4. Saturday February 3, 2024 Grand Vintner's Dinner Jackson Family Wines

Welcoming back, Wine Enthusiast’s 2022 “American Wine Legend”, Sonoma County 2022 “Wine Icon, Randy Ullom.

A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, Randy grew up watching his father make wine at home as a hobby, but it wasn’t until he spent three years on sabbatical from college in Chile, where he embarked on a crosscountry trek through wine country, that he realized he wanted to pursue a career in viticulture and enology. After exploring Chile’s vast winegrowing regions, he returned to the United States and earned his degree in the field from The Ohio State University in 1975, graduating summa cum laude.

In 1993, Randy was hired by Jess Jackson to reopen Edmeades in Mendocino and act as winemaker for the launch of the new Jackson Family label Camelot Vineyards in Central California. That same year, Jess gave him the additional responsibility of heading up a new Chilean operation as founding winemaker and general manager of Viña Calina. Randy also established the company’s vineyards and wine
production in Argentina at Bodega Tapiz, followed by starting a project, Yangarra Vineyards and Winery, in McLaren Vale, Australia. In March of 1997, Randy was named Head Winemaker for Kendall-Jackson Winery as a nod to his intimate involvement in the intricacies of the viticultural and winemaking programs of the brand. In 2006, he also became the Chief Operating Officer, responsible for overseeing the ongoing business operations within the company. Following that stint for a few years, Randy has settled into the continued role of SVP / Winemaster for Kendall-Jackson with oversight of Chile.