Kinship Winery

02/27/2026

Coming soon to a California vineyard near you!

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02/06/2026

I was recently struck by a quote from Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC): “Man cannot make great wine if he uses only his scientific knowledge. He can only make great wine if he is spiritually in connection with his vineyard.”

It reminded me of a conversation years ago with wine writer Gisela Kreglinger, author of The Spirituality of Wine. While we were sipping a Santa Barbara Pinot Noir, she interrupted our talk to take a cell phone call from Aubert de Villaine himself.

While my palate hadn’t yet been calibrated to the rarified air of DRC, I was curious about the distinction. I asked her: "What is the real difference between this Pinot and his?" She looked at me and said, “It’s like tasting an orchestra of flavors.”

That image of the "orchestra" has stayed with me long after my time in the wine business. In a symphony, there are layers of sound—obvious brass, steady rhythms, and then those subtle, quiet vibrations of the strings that you might not "hear" individually, but you would certainly feel if they were missing.

Mystically speaking, many of us don't hear all the notes. We catch the melody (the fruit) or the tempo (the acid), but we miss the harmonic undertones that make the experience transcendent.

Around that same time, I was talking with my friend Fr. Michael Courey, a Greek Orthodox priest and iconographer. We were discussing our “a-vocations"—he was writing icons, and I was busy making wine. I told him then that my goal was to make an iconic wine.

In Fr. Mike’s world, an icon isn't just a painting; it’s a window you look through to see the divine. To move from an "excellent" wine (which any "rock-ribbed" atheist with a chemistry set can achieve) to a "great" wine, you have to be spiritually "tuned in" from the vines to the glass.

This isn't just "mysticism"—it’s history. After the fall of Rome, the Benedictine monks in Burgundy took this connection to a literal level. They would taste the soil itself, infusing it in water for 24 hours to "calculate" its soul. They saw viticulture as a spiritual sign.

Even the ancient sarcophagi, like Constantina’s from 340 A.D., show muses working among the vines. It suggests that angelic "muses" work in, with, and under our intuition and the whole creative process—from the first pruning of the vine to the final bottling of the wine. They play those subtle, mystical notes that anchor us to the earth and the heavens simultaneously.

Sociologist Peter Berger once noted that certain activities—from children’s games to great concerts—can link us to eternity. In those moments, time stops and a window opens to another world.

Banquets and feasts are exactly like that. When that spiritual thread stays unbroken from the soil to the pouring, the wine becomes a witness. It stops being a mere consumer product and becomes a story of stewardship that we are all invited to participate in.

If you listen closely at the opening of a great bottle, you might just hear the flutter of muses’ or angels' wings—a cloud of witnesses rejoicing with you, waiting to welcome you to an even greater banquet. We don't just "consume" creation; we commune with it.

P.S. I still have yet to taste a DRC wine myself. So, if any are in the area and would like to share some with me, please feel free to connect!

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12/29/2025

A Different Kind of Fix for 2026

Years of cellar work have ingrained in me that the deepest transformation often happens in stillness. As we turn toward 2026, I’d like to share thoughts on a different kind of “fix”—one that asks us to do less, so the heavy things can finally settle.

As the calendar turns, many of us feel a quiet, persistent ache—for repaired peace, shorter to-do lists, or balm against the world’s uncertainty.

In the cellar, when young wine is turbulent, we speak of “fixing” it. Not repairing something broken—but affixing it. Finding the Still Point.

We spend much of our lives in fermentation: the bubbling, the heat, the relentless pressure to become better, faster, more polished.

Sometimes the most spiritual act in 2026 is simply to stop striving—and start settling.

The vine has taught me that the true “fix” lies not in more movement, but in the sediment. In the quiet dark of the cellar, we let the lees—the remnants of struggle—sink to the bottom.

We don’t fight gravity; we trust it. By allowing the heavy things to fall away, the wine clears. Its brilliance emerges not from adding anything new, but from releasing what’s no longer needed.

Maybe your 2026 “fix” isn’t another resolution, diet, or hustle. Maybe it’s racking.

Racking is the gentle transfer of wine to a fresh vessel, leaving the bitter lees of the past season behind. It’s a clean break—a fresh start that honors the year’s labor while refusing to drag its dead weight forward.

As you pour your first glass of 2026, pause and ask: What am I ready to let settle? What bitterness am I finally willing to leave behind?

2026 doesn’t need a “new” you. It needs the steady you—the one who has survived the heat and is ready for the clarity that comes only in the cool dark of the cellar.

To the still point. To the fix that lasts. 🍷

— Jess

12/24/2025

The Beauty of the Scar

In this season of light, we often celebrate the harvest, but we forget the quiet work of restoration that happens in the dark of winter. Whether we are marking a holiday or simply the turning of the year, we are reminded that some of the deepest wounds are the necessary precursors to rebirth.

In the wine world, we see the words "Old Vines" on a label and think of prestige. We rarely talk about the heart-wrenching work required to keep those vines with us.

There is a process called curettage. When a vine is fading—rotting from the inside due to disease—a grower doesn't simply pull it up and start over. Instead, they perform surgery. They cut deep, sometimes using a chainsaw to remove the decay, allowing the life-force to breathe again.

