On the day we visited Will was pouring wine for us and giving us interesting information about the winery.
Kendall-Jackson has always been a “go to” wine for me. It is consistently good, reasonably priced and readily available. It is also one of the largest super-premium wineries in the United States. They have a wonderful tasting room that they call the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center. It looks like a lovely chateau and has a gorgeous garden. Plan to spend some time here strolling the gardens, walnut grove and tasting their wine.
On a recent visit to their winery I learned about their focus on education and sustainability. On this particular day, Will was pouring for us. He was knowledgeable and friendly and happy to tell us all we wanted to know about Kendall Jackson.
Kendall Jackson pours many premium wines at their tasting room.
Will explained how sustainability is the focus of the winery and that their goal is no waste. In addition to delicious wine they also produce single varietal grape seed oil. I tried a beautiful hand-pressed oil that is infused with Meyer’s lemon. Will also told us that the chardonnay oil is fabulous on popcorn – I can’t wait to try that! Kendall Jackson has been using grape skin flour to make cookies and crackers. Their goal is to use every part of the grape.
The winery has a very interesting history. In 1974, Jess Jackson and his wife Jane, purchased an 80 acre pear and walnut farm in Santa Rosa. He converted it to vineyards and in 1982 they produced their first bottle of Chardonnay under the Kendall-Jackson label.
The Chardonnay is served with house-made caramel popcorn – so yummy.
They now own 15,000 acres of California coastal vineyards. They produce a host of award-winning wines and own and operate more than 40 labels around the world including: Cambria, Le Crema, Freemark Abbey and many more.
It is certainly worth a visit to this outstanding winery and if you are so inclined to become a member of their wine club. In addition to your shipments of delicious wine there are some extraordinary members-only events, in 2014 these included a crab and chard Fete, a Gumbo smack-down and a Tomato Festival.
The gardens were lovely even early in the year. I can only image how gorgeous they will be in the spring and summer.