Victoria Roberts has been hired to lead wholesale efforts for Grande River Vineyards on Colorado’s Front Range.

“There is so much potential for growth and building our brand,” Roberts said. “I see good things on the horizon for Grande River Vineyards. The sky’s the limit.”

Richard Tally — co-owner of Ten Acre Winery, the parent company of Grande River Vineyards — said a more concerted effort was needed to get Grande River wines before consumers.

Tally joined his wife, Jean, and daughter, Anne, in purchasing Grand River Vineyards from founder Stephen Smith in June 2021. The Tallys also own the adjacent Colorado Wine Country Inn in Palisade. The boutique hotel and winery combine to offer guests a wine destination.

“Although we retained the Grande River name, we are a brand new, from scratch, startup company,” Richard Tally said. “Consumers need more accessibility to our wines, and Victoria is the right person to get the job done.”

Roberts brings to her latest role experience as owner of a luxury real estate brokerage as well as knowledge of food and wine. She earned a wine expert rating and designation as an International Wine & Spirits Guild executive wine sommelier.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a master’s of business administration degree.

Robert said she recently retired from her former company and was interested to explore a new role involving wine and food.

“Since we hired Victoria as sales manager, we’ve seen dramatic improvements in our wine sales on the Front Range. And she’s just getting started,” Tally said.

In addition to serving existing accounts, Roberts has worked with Republic National Distributing Co. to get Grande River wines stocked on the shelves of Applejacks, Total Wine and other big box stores, Tally said. Roberts has sold five Grande River varietals for a promotion of Colorado wines by the largest grocery store chain in the state.