Winemaker, The Four Graces
Tim Jones spent most of his life in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. He was born in Ashland, OR and grew up in Eureka, CA. Tim first became interested in winemaking while he was a student at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. On weekends, he would go wine tasting in the Yamhill and Dundee regions, but as a student, he had way more enthusiasm than money to buy wine. A BA degree in Spanish from Willamette gave Tim the opportunity to study wines abroad in Chile and Argentina. His growing passion for wine led him to winery harvest work in Sonoma County.
After a few years of working in wineries in Sonoma, Tim enrolled in classes at UC Davis to study viticulture and enology. While studying at Davis he worked weekends as a Tasting Room Manager for Fiddlehead Cellars. Tim met his wife, Katrina while pouring wine for Fiddlehead at a local event in Davis. A few years later, they both graduated from Davis and moved to Washington State.
The couple got married and spent the next five years in Eastern Washington. Tim worked for Ste. Michelle Wine Estates as a winemaker. He went back to school and earned an MBA at Washington State University, then moved to McMinnville last May. Along the way, the couple welcomed two sons into the world: Will and Benjamin.
Tim joined The Four Graces team in May of 2018. At a small winery like the Four Graces where there are only four of them working in the winery, each day is unique and challenging. “It has given me the chance to develop a close connection to the wine through all stages of the winemaking process. With our two estate vineyards at Doe Ridge and Foley Family Estate, we get to taste and compare some of the best grapes in the Willamette Valley”.
In his free time, Tim enjoys backpacking, cooking, pub-trivia, gardening, and he’s pretty good at hide-and-seek against a toddler.