I think of the survivors in our lives—especially those, like Deb, who have faced breast cancer.
Like these vines, survival often requires an invasive, painful clearing away of what is harming us. It leaves scars. Surgery changes the shape of things, but it is the price of flourishing.

These vines aren't "damaged goods" because they’ve been cut into. They are precious because they fought to stay. To save a future, we often have to endure the scarring of the present.

The wine from these vines always has the most character, the most depth, and the most soul—perhaps because, in a biological sense, the plant knows exactly what it cost to still be here.
The next time you pour a glass from an old vineyard, toast to the survivors. Toast to the scars that tell the story of life winning.

— Jess

11/25/2025

Worth watching.

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10/20/2025

😢🙀🤔

When Brandon Sywassink pulled into a Lodi winery with truckloads of freshly picked grapes, he thought he was delivering a year’s worth of work. It was the

10/08/2025

Did you know the ancient Romans celebrated a wine festival dedicated not just to the harvest, but to good health?

On October 11th, the Romans celebrated the Meditrinalia. While it’s often mistaken for a simple grape harvest festival, its true purpose was to celebrate the curative properties of a special beverage.

The drink was a blend of:

1. New Wine/Must (mustum): The fresh, unfermented juice from the current year’s pressing. While taking a little sip is fine, consuming too much of the freshly pressed juice will cause you to have the runs! 😢

2. Old Wine (vetus vinum): Wine that had successfully aged from the previous year. The blend was considered a tonic, a kind of ancient medicine, ensuring wellness for the year ahead.

When the Romans raised their cups, they would declare the ultimate wine-lover’s toast: “Novum vetus vinum bibo, novo veteri morbo medeor.” ("I drink new wine and old wine: I heal myself of the new and the old disease.")

So, whether you’re opening a fresh bottle or enjoying a cellar favorite, raise a glass to the Meditrinalia this October 11th—and to your health! 🍇🥂

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10/04/2025

I didn’t know they are still in business! After I left my grape growing and wine making in Ramona behind back in 1999, I got grapes from Marabella in San Pedro for a few years. That is until with a friend we started getting grapes from up north (French Camp).

I liked their old vine Zinfandel from Cucamonga the best. They also had all sorts of grapes coming in from Temecula, which it made it fun to experiment with. Using a bladder (water) press, oak barrels and utilizing all sorts of cutting edge best practices, I was able to make some pretty decent homemade wine in those days. 😊

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08/30/2025

It's interesting that in the book of Genesis, when the creation was completed there was a rest (Sabbath) that took place. In other words, Adam and Eve were created to rest to work instead of working to rest!

What was involved in this rest? Speculations abound. It's interesting that in Jewish tradition, according to the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 59b — (attributed to Rabbi Yehuda ben Teima), it states:

“Adam, the first man, would dine in the Garden of Eden, and the ministering angels would roast meat for him and strain wine for him. The serpent gazed at him, saw his glory, and became jealous…”

Every sip of wine, in a mystical manner, points back to that yearning and desire to "go back to the garden" - as they used to say in the Woodstock era.

✨Rest is not something you have to earn. It’s not a reward you get after working hard enough. Rest is a necessity, it’s a foundation for your health, your healing, and your happiness. Take time to rest and relax this weekend 💜

08/28/2025

🍇 From Vineyard to Victory: Turning Grapevine Waste into Eco-Friendly Plastic!

Did you know that the humble grapevine could help save the planet?

Scientists at South Dakota State University have uncorked a game-changing discovery: biodegradable plastic films made from discarded vineyard canes! 🌱

These woody leftovers, usually burned or mulched, are now being transformed into clear, sturdy films stronger than traditional plastic bags. Even better? They fully decompose in just 17 days when buried in soil, leaving no toxic residue. Zero waste, maximum impact! 💚

This breakthrough not only gives new life to winery byproducts but could revolutionize eco-friendly packaging—think sustainable wine gift bags or food wraps!

🍇 While scaling up production is the next step, this innovation pairs perfectly with the wine industry’s push for sustainability. Next time you sip your favorite vintage, toast to a greener future!

📖 Learn more: https://www.sdstate.edu/news/2025/08/can-grapevines-help-slow-plastic-waste-problem

A new study from South Dakota State University reveals how grapevine canes can be converted into plastic-like material that is stronger than traditional plastic and will decompose in the environment in a relatively short amount of time.

08/27/2025

My father's (Raymond Knauft) favorite wine came from Raymond Vineyard. He liked the wine, although the name "Raymond" had a lot to do with it as well.

This core tradition of pouring wine as part of a blessing ritual makes me wonder about the ancient Christian tradition of blessing grapes at the harvest. Prior to the modern practice of filtration, residual yeast contained in bottles from a previous year's successful wine vintage was likely introduced by this process into the grape harvest. Hence, designer yeast was more ancient than what we often think about.

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08/22/2025

I always give my wine glasses a good rinse just to be sure no residual soap is present. 😊

https://www.wineenthusiast.com/basics/how-to-clean-wine-glasses/?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwQ0xDSwMVfRpleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHiUdmMKGgkHlp2MtP1-CQnWWm6JqT1wRhr2rGlArlols7lUMYShFGgPoAWhK_aem_e3bgRZQryWT0sOToXKL6WA

Stains and residue can alter the appearance and aromas of your wine. Get clean glassware tips and product recommendations from sommeliers and other industry pros.