History of Kendall-Jackson
The estate was founded by Jess Jackson, a visionary who believed that great wines should be both accessible and expressive of place. His first vintage—1982 Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay—was fermented off-dry due to an unintended halt in fermentation, but the result delighted consumers and critics alike. It quickly rose to prominence and set the standard for creamy, oak-influenced California Chardonnay.
Over the decades, Jackson transformed his company into a vertically integrated enterprise. Rather than relying on contracted fruit, he began acquiring vineyards in cool-climate, coastal appellations, giving the winemaking team full control over the grape-growing process. After his passing, his wife Barbara Banke, an accomplished attorney and businesswoman, assumed leadership and expanded Kendall-Jackson’s global reputation. Today, it is the cornerstone of the Jackson Family Wines portfolio, which includes dozens of estates across California and the world.
The winemaking is overseen by Randy Ullom, who has served as Winemaster since 1993, alongside a respected team including Susan Lueker, Mark Theis, and Fritz Meier. Their philosophy blends traditional artisan techniques with scientific precision, ensuring both consistency and vintage expression.
Region and Vineyards
Kendall-Jackson owns and farms over 5,000 hectares of estate vineyards, all of which are certified sustainable under both the Certified California Sustainable Winegrowing (CCSW) and Sustainability in Practice (SIP) programs. These vineyards are located in Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Lake, Monterey, and Santa Barbara Counties—some of the most climatically diverse and viticulturally prized regions in California.
The vineyards range from coastal benches and foggy valleys to high-elevation ridges and volcanic hillsides, enabling a nuanced expression of each varietal. In Santa Maria Valley, the Camelot Highlands site produces richly textured Chardonnay from 40-year-old own-rooted vines grown in marine sedimentary soils. In Alexander Valley, Hawkeye Mountain sits between 900 and 2,400 feet in elevation, producing a muscular yet elegant Cabernet Sauvignon from shallow, iron-rich volcanic soils. Anderson Valley provides Pinot Noir with crystalline acidity and minerality, particularly from ridgeline vineyards like Outland Ridge.
The diversity of these sites allows Kendall-Jackson to tailor specific grape varieties to optimal terroirs, and to blend across vineyard blocks to achieve stylistic balance in their core ranges while highlighting single-site purity in their premium bottlings.
Wine Range of Kendall-Jackson
The Kendall-Jackson portfolio is structured in clearly defined tiers:
- Vintner’s Reserve: The flagship range and cornerstone of the brand. These wines - including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Rosé, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zinfandel - are blended from multiple coastal vineyards to showcase varietal character, freshness, and balance. The Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay alone has been the top-selling Chardonnay in America for over 25 years.
- Jackson Estate: These wines highlight individual vineyard sites or specific appellations, expressing the nuanced identity of terroir. They include bottlings such as Camelot Highlands Chardonnay, Hawkeye Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, and Outland Ridge Pinot Noir.
- Grand Reserve: These wines blend estate fruit from selected sites with greater oak integration and structural depth, offering more concentration and ageability than the Vintner’s Reserve series: Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Grand Reserve Chardonnay.
- Stature: The pinnacle of Kendall-Jackson’s portfolio, crafted from the estate’s best parcels with meticulous attention to detail. Wines like Stature Red Blend and Stature Chardonnay are aged in 50% new French oak, built for cellaring and prestige.
All Kendall-Jackson wines are made with small-lot vinification practices, including cold-soaking for reds, sur lie aging with bâtonnage for whites, and individual lot barrel fermentation. The estate conducts the world’s largest barrel fermentation program for Chardonnay, using French oak from its own stave mill in France and custom-coopered barrels in the U.S.
Did you know?
Kendall-Jackson was a pioneer in sustainable viticulture long before it became mainstream. The family’s commitment extends to bee habitats, water conservation, solar power, and biodiversity corridors across their estates. Their focus on soil health and regenerative farming is now influencing sustainability programs throughout California wine country.
