Jess Jackson

Jess Stonestreet Jackson Jr. (1930–2011) was an American wine entrepreneur and lawyer who founded Kendall-Jackson Winery after buying an 80-acre orchard in Lake County, California in 1974 and converting it to vineyards. He released the first Kendall-Jackson wine in 1982, and the brand’s Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay became a major success that helped popularize affordable varietal wines in the United States. Jackson later built Jackson Family Wines into a large family-owned wine group with dozens of brands and remained a major force in California wine until his death in 2011.