Sustainability in winemaking is key for econ alum

‘I didn’t think getting an economics degree from the University of Colorado would lead to me driving a tractor through a vineyard’

By Laura Kriho

As Yogi Berra said, "If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else."

For Jess Havill, that “somewhere else” turned out to be Bella Grace Vineyards in the Shenandoah Valley of California, a winery owned and operated by his parents.



When Havill started at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2005, his goal was to study economics with the hopes of landing a job in the financial sector. When the economy collapsed in 2008, he found his job prospects very limited.

After he graduated in 2009 with a B.A. in economics with a quantitative emphasis, Havill had a series of jobs in sales and investment real estate. While he was at CU, his parents purchased a California vineyard as a way to keep them busy in their retirement. In 2013, they convinced Havill to come to California to work for the family vineyard.

“It’s quite a different business than I think I’ve ever been a part of before,” Havill remarks. “It keeps you on your toes.”

Bella Grace Vineyard is unique in its focus on sustainable farming practices. Havill explains that their goal is to be 95 percent sustainable in their operations. They use organic compost, plant off-season crops in every other row and mow the trimmings back into the soil in the spring.

Havill adds, “Almost all of our red wines are aged and stored in a wine cave.”

Since their man-made cave is the perfect temperature for storing wine, a consistent 58-60 degrees, it helps reduce electricity usage. Construction of the cave was a major undertaking: The cave reaches back 80 to 90 feet into the side of the hill in a horseshoe shape, and its construction required removing 650 tons of solid granite.

“It’s very important to us to be environmentally positive,” Havill declares. “The cave is a win-win. We want to lessen our impacts, as well as reduce costs. In the long-term, the cave will actually pay for itself by reducing energy costs.”

The wine club at Bella Grace Vineyards is the focus of Havill’s sales efforts. They ship wine through the mail all across the country. “Our wine club has grown dramatically, probably twice as much as it was when we started,” he states.

Havill says the connections he made at CU-Boulder were one of the most important things during his time in school.

He asserts, “The camaraderie of classmates, friends and fraternity brothers was so central to my time at CU.”



Coincidentally, one of his fraternity brothers, Alex Kanzler, is also now in the family wine business in California. (See feature story on Alex Kanzler.)

Havill’s CU connections have helped him expand the wine club and promote the vineyard in many places.

“I’ve called on a lot of my friends from CU to help me look at restaurants and places in southern California, San Francisco and Arizona to distribute Bella Grace wine,” he observes. “I’d love to get the wine into Colorado because I love visiting Colorado.”

Without the CU connections, “I never would actually have the ability to even get in the door. But with the right connections, I get to sit down and talk with people that are much higher-up in their distributorship,” he says.



Havill also appreciated the academic climate on campus and enjoyed being intellectually challenged. “I visited a lot of different colleges, and found that CU-Boulder is more unique, more open and offers more opportunity to provide an individual a rounded education.”

“I came to CU from Indiana in with a pretty conservative viewpoint and was able to be challenged on a lot of those points,” he remembers.

He has a couple pieces of advice to current students. One is the practical recommendation to learn more about computers. “I wish I would have spent more time in computer science classes, just to learn a little bit more,” he said.

His most important advice is for students to make the most of the campus experience. “CU is all about being involved and making what you can of it. Join a club. There are a thousand different clubs you can join. I chose the fraternity route. Through that, I was able to see opportunities to get involved and volunteer in the community.”

“If you are at CU and you are bored, then it’s your own fault. There are so many different things to do. You’ve got to get involved,” he urges.

“One of the biggest things that helped me enjoy the experience is the realization that you only get to do it once. If someone asks you to do something, just give it a shot and go do it.”

You never know where you might wind up.

Laura Kriho is web and publications coordinator for the College of Arts and Sciences.

Feb. 27, 2015