MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. — Jens Hansen of Maple Valley said he’s quite happy to be working on Veterans Day this year. After more than two decades serving in the Air Force, Hansen was medically retired and had to transition to civilian life with a new career.
He used his GI Bill to attend the Northwest Wine Academy and started a new mission to become a winemaker.
Uva Furem Winery is a serious business with a humorous name. The Latin translation is “Grape Smuggler” and was a nickname Hansen was given by a fellow soldier.
Jens convinced his brother T.J., a software engineer, to join the winemaking venture and the pair have been in business for several years now.
The launch of the winery was a mixed success due to the timing. Uva Furem opened in April of 2020, just as the pandemic closures started shutting down much of the country.
“In the beginning I had wine and no customers so I was on social media offering to deliver to people’s door step and it actually worked. All of those customers are still customers today,” said Hansen.
The winery is located on family property in Maple Valley and a tasting room opened up in neighboring Black Diamond. Distribution remains limited to neighborhood wine bars and tasting rooms, but Uva Furem recently won a small business award from Business Impact NW. The brothers believe the complicated timing of their launch may have helped them to endear themselves to the community.
They worked to produce hand sanitizer as COVID-19 broke out and that led to an outpouring of community support.
“We have been overwhelmed by how many people rallied around us and now we get to support other veterans,” Hansen said.
The winery has grown even faster than the grape vines.
“I started with just 8,000 pounds of grapes years ago and we just finished up this crush with more than 140,000 pounds of grapes,” Hansen said.
The winery also offers free tastings and discounts to veterans.
“We hope to be a bit of an inspiration to other veterans as so many leave service and struggle to find a new career in their civilian life. We just hope to remind them that the world is your oyster and it’s up to you what you do with it,” he said.
He says there were many doubters and industry experts who advised him against joining the wine world.
“They said the only way to make $1 million is to start with $2 million, but we just stayed focused and followed our passions to success,” Hansen said.
Uva Furem Winery is a 100% service-disabled veteran-owned business that offers free tastings and discounts to veterans. The tasting room is open Wednesday through Sunday at 30741 3rd Avenue Suite 133.