taking the Jones job.
“Wine had always been a hobby for my wife and I. We always had an appreciation,” he said. “I had some friends in the business, and things went from there. I got my first distributorship job in Spokane and stuck with it. It’s like they say — do what you live and it all works out.”
