Jordan Estate Tales - Volume 11, 2016 - 9

FOR WINEMAKER ROB
DAVIS, A MILESTONE
HARVEST TAKES SHAPE
by Matt Villano

ears from now, most winemakers in Napa and Sonoma counties
will remember the 2015 harvest for its record-breaking early start.
Winemaker Rob Davis will remember it for an entirely different
reason: This year marked his 40th harvest with Jordan.
Davis started working at Jordan for the winery's inaugural vintage in
1976, the same year Jimmy Carter was president and "Charlie's Angels"
debuted on television. Since then, he's watched the industry grow and
consolidate and has learned from some of the best in the business.
He's also crafted some stunning vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon and
Chardonnay-wines that have helped Jordan remain one of the topselling brands on restaurant wine lists for more than three decades.
"If you had told me going into college that I'd become a winemaker
and spend 40 years working at the same place I would have laughed,"
he says. "Now, looking back, I can't imagine ever doing anything else.
It's crazy how that happened, but I wouldn't change anything. I love what
I do and feel lucky to do it."

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Rob Davis didn't go to college at the University of California at Davis
intending to be a winemaker-he wanted to be a doctor. By his own
admission, when he arrived his freshman year, he had no idea the
university was a top school for winemaking. He learned quickly.
After returning from the library to find his roommate in their dorm room
swirling a wine glass, Davis told him that he shouldn't be drinking; he
should study. The roommate responded, "I am studying."
"I didn't even realize wine was an academic subject," Davis says.
"That changed everything."
Gradually, Davis became disillusioned with pre-med and leaned toward
winemaking. "I loved the science aspect of winemaking," he remembers.
"The combination of science and art and agriculture. It was enthralling."
Also, he notes, the people were much friendlier.
Davis graduated in 1976 and began his career at Jordan as an intern
for the inaugural 1976 harvest, which yielded 36,000 cases of Cabernet
Sauvignon. Fresh out of the UC-Davis, he jumped at the chance to work
with André Tchelistcheff, a veteran winemaker famous for Bordeauxstyle wines, who had been hired to help the Jordans create a California
Cabernet Sauvignon that would rival France's finest.
A young Davis joined the staff full-time the following year, and
Tchelistcheff became his mentor. They traveled the world together.
They became close friends. The elder winemaker helped the rookie take
classroom concepts and apply them to the vineyard. Tchelistcheff also
taught Davis the importance of getting a visceral feel for a vineyard, of
connecting with the vines by walking rows daily and interacting with local
grape growers as frequently as possible.

Rob reviews veraison-thinning
progress at one of our grower's
Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards.

"André loved talking about how different the industry was when he first
came [to the United States]; how the sanitation and equipment were
just horrible," Davis says. "These were stories I never got in college.
They extended my education. And that was something he and I shared.
His parting comment every day was, 'Every day I learn something new.'
He showed me the importance of approaching winemaking and life with
that philosophy."
9

Jordan Estate Tales - Volume 11, 2016

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