The Mystery & Mastery of Winemaking
Produced in partnership by the Dundee Hills Winegrowers Association and Travel Dundee.
There’s an undeniable magic in winemaking—a dance between winemaker and nature that unfolds over time as grapes are pressed, fermented, bottled, and aged. Tim Jones, winemaker at The Four Graces in the Willamette Valley’s Dundee Hills, has spent over two decades immersed in this craft, captivated by the juxtaposition of scientific processes alongside nature’s unexplainable influence. “As a learner, it’s exciting,” he says. “I don’t always know what’s happening as my wines age and improve. There’s still a mystery; no matter how much you study or learn, winemaking is still a mystery.”
Jones’ journey into wine began far from the Dundee Hills. Post-collegiate travels led him to South America, where he first fell in love with the industry. A single harvest sealed the deal. “It was all the things I wanted: collaborative, hard physical work, geeky science, connected to nature and the seasons and the ground.” From that moment on, he was bitten by the wine bug and hasn’t looked back.
Since 2018, he’s led the winemaking team at Four Graces, which recently relocated to The Grange next to The Black Walnut Inn. With a new, state-of-the-art tasting room and floor-to-ceiling windows highlighting near 360-degree views of the entire Dundee Hills, it is a stunning place to experience these celebrated wines. With on-site chefs and an open kitchen surrounded by a chef’s table, guests can also book the Sip & Savor experience, or Anthology, the 10-course seasonal tasting menu with wine pairings spanning local to global vintages selected by their sommelier.
His approach to winemaking is rooted in patience, intuition, and a deep respect for the process. “We’re stewarding these grapes on their journey to wine, much the same as we do with kids,” he explains. Multiple decades of winemaking experience have taught him which barrels will automatically thrive and which need more guidance and involvement from him. “Wines go through those same evolutions where they’re really, really, really sweet when they’re young, and then they go through that funky, awkward adolescent phase before they evolve into a truly beautiful vintage.”
For Jones, the Dundee Hills is an extraordinary place to make wine, not just because of its storied history but because of its risk-taking spirit. “Winemaking is about risk, and I’ve seen that throughout the Dundee Hills’ history,” he says. “The growth of the AVA has come from the chances the founders took. And because every year and vintage is different here, we maintain that inclination toward risk: to be open-minded and willing to be surprised every year.”
Despite his years of experience, Jones knows winemaking will never be something he fully masters—and that’s precisely why he loves it. “In my 20-plus years doing this, I’ve come to believe winemakers have less control, especially in the Willamette Valley, over the final product than we may care to admit,” he says. “No matter how many vintages I have, there are surprises. It keeps me coming back.”
Photos by Molly Bailey
