Employee Spotlight: Jim Evans

Jim Evans is a pioneer in the Texas wine industry with 40 years of wine making experience. After graduating from Texas A&M in 1984, he joined University of Texas’ Experimental Viticulture and Enology program. In 1996, he began making wine for Lone Oak Vineyards. Lone Oak Vineyards would eventually become Lost Oak Winery and Jim has continued making wine here ever since. Wines made by Jim and his team have won countless awards over the years, including five Double Gold medals. He has personally won several prestigious awards. TWGGA awarded him the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 and the Louis F. Qualia award for Outstanding Contributions to the Texas Wine Industry in 2017. He served as President of TWGGA in 2014. 

A lover of all things wine, Jim also enjoys iced tea, although he says he usually wishes it were wine instead. When he isn't at the winery, he's at home in Odessa, thinking about the winery. He makes the trek to Lost Oak Winery many times throughout the year to make wine, and in his absence, our Assistant Winemaker, Angela, holds down the fort. When at home, Jim binge watches Goliath, Breaking Bad, Bosch, and Mondovino. When asked what his favorite food was, he replied, "Wine, with seafood." Jim is known around here as a guy with a great sense of humor who is welcoming and kind to everyone and always full of stories about making wine and drinking it. 

Jim claims that wine is made in the vineyard and a winemaker should just guide the process while not interfering too much. We should let the wine be an expression of the grape. His knowledge, passion, and kindness make him a valuable asset at Lost Oak Winery, as well as a great friend.