usa coordinates 38 29 00 n 122 46 07 w 38.48333 n 122.76861 w 38.48333 ; 122.76861 appellation north coast ava founded 1982 key people jess jackson proprietor ; barbara banke proprietor ; randy ullom winemaster known for vintner s reserve chardonnay varietals chardonnay sauvignon blanc riesling pinot gris pinot noir merlot syrah cabernet sauvignon zinfandel meritage malbec cabernet franc distribution international tasting kendall jackson wine center santa rosa ca ; kendall jackson tasting room healdsburg ca website http www.kj.com kendall jackson vineyard estates is a vineyard and winery under the kendall jackson brand located in santa rosa california in the sonoma valley wine country . as of 2010 kendall jackson was the highest selling brand of super premium wine an industry term referring to wine retailing for more than 15 per bottle in the united states . 1 history edit the kendall jackson wine center in santa rosa sonoma county california ; august 2007 . in 1974 san francisco land use attorney jess jackson and his wife jane kendall wadlow jackson converted an 80 acre 320 000 m2 pear and walnut orchard in lakeport california to a vineyard and sold wine grapes to local wineries . in 1982 a downturn in the grape market led them to produce their own wine instead of selling the grapes and the kendall jackson brand was established . that label now continues under the umbrella company jackson family wines that jackson later created . in the 1980s kendall jackson rejected the california wine industry s trend toward vineyard specific wine labeling . it ignored the concept of terroir in favor of blending wines from different regions to achieve desired wine characteristics . they reversed that direction in the mid 2000s along with a push to upgrade their quality . 2 after retiring from hewlett packard lew platt was the company s ceo from 2000 to mid 2001 . 3 in late 2006 the jackson family launched white rocket wine co. in napa valley to target the millennial generation of wine drinkers . 4 in april 2011 jess jackson died in his sleep at his geyserville estate after a battle with cancer . he was 81 . his son in law don hartford had been already serving as chief executive officer of the company . the company disclosed a succession plan in march announcing that president rick tigner would be transitioning into the position of ceo tigner was featured on the third season second episode of undercover boss . don hartford and barbara banke will oversee the family s interests on the board of directors . references edit wikimedia commons has media related to kendall jackson winery . dan levy bloomberg news 2010 03 08 . napa wineries fall under foreclosure crush . bloomberg . murphy linda 19 february 2004 . mountain man a retired jess jackson heads for the hills to revamp kendall jackson . san francisco chronicle . p. d1 . retrieved 5 june 2009 . lapedus mark september 9 2005 . lew platt former hp ceo dies at 64 . ee times . ubm tech . retrieved 2014 07 06 . scott h. morgan 31 december 2006 . kendall jackson founder targets younger wine drinker . wine spectator . p. 15 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title kendall jackson & oldid 724801283 categories wineries in sonoma countycompanies based in santa rosa californiaamerican companies established in 1974food and drink companies established in 19741974 establishments in californiacompanies based in sonoma county californiahidden categories commons category with local link same as on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages fran ais edit links this page was last modified on 11 june 2016 at 15 58 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view