A TALE OF TWO CAREERS Alumnus John Danielson ’76 transitions from corporate executive to successful winemaker. BY LARRY GARDNER ’63
The career of College of Idaho alumnus John Danielson ’76 has followed a long and winding path. Many choices led him from the halls of corporate power to life as an awardwinning winemaker. But fittingly, the Vale Wine Company owner finds himself following in the entrepreneurial footsteps of his father and grandfather before him. Danielson spent his formative years in the tiny Idaho town of Cambridge. His grandfather and father owned the town general store and John Deere dealership for 84 years—Danielson’s grandfather bought into the business in 1914, purchased it outright in 1939 and passed it down to Danielson’s parents, who ran it until the 1990s. The family also has owned a ranch near Cambridge since 1865. During his first three years at the C of I, Danielson clung to his roots, working each summer on a sheep and cattle ranch near Cambridge. When the owner died during
Danielson’s junior year, he found himself jobless. Larry Harris, a job placement officer at the College, secured John an internship with Albertsons. Danielson went on to spend 23 years with the grocery chain, retiring as corporate treasurer in 1998 at the age of 45. “I never thought I would end up in a supermarket company,” Danielson said. “But I started working at the Nampa store and during the spring of my senior year they asked me if I wanted to work in the office, so I moved to the corporate offices on State Street.” In retirement, Danielson focused on his family, but the business wheels still turned in his mind. After moving back to Cascade, Danielson launched a consulting business and earned a master’s degree in business education. He returned to the Treasure Valley in 2005, and a group of wine aficionados convinced him that winemaking was the next big thing in Idaho. “But the only wine I had ever made was in my garage,” Danielson admits. “And it wasn’t very good.” The group asked Danielson to manage the
operation, but he felt uncomfortable shooting from the hip. He headed to California to earn an oenology and viticulture certification and in 2006, Vale Wine Company was founded as a small vineyard in Vale, Ore. “We started the vineyard, worked it for the three years it takes the vines to mature, and then sold it in 2010 when we figured out that the vineyard site in Vale was just too cold to grow the red varietals that we wanted—and that it’s pretty tough to be a grower, winemaker and marketer.” Danielson gave up on growing grapes, moved his operation to the Treasure Valley and began focusing on making wine. With the Snake River Valley designated as an American Viticultural Area, there were plenty of local growers who could supply Vale Wine Company with quality grapes. Danielson’s wines started winning awards almost immediately, including gold medals for a 2008 Syrah, a 2008 Riesling and a 2010 Viognier. After much trial and error, Danielson’s second career has turned out just as successful as his first—and perhaps a bit more rewarding. “Having done it now, I would like to go back and teach some entrepreneurial classes,” Danielson said. “I watched my parents and grandparents, but until you actually do it yourself, you don’t realize how many different hats you have to wear. That’s the challenge and the allure. [Operating Vale Wine Company] is probably the hardest job I have ever done. You have to develop the discipline to realize there is an end to the day at some point.” To learn more about Danielson and the Vale Wine Company, visit www.valewineco.com.
LARRY GARDNER is a 1963 C of I graduate and freelance writer. Hear Danielson and other C of I alumni involved in the Idaho wine industry talk about their experiences during Homecoming on the C of I YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/goyotes.
fall 2012 • page 17