Kendall-Jackson Celebrates 20 Years With A Tribute Wine; 20th Harvest Limited Release Chardonnay Crafted From Estate Vineyards

Business Wire, Sept 12, 2002

Business Editors/Food and Wine Writers

NOTE TO MEDIA: Multimedia assets available

SANTA ROSA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 12, 2002

Kendall-Jackson is marking its 20th Harvest with the debut of a limited release Chardonnay in a commemorative package crafted by Winemaster Randy Ullom from estate vineyards located along California's Central Coast.

The 2001 vintage Chardonnay is produced from estate fruit grown predominantly in Monterey and Santa Barbara, and is priced at retail about $16 per 750ml bottle. It will be offered only in conjunction with this Fall's Harvest and is now available nationwide.

The special Tribute wine is 100 percent chardonnay, 97 percent barrel fermented with 100 percent malolactic fermentation, aged seven months in small French (59 percent) and American (41 percent) oak barrels. Winemaster Ullom says the wine is "full of ripe pear, peach and tropical mango carried in a backbone of citrus lemon drop aromas." Barrel fermentation and aging adds "layers of vanilla creaminess" in a wine carefully selected by Ullom and his team from the best estate lots of the vintage.

Offered in a special anniversary package which includes a distinctive Limited Release graphic at the neck of the bottle, and a two-part label on the front of the bottle featuring the Kendall-Jackson leaf logo floating above a 20th Harvest Release banner, the wine is expected to be a popular Holiday gift.

"We've crafted a very special wine to share with our friends and Kendall-Jackson fans as we observe a remarkable anniversary," said Winemaster Randy Ullom. "There are certainly wineries with longer histories, but the accomplishments of the Jackson family in just two short decades are notable, and well worth celebrating.

"I can't think of a better way than this 20th Harvest Chardonnay," he added.

Kendall-Jackson's first release was a 1982 Vintner's Reserve(R) Chardonnay, which won a Platinum medal at the former American Wine Competition in New York and sold out in less than six months. Early releases were offered at the winery tasting room in Lake County, California, where visitors received a bag of walnuts from the orchards on the property with a wine purchase.

Today, the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center in Sonoma's Russian River sports acres of culinary gardens, experimental vineyards and another English Black Walnut orchard, which provides a popular picnic area for visitors.

Kendall-Jackson quality, taste and value is now found not only in the Vintner's Reserve(R) and Grand Reserve wines carrying a California appellation, but in the Great Estates and Stature(TM) series of appellation based wines from the best Coastal growing regions. Kendall-Jackson ranks as California's most awarded winery, and the Vintner's Reserve(R) wines are among the most popular in their class, regardless of flavor.

Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates produces a quality-focused portfolio of premium wines crafted from hillside and coastal growing regions in California, Italy, Chile, Argentina and Australia. Along with Kendall-Jackson, which features Vintner's Reserve(R), Grand Reserve, Great Estates(TM) and Stature(TM) wines, KJWE offers Collage(R), Camelot and Pepi brands with California appellations, Sonoma County's La Crema Winery, Edmeades from Mendocino's Anderson Valley, Villa Arceno from Tuscany, Italy, Yangarra Park from Australia, and South American wineries Calina from Chile and Tapiz from Argentina.

Visit Kendall-Jackson on the Web at kj.com

For trade information on all Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates products, visit KJSales.com

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