"kendall-jackson" news and stories

I'm one of those geeky gardener-cooks who tries hard to close the loop: I grow veggies and herbs, compost the scraps, and throw it back into the garden to make even better veggies and herbs. But thus far I haven't taken the final step--harvesting rainwater from the roof--because I've never found a rain barrrel I liked enough.

Now a company called TerraCycle has partnered with wineries in Napa, including Kendall-Jackson, to make rain barrels out of their used oak wine casks. According to TerraCycle, once casks have outlived their use in the winery, they're typically burned--not the most environmentally friendly way to get rid of them.

Hence the concept of "upcycling," or finding a new use for formerly non-recyclable materials. And when the new product is pretty, well, I'm a sucker! Find the rain barrels at Sam's Club and Home Depot for $149 each.

In a recent (pre-election) People magazine profile on the Obamas, the writer mentioned that a bottle of Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay was on the future First Family's Chicago kitchen counter. Kendall-Jackson decided to send the president-elect a few cases of KJ Chardonnay, America's #1 selling chardonnay for 18 years running, for his new wine cellar on Pennsylvania Ave.

Jess Jackson, KJ's founder, says the Chardonnay was a favorite at the Reagan White House. He hopes the wine will bridge the political divide and become a favorite in a Democratic White House as well. (In the past, Presidents have favored American wines at State dinners. Of course, Serious Eats says that Barack Obama reportedly prefers beer to wine, but let's hope he still serves wine with dinner instead of Budweiser.)

Kendall-Jackson says the wine was sent as a congratulatory gift, but one can't help but think it might be a gift of condolence as well, with the shape and size of the economic and social problems that face our next President. When Obama is done celebrating his election, he should have several bottles left to drown his sorrows in once he faces the real work ahead of him.