Her father - the late Jess Jackson - established what is now an oenological empire in the 1980s. To this day, the second generation winegrower says the art and business of making wine infuses every aspect of her life. “Winemaking has always been an integral part of my life,” Katie says. “I love the entire industry, from the vineyard to the cellar to the boardroom.”

Katie first apprenticed at Kendall-Jackson as a teenager. She started at the bottom and worked her way up the ladder, first cleaning the tanks and filters, making yeast and supervising maceration.

“I love the science of winemaking,” Katie says. In the end, her passion for the complex intersection of science and poetry that occurs in winemaking inspired her to return to the vineyards of Sonoma after spending two years studying English at Wellesley College. Since then, Katie has worked in several of Jackson family’s wineries and plans to travel abroad to study European winemaking techniques firsthand. Day-to-day she blogs about wine, serves as a spokesperson at tasting events across the country and supports the company’s community affairs programs. In her spare time, Katie enjoys hiking the foothills surrounding her Healdsburg home and working her way through the works of the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen.