Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/4337
Thirty Years of Redemption story by Deborah Parker Wong / photos by Ryan Lely I t's not uncommon for a winery to be associated in some way with the famous or even the infamous, but few can attribute a vineyard site to one of the most infl uential writers of the 20th century. For the last thirty years, Kenwood Vineyards has produced compelling wines from the Jack London Vineyard in the western hills of Sonoma Mountain. The history of winegrowing at Jack London's namesake vineyard in Glen Ellen, known as Hill Ranch when London purchased it in 1905, began in the early 1870s and was revived a century later by London's descendant, Milo Shepard, who replanted the site to Cabernet Sau- vignon in 1972. Kenwood Vineyards produced its fi rst vintage of Jack London Cabernet Sauvignon in 1977 from fruit grown on hillsides that had originally been terraced by the author. Today, Kenwood manages the 130-acre vineyard and produces Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel and Syrah from the famed site. To commemorate the 30th anniversary vin- tage of the Jack Lon- don Series, Kenwood labeled just under half of the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon production with a dramatic full- bottle silkscreen of London's "Wolf" logo. 78 / the tasting panel / november 2009 Jack London rides in Sonoma vineyards.