A Man and his Mountain: The Everyman who Created Kendall-Jackson and Became America’s Greatest Wine Entrepreneur
Whatever Jess Jackson touched seemed to turn to profit, whether lawsuits, grapes, or horses. Compelled to work from childhood on, he proved resourceful and able, overcoming Depression-era poverty and an abusive father before emerging as a successful real-estate attorney. A chance encounter on an airplane offered the lawyer an opportunity to buy some northern California land and thus fulfill a longstanding ambition to become a farmer. Throwing himself into wine-making, he created the now-renowned Kendall-Jackson brand. Passionate and even ruthless, Jackson sought out the best talents and finest vineyards in California’s emerging wine business and made chardonnay a household word in America. Then he turned to owning winning racehorses. Triumph came not without personal costs—a shattered marriage and agonizing brushes with business failure. Humes makes his charismatic subject’s every venture vividly and intensely dramatic. This book will attract readers of diverse interests, from the law to wine-making to business to horse-racing. --Mark Knoblauch