The winemaker behind the US's best selling Chardonnay retires

Randy Ullom, the winemaker responsible for producing one of the US’s favourite Chardonnay wines, is retiring after 32 years with Californian wine producer Kendall-Jackson.

Ullom, who has been with Jackson Family Wines since 1993, has been credited with helping establishing the popularity of Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve – reportedly America’s number one selling Chardonnay for the last 30 years.

He grew up in Michigan watching his father make wine at home as a hobby, but it wasn’t until he spent time trekking through Chile’s wine country that he realized he wanted to pursue a career in viticulture and enology. After studying, he spent six years as a vineyard manager and winemaker in Ohio and upstate New York, and 12 years as winemaker, later vice-president at DeLoach Vineyards in Sonoma County. In 1993, he was hired by Jess Jackson to reopen Edmeades in Mendocino, and launch the Jackson Family label Camelot Vineyards in Central California, as well as leading a new Chilean operation at Viña Calina. He also established the company’s Argentinian vineyards and wine production at Bodega Tapiz, then Yangarra Vineyards and Winery in McLaren Vale.

In March 1997, he became winemaster for Kendall-Jackson Winery, and in 2006 chief operating officer, and later senior vice-president and winemaster, with oversight of Chile (he helped establish Dakél winery in southern Chile which produces Chardonnay and Pinot Noir under the Jackson Family Wines label).

Jackson Family Wines, which is based in Santa Rosa, California, and is known for its Kendall-Jackson and La Crema labels, encompasses around 50 brands, with operations in Oregon, Washington State, Canada and England – Jackson Family Wines becoming one of the first major still wine producers to invest in the English wine industry.

Barbara Banke, who took over the company after her husband, founder Jesse Jackson died in 2011, said that Ullom had been “part of our family for nearly three decades”, during which time he had “helped make our Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay a household name”. “We are so grateful for everything he’s done and proud of the legacy he’s built,” she told the Press Democrat.

In addition to his numerous accolade, Ullom was one of the 100 top MasterWinemakers, published by the drinks business, in its inaugural year (2019). He told db that one of his proudest wine-related achievements was “building an incredible winemaking team that together have many years of experience under their belts” but that the hardest part of the job was “not having enough hours in the day”.