B. Kiley Evans - Winemaker

I’m 38 years old, married to an incredible woman, Karen, with no children and two delightful dogs, Widget the black Lab and Gustavo the Chihuahua. I’m originally from the Florida panhandle, a small resort town called Destin. My wife, Karen, is a Navy brat born in San Diego, who I met in Destin.

I got the wine bug in 1988 at a dinner party over a bottle of 1986 Opus One. Thus bitten I dove headlong into the restaurant business where I rapidly developed a passion for all things wine. I spent the first few years of my restaurant career in Pensacola, FL, learning as much as I could absorb about the complex nuances of wine, how wine should be tasted, what defines quality, and how wine and food complement each other before returning to Destin in 1994.

Upon my relocation I spent two years at Marina Café, a locally high-profile DiRoNA and Wine Spectator award-winning restaurant known for what I call “Florida-style” dining, innovative uses of fresh ingredients, and a high quality, if somewhat limited, wine selection. Proprietor Jim Altamura, a devoted wine enthusiast and collector, furthered my education on wine quality through exploration of some of the more “obscure” wine regions and styles. He was also responsible for helping me understand the meaning of “terroir” and how to taste it in wine. Jim gave me the opportunity to understand through research, study, and tasting how to evaluate wine quality based not only on correctness but also varietal typicity and authenticity. Initially I was directly involved in the general orientation, education and training of staff, but as my talents grew I assumed a somewhat more involved role with special emphasis on wine tasting, proper wine etiquette, detailed wine education and wine list composition as well as food pairings.

In 1996 I left Marina Café to assume an even more wine-specific position with Seagar’s Prime Steaks and Seafood at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort and Spa. Seagar’s, a very traditional steakhouse and quite the opposite of Marina Café, is also a DiRoNA and Wine Spectator award-winning restaurant and has received multiple four star ratings from various writers and reviewing agencies. During my four year tenure as Head Sommelier Seagar’s transformed from a somewhat typical restaurant experience into a unique, luxury dining atmosphere with heavy emphasis on interesting wines, both new and old of character and substance from traditional and avant-garde global wine regions. Perhaps my most enjoyable time at Seagar’s was pairing those wines with our immaculately prepared fresh, local ingredients. Again, I was directly responsible for all wine-related education and training of the staff (20-30 servers and four other Sommeliers) as well as overall management of the restaurant’s wine program.

In 1997 I hosted a winemaker dinner as Seagar’s Head Sommelier with Jeff Myers, then winemaker and now General Manager at Montevina winery in the Sierra Foothills. After dinner I had the opportunity to spend a bit of time with him over some Cognac and a cigar and just peppered him with questions regarding wine production, the wine industry from the production side, and how to best move in that direction should I choose that path. Jeff was very enthusiastic to say the least. He offered his thoughts on the wine industry, how the industry was changing, how I should look at my role in the industry as a Sommelier, and what he saw as the best route to gain entrance into wine production. He also was my first opportunity to really meet and get to know a graduate of the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology. Jeff was a valuable source of information on the program and immensely helpful in providing pragmatic information on UCD, the V & E program, and the production end of the wine business.

During my second year at Seagar’s I had a mental change of career direction while my wife was finishing her college studies and began looking into other ways of continuing my wine education. I investigated several sommelier-related avenues which would have meant continued late nights and holidays working, which didn’t agree with my family life. I thought about getting into direct sales with either an individual winery or distributor or even possibly starting my own distribution company. What I finally discovered was that I was tired of being in direct sales, but I was still quite enamored with wine and its personalities.

After much deliberation I finally decided that what I really wanted to do was production. Once my career track was settled and with Jeff’s advice in mind I began researching the best way to accomplish this goal. I found many book sources of information on winemaking and viticulture and the most common attribute I found among the authors was an education at the UC Davis. Armed with this knowledge, I began to research other educational facilities that offer a program of study in Viticulture and Enology. I found many more than I suspected. My shortlist of choices consisted of UC Davis, Cal State Fresno, and Cornell in the US and the University of Adelaide in Australia and Lincoln University in New Zealand. The foreign schools were a consideration since much of my wife’s family still resides in Christchurch, NZ.

After a winter visit to California to investigate campuses I determined that the only place I wanted to be was UC Davis. Upon returning home to Florida I began corresponding with the Faculty Advisor (Judy Blevins) for the Department of Viticulture and Enology at UCD with whom I developed a quick friendship trying to get everything in place. What we discovered was that I could either move to Davis to start my studies immediately or my wife and I could continue to live in Florida while Karen finished at the University of West Florida and I could complete my first two years of study locally.

We decided to stay in Florida where the tuition was significantly less expensive and I attended a local community college to complete the prerequisites that would facilitate my transfer to UCD as a junior. With the help of Judy at UCD and my local faculty advisor I created a completely unique pre-Agriculture course of study that had never been done before and graduated With Honors in 2000. After sending in my application for admission I began to regularly check the UCD website in anticipation. I’ll never forget the night I returned home from work and asked Karen if she had checked the UCD website for early admissions. She said “No, I haven’t.” I went into our home office, checked the website, and let out a tremendous yell. Karen still says she couldn’t believe it, but at that moment she knew that somehow we were moving to California.

We spent just under two years living in Sacramento while I attended UCD. I graduated fourth in my class with a double major in Viticulture and Enology with a Plant Biology emphasis.

I met Earl and Hilda in January of 2002. They placed an ad in a publication I received electronically listing an Assistant Winemaker position. I had already sent out a few resumes and wanted to interview with as many people as possible since I hadn’t really interviewed for a job in some 10 years. I sent my resume to Abacela early one morning before I went to class. Hilda got it and immediately called Earl since he was in Sacramento for a Symposium. When I returned home from school that afternoon I had a message from Earl that he was in town and wanted to meet. We had a long lunch the next day, my wife and I came to Abacela for another interview and to meet Hilda and a few other people in the Umpqua Valley that February, and made the move from California to Oregon in June of 2002.

I spent my first two years at Abacela as Assistant Winemaker where I blended and finished some of the 2000 vintage wines and all of the 2001 vintage wines. I was promoted to Associate Winemaker at the end of my second year and was promoted to Winemaker in June 2005 at the end of my third year. In that short time I have been fortunate enough to make wine from over 20 different grape varieties grown in several distinctive soils and many different exposures. I’ve also been provided the opportunity to blend, bottle, and taste estate wines from varietals such as Tempranillo, Malbec, Grenache, Dolcetto, Bastardo, Nebbiolo, Petite Verdot, Albarino, and Viognier. In itself this opportunity doesn’t sound particularly special until the Oregon part of the equation is included and then these varietals and wines become even more exciting. I think the fact that Earl and Hilda are so open minded toward experimentation in both the vineyard and winery is what I enjoy most about Abacela. I’m confident and proud of the quality we produce, but most importantly I’m constantly looking for ways to improve.

When I stop to contemplate how things have changed for me and my family over the last few years I shake my head in near disbelief. I am truly living out a dream and can’t imagine ever doing anything else.

B. Kiley Evans
Abacela Winery
Roseburg, OR