About Us
Who we are.
The short version:
We are Maple Valley's own boutique production and cellar Winery that opened our doors April 1st 2020, and the 1000th winery established in Washington State. A family-owned wine label, the creation of two Air Force Veteran brothers, Jens and T.J. Hansen, with a common passion for fine wines. Jens honed his winemaking skills under the wings of several WA wine ‘greats,’ and is now fulfilling his dream of creating hand-crafted, artisan selections that truly showcase a sense of place and exhibit quality winemaking techniques. Winemaker, Wednesday, joined the team in 2023, bringing her own set of expertise to the operation.
Our grapes are sourced from various AVA’s of Washington state. We proudly work closely with small family growers that share the same attention to detail. We offer a large variety of high quality, small lot wines with many layers not only in the wine, but in the stories behind the names, labels, and unique stories. Our wines are meant to be enjoyed with friends and family accompanied by a toast to veterans and few good stories or tall tales.
UVA FUREM or GRAPE SMUGGLER
WHAT’S WITH OUR NAME?
Honoring or military roots and traditions, the use of Latin phrased mottoes is as old as the U.S. military itself. In 1776, A general order issued by the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, Gen George Washington, directed that "it is necessary that every Regiment should be furnished a Motto in order to reflect and reinforce each unit's values and traditions”. While some mottoes are official, and others are unofficial, each one has a unique way of bonding its people together. Examples include those like the United States Air Force motto: Aut Vincere Aut Mors (Latin for “Conquer or Die) to much smaller and more deliberate, to the fact mottos like that of Special Operations Aerial gunners: Neconjuge Nobiscum (Latin for “Don’t F@ck with US") Each embodies the will and fire that push their crews to perform their duties in a matter that will honor and dignify their past.
“UVA” ~ Latin for grape, and
“FUREM” ~ Lattin for smuggler, is a tribute to our military history..
However, That is a story best told over a glass of wine…
Our Winemaking Philosophy: It's a good day when nobody is shooting at us.
Good grapes make good wine
Washington grows spectacular quality grapes. So while we don't take ourselves too seriously, we make seriously good wines. We don't manipulate our wines with chemicals and additives so the fruit shines through. Plus we take our wines to dry (no sugar!) and use the lowest amount sulfites possible. We haul all our grapes over the mountains from Eastern Washington and vinify, age, and bottle it all right here in Maple Valley. Once our wines leave their barrels, we bottle age, so each bottle is ready for you to enjoy now or lay down in your cellar.
