Kathryn Kennedy (July 28, 1927 – August 23, 2009) was a California wine grower, establishing her vineyard during the growth phase in the

California wine history California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, up to 90% (by some estimates) of American wine is ...

known as "The Wine Boom of the early 1970s". While not the first woman winemaker ( Zelma Long and others), Kennedy was one of the first owners of a brand to bear a woman's name in California, and one who came to the scene independent of the young women graduates of the

University of California-Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

Early life

Born 1927, Kennedy moved from Santa Cruz to Santa Clara Valley at the age of 15, earning a degree from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

at the age of 19. Married, and with the first of her four children, Kathryn moved to her Saratoga property in 1949 where she later decided to plant a vineyard.C. Fallis, editor ''The Encyclopedic Atlas of Wine'' pg 93 Global Book Publishing 2006 In preparation for planting her , she attended two semesters of the viticulture program at University of California, Davis. There she was advised to plant

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

on her property. This recommendation was based not only on the "Region Two" climate classification for her land in Saratoga, but also on the market projections that were held during the late 1960s.

Viticulture and winemaking activities

In planting her vineyard, Kennedy had Clone #8 cuttings sourced from David Bruce Vineyards developed for one year in an on-site nursery before planting in 1973. After selling fruit for two vintages to

Mount Eden Vineyards Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...

in Saratoga, Kathryn established her brand and winery in 1979. Her adviser and first winemaker was Bill Anderson, who went on to be the longstanding winemaker at Chateau Julien in

Carmel Valley AVA The Carmel Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Monterey County, California, east of Carmel-by-the-Sea. The AVA is home to a number of wineries and vineyards, as well as the town of Carmel Valley Village. Wineries with tasting rooms in ...

. From 1979 until 1988 Kathryn's winery produced only Estate Cabernet. Joining the process after the survey work of Ken Burnap and

David Bennion David Ralph Bennion (1929–1988) was a leading California winemaker who was the founder and winemaker at Ridge Vineyards in California from 1959 to 1969. From an early period, Bennion labeled Ridge Vineyards wines by vineyard, district and appell ...

, Kennedy contributed to modifying the boundaries of the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, which was created in 1981. She successfully sought to include her land in this new appellation in order to be associated with the premium wine producers of this region.

Death

Kennedy died August 23, 2009, at home surrounded by her family, after a long battle with cancer.

Winery

Kathryn Kennedy Winery is a small winery located in Saratoga, California. It is located on of land in the foothills of the

Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States. They form a ridge down the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco. They separate the Pacific Ocean from ...

near Silicon Valley. Kathryn Kennedy Winery produces

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse B ...

Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

, and a Lateral blend. Kennedy left the winery in the hands of her youngest son Marty Mathis, who has been winemaker since 1981.A. Domine (ed.) ''Wine'', pp. 830, Ullmann Publishing, 2008 In 2003 production was expanded to include a 4000 case red blend named Lateral made in Napa Valley as well as a Sauvignon blanc made from organic grapes. The Estate Vineyard was certified organic in time for the 2007 vintage.

References

External links