Traveling around the country and talking about Kendall-Jackson’s wines is always exciting. I get a lot of great feedback about the wines, and best of all, I get to share them and tell the story about what makes them great. Starting next week we’ll be doing something very special: sharing the story of our founder, Jess Jackson.

I am very fortunate to be able to attend two special events this week in New York and Chicago called Red Night. It’s dedicated to our founder, Jess Jackson, and will honor his memory and vision.

The Red Night is an interactive tasting event designed to showcase the superlative Cabernet Sauvignon producers in the portfolio. It’ll be a great tribute to Jess Jackson’s life and legacy, and show off some really fantastic wines.

The focus of this special tasting will be how elevation contributes to wine style and character, or why elevation, as a component to terroir, matters. Just some of the themes I have been discussing with you in this blog, no?

We’ll be taking a ‘contoured’ tasting approach that guides the attendees through the wines, not by region or appellation but by elevation/geography—starting with the benchland wines (most supple) and leading up to the mountain wines (most muscular).

KJ Winemaster Randy Ullom and I will be representing Kendall-Jackson and pouring two of our mountain wines. The first is the 2008 Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, a true mountain wine. The second is the 2007 Highland Estates Trace Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon: a wine crafted to express the terroir of one of my most favorite vineyard sites, and one that I’ve photographed repeatedly for this blog and our Flickr page – the Knights Cross vineyard in Knights Valley.

The anticipation is killing me.  Not only will I get to pay my respects to Jess Jackson, but I will also share the wines that I help to create in a phenomenal setting.  As always, there will be terrific food to enjoy with our wines.

Cheers!