Share this:

Jess Jackson, founder/owner of Kendall-Jackson Vineyards Estates, died on April 21 of this year. He was 81. For the past 30 years, the phenomenal success of his winery has reshaped the California wine industry. It seems worthwhile to consider his impact on the wine world.

Though it still retains the aura of a small winery, K-J’s production stands at a formidable 4 million cases. Growing up during the Depression, Jackson lacked the proverbial silver spoon, but he made up for it. Jackson’s personal net worth reached close to $2 billion. Just what did Jackson do? He made wines in the mid-price range that people liked.

As the California wine industry developed from the 70s on, producers either chose to make high-volume and inexpensive wines—jug wines—or low-production, expensive ones. Jackson placed Kendall-Jackson’s wines smack in the middle ground. Those he wanted to satisfy sought something fancier than the cheap stuff but still reasonably priced. No one can say that K-J failed in that quest. The winery succeeded because of Jess Jackson’s vision.

Jackson took the well-worn American path to the wine business: he started in an entirely different one. He began as a successful real estate lawyer who put himself through school as an ambulance driver and policeman. Nowadays, people go to school to become an ambulance driver or police officer.

Seems like everyone in California with the means ends up growing grapes. Thus in 1974, Jackson and his first wife Jane Kendall bought an 80 acre walnut and pear orchard in Lake County. They replanted the orchard with grapes, largely chardonnay. These they sold to wineries for the next 8 years, until grape prices dropped so precipitously that costs could not be covered by selling. The solution? Make and sell their own wine.

With the help of winemaker Jed Steele, the grapes were fermented. Here legend steps in. Fermentation of that first wine became stuck, to use the scientific term. This means that the yeast colonies cried no mas! and stopped converting sugar to alcohol. The wine’s remaining touch of residual sugar proved to be a godsend. The wine found a following. The sweet, ingratiating, oak-toned style of what was even then called Vintner’s Reserve provided a satisfying chardonnay experience, especially for those new to drinking wine.

Kendall-Jackson sold enough of that first vintage’s 15,000 cases to maintain solvency. Despite the waggish truism that the way to make a small fortune owning a winery is to start with a large fortune, K-J managed to carry on. Success, in fact, came almost immediately. Being poured at a function at Ronald Reagan’s White House helped further K-J’s reputation.

The winery pressed forward, aggressively marketing its wines to a receptive public. Led by Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay, the product line grew. Rather than produce small lot, single-vineyard wines, Kendall-Jackson blended wines from all over.to create consistent and reliable wines. This did not prevent the winery from expanding its scope.

Jess Jackson was a businessman. His real estate acumen helped him acquire many properties, some among the better known in California: Arrowood, Freemark Abbey, Murphy-Goode, Matanzas Creek, Byron, Robert Pecota, and others. Eventually, the winery started making artisan wines from specified vineyards.

And with success comes litigation. Jackson was a successful lawyer, after all. He sued Jed Steele to prevent Steele from revealing the recipe for Vintner’s Reserve. Jackson also sued Turning Leaf Vineyards because that winery’s label features an autumnal-hued grape leaf, much like K-J’s. Turning Leaf is one of E&J Gallo’s brands. He also helped launch Family Winemakers of California, a non-profit “formed in response to a need for the small wine producers [sic] voice to be heard in public policy decisions.”

Jackson flirted with retirement, saying he just wanted to be a gentleman farmer. No one should let that statement blur the reality. With thousands upon thousands of vineyard acreage, Jackson wasn’t exactly putting on the straw hat to view the back 40. He went so far as to structure the enterprise for sale. Reportedly, he received a $1.7 billion offer, but eventually turned it down.

Seemingly just to prove that winery success was no fluke, Jackson became a racehorse owner, including an 80% share in 2-time Preakness winner, Curlin. In truth, he held a long fascination with racing. Perhaps just to keep up his chops, Jackson sued to gain the remaining 20% share of Curlin. The courts turned him down.

What happens next for the enterprise will reveal itself as time passes. A company structure exists that includes his second wife Barbara Bankes and other family members. The winery could carry on despite the loss of such a force as Jess Jackson. Who knows? Just as one might wonder about Apple without Steve Jobs, getting one’s head around Kendall-Jackson without Jess Jackson proves difficult.

While some may regard Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay as a starter wine that consumers will eventually steer from for more sophisticated fare, it fills an important niche. And while Jackson could not be considered the charming ambassador of California wine that Robert Mondavi was, his clear vision and consummate marketing has proven just as beneficial to the industry.