Victoria P. Roberts will lead the wholesale sales effort for the Grande River Vineyards brand on Colorado's Front Range, owner Richard Tally has announced.
Tally, who owns parent company Ten Acre Winery LLC along with his wife Jean and daughter Anne, emphasizes the necessity of a concerted effort to get Grande River wines before consumers. The Tallys bought the historic GRV winery, which was the fifth winery to be licensed by the state, from founder Stephen Smith in June 2021.The family also owns the adjacent Victorian-style boutique hotel Colorado Wine Country Inn, creating a Wine Estate destination for guests. "Although we retained the Grande River name, we are a brand-new, from-scratch, start-up company," Tally explains.
"Consumers need more accessibility to our wines, and Victoria is the right person to get the job done." Tally cites Roberts' prior experience as owner of a successful luxury real estate brokerage firm as well as her knowledge of wine and food as key advantages to growing sales on the front range.
"Since we hired Victoria as Sales Manager, we've seen dramatic improvements in our wine sales on the front range," Tally explains. "And she's just getting started." Besides serving prior accounts, Roberts has worked closely with Republic National Distributing Co., which represents TAW/GRV, in getting Grande River's labels on the shelves of such big-box stores as Applejacks, Total Wine and City Market and King Soopers. Additionally, she has sold five GRV varietals to be included in a major Colorado wines promotion by the largest grocery store chain in the state.
Roberts passionately believes that GRV wines reflect the subtlety of Old-World wines because winemaker Rainer Thoma is European trained and certified and has plied his trade for over 30 years both in Europe and the U.S. Roberts knows her wines. She earned a WSET-London Level 3 Wine Expert rating as well as an International Wine & Spirits Guild Executive Wine Sommelier. She holds a BA degree from Yale and an MBA in Business Administration. Recently retired from her former company, Roberts says she was intrigued to explore a new path in an area she loves: wine and food. As Front Range Sales Manager, she hit the ground running and hasn't slowed down. "There is so much potential for growth and building our brand," Roberts emphasizes. "I see good things on the horizon for Grande River Vineyards. The sky's the limit."