Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/100792
NORTHWEST WATCH ERIC DEGERMAN Abacela���s Earl Jones, known for producing Spanish-style wines, appreciates Danowski���s interest in varieties beyond pinot noir. Building relationships with customers ��� and his bosses ��� goes a long way in describing Danowski���s background. Walla Walla Valley grower Norm McKibben, a founding member of the OWB, was asked by theninterim director Steve Burns to serve on the selection committee. That group waded through 120 candidates to select the successor to Jeanette Morgan. The former California tech industry executive lasted less than eight months as the OWB director. By the time she left abruptly in 2011, more than half of the OWB employees had resigned. ���I think it would be kind of tough to come from the outside and into an industry that links so closely with its state and be able to talk right away about something such as its terroir,��� Danowski said. ���You don���t appreciate and understand that as well as someone who has lived in the state a long time.��� Danowski was born in Spokane, Wash., raised in Beaverton, Ore., and graduated from the University of Oregon���s school of journalism and communications. His extensive work background now has him sitting on an advisory board to the University of Oregon president. Arguably, the key credential to his OWB appointment was the time 38 V I N E YARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | he spent in Woodinville, Wash., working at Ste. Michelle Wine Estates for Ted Baseler and thenCEO Allen Shoup. Danowski was working in CocaCola���s Seattle office when he was introduced to Baseler and Shoup, who happened to be looking for someone to lead their consumer product marketing efforts for the Chateau Ste. Michelle brand. ���I learned from the best in the business,��� Danowski said, also giving credit to then-Ste. Michelle executive Bob Betz. ���I stayed eight years and absolutely loved it. I would have stayed at the Chateau, but Seattle���s Best Coffee offered me the chance to move to VP of marketing.��� Now, the Oregon wine industry is benefiting from his coffee background ��� especially when it comes to working with government officials. ���I was involved a bit at Ste. Michelle, watching Ted and Steve Burns when he was at the Washington Wine Commission, and I learned a fair bit about (working with government) at Seattle���s Best because we were opening franchises in Japan, Korea and Singapore,��� Danowski said. ���I know how important it is to make presentations to government agencies and keep them updated regularly on progress.��� That resume prompted McKibben, who also is managing partner of Pepper Bridge Winery in Walla Walla, to make a phone call to Baseler. "He clearly looked good to me, and Ted liked him, too," McKibben said. "I think he's a really good fit." NEW TERRITORY Not long after accepting his OWB appointment, Danowski hit the ground running and began to tour the Beaver State���s wine industry, which plays a significant role in the western and northern regions of the state, and the Snake River Valley (shared with Idaho) on the eastern border. It soon became apparent that Danowski wants to be more than a ���winery guy,��� as one grower put Jan - Feb 2013 Norm McKibben of Pepper Bridge Winery in Walla Walla is pleased with Danowski���s interest in attending local grower events. it. He made a point to attend the annual spring meeting of Walla Walla Valley growers, becoming the first OWB executive director to do so, McKibben said. Nearly half of the grapes grown in the Walla Walla Valley come off vines on Oregon���s side of the acclaimed AVA, known primarily for wineries in and around the town of Walla Walla, Wash. ���I think everybody was impressed, and it makes a double impression on us that he���s working both sides of the valley,��� McKibben said. That sentiment has carried into Southern Oregon, said Abacela���s Jones, whose winery has become known for Iberian varieties such as albari��o and tempranillo. ���Tom has physically made more trips and outreaches to Southern Oregon than anyone, and I get the sense that folks in Willamette Valley, the (Columbia) Gorge and Eastern Oregon have the same feeling,��� Jones said. ���I believe this is an effective way to deal with a state like Oregon, which has a history of divisiveness in the support of one variety.��� Danowski also impressed Southern Oregon producers by attending a marketing symposium in the Umpqua Valley. ���He made important contributions, not with a boring hour-long speech, but by linking to the speakers who came from w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m