Check out the radio show on The Trail 103.3FM and Fresh 104.5FM. The live stream feed is online at http://www.trail1033.com where you can click on “Listen Live”. The WineGuyMike™ Radio Show© airs on both radio stations Sunday mornings at 10:00AM MST.
Social Media links;
Today’s Podcast; http://trail1033.podbean.com/2012/03/04/wine-guy-mike-for-march-4th/
NBC Montana Today TV Segment with Christmas wines; http://www.nbcmontana.com/video/30063511/index.html
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Sponsors
Ciao Mambo, “Eat Like You Mean It”, located in Missoula on The Hip Strip. Find them online at www.CiaoMambo.com
Sleep City Missoula www.SleepCity.com
Liquid Planet “Best of Beverage” and a great place to find your holiday wine located in the heart of downtown Missoula.
Georges Distributing in Helena, Montana.
All photo’s courtesy of CBS Undercover Boss.
A month ago, as I was watching television, an advertisement for a show that airs on CBS Sunday evenings captured my attention. The reality series “Undercover Boss” was featuring the Kendall-Jackson winery on the show. I was excited to see an iconic brand that has helped shape the American wine Industry being featured on national television.
This week on the WineGuyMike radio show I was joined by Jason Hunke VP of Communications Jackson Family Wines. Jason J. Hunke serves as vice president of communications for Jackson Family Wines, one of America’s largest and most beloved family-owned wineries. Jason oversees a range of business and consumer related communications programs.
Jason is a great guest and ambassador for Jackson Family Wines, he is also very accomplished in his career. Here are just a few things that he has done throughout his career to date:
- General Manager of the Seattle and Portland offices of Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm
- Senior Director of marketing and public relations for nearly 11 years at Vulcan Inc., the management firm of billionaire investor and philanthropist Paul G.Allen, co-founder of Microsoft
- overseen award-winning communications programs for various film and television projects, including the PBS series “Rx forSurvival: A Global Health Challenge”; “Martin Scorsese Presents: The Blues”; launching the acclaimed documentary project “Evolution” on PBS
- Hunke’s communications work has garnered multiple awards including three national PR Week awards for arts & entertainment campaign of the year
- served for three years on the board of the Pride Foundation and has been a guest lecturer at the University of Washington
Jess Jackson was one of a small group of modern day contemporaries in Sonoma and Napa that shaped the American wine industry in more ways than one. He passed away in April of 2011 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. On the show this week Jason talked about Jess Jackson’s legacy and the new President’s, Rick Tigner, leadership role at Kendall-Jackson winery.
If you missed the CBS Undercover Boss show that aired on January 29th of this year I encourage you to watch this show by going to CBS.com.
In this episode Rick Tigner goes undercover to understand how the company works from vine to product on the retail shelf. Rick wants to discover what improvements can be made from on the business side of Kendall-Jackson as well as how the company’s employees can be better served.
Rick tackled four different roles on the CBS Undercover Boss show:
- Assistant Vineyard Manager, Crop Estimation – learning how the grapes are cared for and what happens in the vineyard
- Truck Driver- the reality of the gap between sales and deliveries
- Mobile Bottling Unit Supervisor – ensuring a quality product on the shelf
- Sales Associate – Rick visits the Murphy Goode, one of the JFW labels, tasting room to pour for visiting consumers.
Kendall-Jackson was the first winery to ever be featured on Undercover Boss and what ensued was not only heartwarming but also very emotional. I enjoyed this episode so much as it really captured the true essence of the industry for me. The heart of this business is farming and as Jess Jackson said in his own words; “a handful of dirt had a deep meaning for me”.
This was especially true in Sonoma County, Jess’ favorite place in the world. His intimate relationship with the land that he loved and grew grapes provided him a sixth sense for the terroir, or sense of place of this area. As a grape farmer Jess was one of the first to recognize and understand that vines are like mountain goats, in that they thrive on mountain tops, ridges, hillsides and benchlands. This farming method is difficult but Jess knew growing grapes this way would produce the richest fruit exhibiting intense character and flavor.
Jess Jackson was a leader and a visionary in the California wine industry. His family-owned and family-run business has always been dedicated to three things: respect for the land, their wines and the best interests of the consumer. The Jackson family culture is built on those principles and on the ethos of hard work, integrity, and an uncompromising desire for quality. This is the Jackson families’ formula for success.
I want to thank Jason Hunke for joining me this week, he is very passionate about Jackson Family Wines and the Kendall-Jackson winery. He provided a great overview of the wine portfolio that you can find out about by visiting www.KJ.com
To learn more about Jess Jackson and the history of Jackson Family Wines and Kendall-Jackson you can visit http://www.corridormag.com/home/grapevine
Be sure not to miss next week’s show as WineMaster Randy Ullom will be joining me on the WineGuyMike radio show on Sunday, March 11th at 10:00 AM MST to share his insight on winemaking and all that goes on behind the scenes at Jackson Family Wines and Kendall-Jackson. Randy and I will taste a flight of incredible wines, and comparing notes that we will be sharing with you.
You can listen to the show live on the Trail 103.3FM or U 104.5FM at; http://bit.ly/pVLaBr. Extended show podcasts are available following each week’s show on my blog at; www.WineGuyMike.wordpress.com
Have a great week and I’ll see you on the radio, cheers from WineGuyMike.
Wineguymike's Blog 
It must have been truly a privilege to interview someone so knowledgeable about wine and so happy to share history. He’s got an impressive resume, too!
Paul,
Working with Jackson Family Wines and Kendall-Jackson has been a real pleasure. The people, the company, and the wine, it has all been a fantastic experience. There are three more shows coming up so stay tuned. I’ll see you on the radio this Sunday at 10:00am MST with special guest??? from Kendall-Jackson.
Cheers,
WineGuyMike