Word of Jess Jackson’s death travels world-wide

Possibly no death of any Sonoma County person has ever been so
widely reported, and in so many varied places, as has the death of
wine maverick and industry giant Jess Jackson over the past
week.
Word of his death was reported in The Wine Spectator, Wine
Enthusiast, the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, MSNBC, Forbes
and across the Associated Press wires. The Los Angeles Times,
Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle all published original
byline reports about a man they all called an “industry
visionary.”
Most reports focused on his triumphs as a wine tycoon, building
a global empire from simple beginnings that started on a pear and
walnut ranch in Lake County.
Other reports focused on his self-made wealth and his style of
“hard-nose” competitiveness that placed him among the 400 richest
people in America. (He was Sonoma County’s richest person with a
wealth estimated at $1.9 billion.)
Still other reports told of his later-life pursuit as a horseman
and breeder of two Horses of the Year, Curlin and Rachel Alexander,
both Preakness Stakes winners.
Jackson, who was born in San Francisco during the Great
Depression in 1930, died last week (April 21) at his home in
Alexander Valley from cancer. He was 81.
A public memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday,
May 12 at the Wells Fargo Center in Santa Rosa.
Locally, Jackson was known for his huge impact on the local wine
industry, introducing his Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay to new
markets of younger and less-snobbish consumers in the early
1980s.
He was known for fighting state-by-state restrictive wine
distribution laws and for his legal battle with E&J Gallo over
trademark issues with their Turning Leaf label. (He lost that
fight.) Jackson, whose first career was as a tough-minded land
attorney in San Francisco did not lose very many arguments. However
his recent campaign to rename the mountain where he lived fromm
Black Mountain to Alexander Mountain has thus far been
rejected.
A Sonoma County resident for 30 years, Jackson also was known
here as a very generous benefactor, a friend to Sonoma County
agriculture, and, as an independent man who prized his privacy.
With his wife, Barbara Banke, Jackson gave millions to local
charities and groups, including the initial support for both the
Sonoma Country Day School and the Sonoma Academy.
Joining Fred Furth, another larger-than-life lawyer turned wine
icon, Jackson helped create Sonoma Paradiso, the county’s largest
benefit wine auction that raised millions for local charities.
To date, the Jackson Family Foundation has donated over $3.5
million to local charities such as the Redwood Empire Food Bank,
Santa Rosa Symphony and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central
Sonoma County.
Randy Ullom, winemaster for Kendall-Jackson, who worked along
side Jackson for almost 20 years remembers the times as an
“absolute blast.’
“He was a very, very dynamic, busy and high energy guy; very
charismatic, full of charm and he always kept things changing and
going forward. He had a way to reinvigorate all of us when we most
needed it,” said Ullom. “What he most loved was getting out in the
vineyard, close to the soil. He was a farmer from the very
beginning.”
A special glimpse about the influences and motivations of Jess
Jackson took place last summer when he was honored in a ceremony
inducting him into the Sonoma County Farm Bureau’s Hall of
Fame.
The man who owned 35 wineries, 15,000 acres of vineyards, a
stable of champion thoroughbreds and worth billions, was noticeably
humbled by the recognition.
The ceremony was called “Love of the Land” and held July 15,
2010 at Richard’s Grove and Saralee’s Vineyard.
Jackson said “family farming is the foundation of civilization,”
as he reminisced about growing up on a small farm in Colorado
during the Depression, following his grandfather through daily
chores.
The private Jess Jackson loved his German Shepherd dogs, his own
wines, his treasured World War II era boots, Frank Sinatra tunes
and his surfboard which he kept at his Kaui, Hawaii island
home.
At the Farm Bureau gathering he spoke of the value of good land
and of a “hard working” creed. He surprised many in the audience
when he revealed that he once picked hops as a young man in the
Russian River Valley for summer work.
He said his earliest years of growing up during the Depression
had marked him forever, giving him a full appreciation for farming,
good soil and the satisfaction of a good day’s work.
Over recent years, Jackson had been maneuvering himself and his
company toward long term stability. Jackson Family Wines remains in
family ownership as Jackson has always defied the movement to go
public or corporate. “The culture of family is very different from
those other cultures. As family, we pass our wines directly to our
customers. We want to please them and educate them forever about
the quality of our wines,” he said in 2007 while accepting Wine
Enthusiast’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
This week, both Jackson Family Wine’s CEO Rick Tigner and
son-in-law Don Hartford declared the company “stable and
growing.”
Ullom said a small core group of people in finance, sales,
production and legal affairs have been working with Jackson over
the past 15-20 years. “He made us truly understand in the company
and we believed in his desire and vision. Recently (as his health
failed) he worked to strengthen that vision in all of us. It’s a
600 year vision to make K-J the premiere wine company in the
world.”
Ullom said Jackson’s presence is still present around the winery
offices this week, but added, “there is definitely a void we will
be feeling here and in the wine world.”
Jackson had slowly stepped back from daily control of the
company and his wife, Barbara Banke, an accomplished land attorney,
has been serving as chairwoman of Jackson Family Wines, assisted by
Hartford.
All of Jackson’s five children from his two marriages are
involved in the company as well.
Besides his wife, Jackson is survived by five children, Jennifer
Hartford, Laura Giron, Katie Jackson, Julia Jackson and Christopher
Jackson; and two grandchildren Hailey Hartford and MacLean
Hartford.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations may be made in
Jackson’s memory to any of five chosen organizations including the
Family Justice Center of Sonoma County, Redwood Empire Food Bank,
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Sonoma County, and the Racetrack
Chaplaincy of America.