Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/72545
RobDavis By Dan Berger Maintaining balance after 38 harvests with Jordan Vineyards & Winery t the 40th anniversary of Sonoma County's Jordan Vineyards & Winery, "the only winemaker Jordan has ever had" remains a beloved figure who doesn't shirk the lime- light – but who rarely has told the tale of his rise to the pinnacle of California winemaking. A cabernet sauvignon specialist, Rob Davis is a man who cherishes the good fortune of his life, especially his close friendship with the late iconic winemaker, and his mentor, Andre Tchelistcheff. To this day, Davis continues to make a statement on behalf of balance, structure and food compatibility – and does so with the hand of diminutive Andre always on his shoulder. Vineyard & Winery Manage- ment (V&WM): How did you get hired at Jordan? Rob Davis (RD): There was a winemaker before I got here, for 66 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT JULY - AUG 2012 about three months. It was Chuck Jones, who had worked at Mon- davi and other positions before he came here. It was right after July 4, 1976, and that first day here was quite eventful. They were still building the place, and I was a UC Davis grad student. In my post-grad work, I did a lot of research into Brettano- myces. I don't consider it a flavor adjunct, I consider it a flaw. Well, Chuck had been at Mondavi, and he was almost paranoid about it. He hated Brett and he worked hard to avoid it ever getting onto the property. I was working at Davis during the summer, and I had just isolated dekkera (a form of Brettanomy- ces); I had the morphology of it and knew the difference between dek- kera and Brett. I called Jordan to inquire about a summer intern position, and then days later at about 8 a.m. I called Jordan and Chuck told me, "Hey, you have an interview here in two hours." Well, I raced over there, but the address wasn't in the phone book and the phone number wasn't published and there was no address or sign in front of the prop- erty. I passed the entrance a few times, and thought to myself, "This interview is toast." But then I saw "Jordan" painted on an old plow, so I drove up the dirt road. All I saw was a construction site. I asked a guy with a hard hat, "Do you know where Jordan is?" and he said, "Dude, this is it." So I sat down and talked with Chuck, and halfway through I thought, "This interview is not going great." I asked when he was going to make a decision on the job, and he said they still had some other applicants. Then he stopped and said, WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM