Kendall-Jackson

​Who’d da thunk it?  I mean, who’d da thunk it?  It was just something so unexpected that all we could say was “who’d da thunk it.”  So, you say, what’s the story?  Well, here’s the story….
It was the Monday following two days of the Sonoma Barrel Tasting.  Our flight out of Sacramento left us plenty of time to hit one or two wineries, so that was the plan.  But someone suggested we stop in at the Kendall-Jackson Winery.  Kendall-Jackson, maker of vast quantities of low-quality wines sold extensively at supermarkets throughout California.  Yes, that Kendall-Jackson.  So we did.  Beautiful place – extensive grounds, exquisite high-ceilinged building, well-furnished interior.  See pictures below.

​Not too many people there, it being a Monday.  We were met quickly by a staff member, wherein we informed them of our interest in tasting their wines.  First thing they needed was a name, so I gave them mine and she looked it up on the computer.  And, to my surprise, it was there.  Huh?  I had never been to one of their facilities, had I?  Well, turns out I had – they own Cambria, one of my favorite wineries in the Santa Barbara area.  Now, if they own Cambria, and Cambria makes really good wine, could it be possible that we might actually like the wine at this Kendall-Jackson tasting room?
We did.  Who’d da thunk it!  As our server was quick to point out, while Kendall-Jackson makes some of its wines in batches of over a million cases a year, the wines we were tasting were made in batches of 50-100 cases per year.  That is boutique winery production level.  The menu below shows the wines were tasted.

​I particularly liked the tasting approach.  Rather than a simple series tasting method, they pour two wines at a time so you can do side-by-side comparisons.  Three sets were poured. The first two wines were Chardonnay’s, the second pair Pinot Noir, and for the third set we had a Cabernet Sauvignon compared to a Bordeaux-style blend.  All were quite nice, but the most interesting pair were the Pinot Noirs.  The info on the pairs is shown below.
The important difference between the two Pinot Noirs is where the grapes were grown.  The Three Vistas Pinot Noir is made from grapes grown in the Russian River area, basically on site.  The other Pinot Noir was made from grapes grown in Cloud Landing region of Sonoma.  This is an area closer to the ocean which is colder and windier.  The two wines are very different.  The Three Vistas wine is pretty much what you would expect for a Pinot Noir – smooth, low tannin, light color, etc.  The other wine, from Cloud Landing, is much darker in color – so much darker that it is hard to believe it is a Pinot Noir – with medium, though smooth, tannins.  As explained to us by the server, the vines in this Cloud Landing area have mutated to produce a grape with thicker skin, hence more tannins and deeper color.  Who’d da thunk it?

​But there’s more….  They offer wine and food pairings as shown in the menus below.  Nothing unusual, you say?  Well, here’s more of the story.  You see, while every vineyard is a farm, most just grow grapes.  Not this Kendall-Jackson facility.  They grow much of the vegetables used in their wine pairing dinners.  And they do a good job of it.  OK, you say, how do I know this?  I admit that I did not taste their food (need reservations in advance), but, you see, they don’t use all of it themselves.  They sell much of their produce to Michelin star restaurants in San Francisco!  Who’d da thunk it?

​As a final note, the wines that we tasted can only be purchased through that site.  To that end, they do have a wine club.  See details below.