WineInk: Corks and hoops
WineInk
Courtesy Photo
For many in Aspen, this is a very good time of year, as the playoffs of the National Basketball Association are underway. We have been blessed with a local team that took the title last season and is playing some incredible basketball this year, as well.
This past Monday as I sipped a glass (OK, three glasses) of Kendall-Jackson Reserve Chardonnay, I watched the Denver Nuggets come back from a 20-point deficit to win Game 2 of its series against the Los Angeles Lakers, when the Nuggets’ underrated superstar Jamal Murray hit a fadeaway mid-range jumper at the buzzer to give Denver the victory.
Why is this relevant to a wine column?
A half-century ago in 1974, a California corporate lawyer named Jess Stonestreet Jackson purchased an 80-acre pear and walnut orchard in Lakeport, California, and converted it into a chardonnay vineyard. It was the beginning of one of the most successful family wineries in the modern-day history of the wine industry. In May of that same year, the Boston Celtics, led by Dave Cowens and John Havlicek, beat Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals to win their 12th championship.
Now 50 years later, the Celtics are back in the NBA playoffs hoping to dethrone the defending Champion Nuggets, and Kendall-Jackson’s Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay is the best-selling Chardonnay in America — and has been since 1992.
So, it seems appropriate that earlier this month, Kendall-Jackson and the NBA paired up to announce a multi-year sponsorship making Kendall-Jackson the Official Wine of the NBA. La Crema, a key brand in the Jackson Family portfolio of wines, is also now the Official Wine of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). The multi-year agreement marks the league’s first-ever, official winery partnership. In addition, Kendall-Jackson and La Crema have also been named the Official Wine Partners of USA Basketball’s men’s and women’s national teams, respectively. The teams that will play in this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
This is a dramatic marketing move by the family-owned Kendall-Jackson winery, as they join E. J. Gallo — a much larger company — in the big leagues of wine and sports partnerships. Gallo’s Barefoot line of wines has been the NFL’s wine sponsor since 2022. While the Kendall-Jackson NBA partnership is in a different sphere, the winery has dabbled in sports before as the “preferred wine of the Kentucky Derby.” Jess Jackson, who died in 2011, was a horse racing aficionado who established Stonestreet Stables, one of the most successful operations in the business.
“Our partnership with the NBA is a natural extension of our shared values and our commitment to embracing the evolving landscape of culture and taste,” said Chris Jackson, co-proprietor for Kendall-Jackson. “It’s about enriching the fan experience by blending the passion for the game with the artistry of winemaking. As we embark on this exciting journey together, we are setting the stage for a future where wine converges in unexpected and exhilarating ways.”
Indeed, there is already an exciting convergence between NBA players and coaches and the greater world of wine. For years, San Antonio Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich has shared his love of great wines — and actual wines — at team dinners with his players. If you’ve attended the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, you may have met and tasted the wines produced by former NBA great and three-time NBA Champion Dwyane Wade (Wade Cellars), the New Orleans Pelicans guard and Oregon winemaker CJ McCollum (McCollum Heritage 91), or ex-Nugget Carmelo Anthony (Seventh Estate).
Other NBA wine enthusiasts include LeBron James and Michael Jordan. That would be Jordan the G.O.A.T., and NBA legend, not his namesake, Michael Jordan, a master sommelier who happens to work for Kendall-Jackson.
The genesis of the corks-and-hoops partnership goes back nearly four years to when the NBA was forced by the pandemic to hold the 2020-21 season in a “Bubble” at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida. All the players and coaches lived together in the complex, and there was some initial grumbling about the quality of the wines available. Kendall-Jackson, seeing an opportunity, stepped in, and conducted virtual wine tastings and educational sessions.
Perhaps even more interesting is the partnership between the WNBA and La Crema.
La Crema is a producer in the Russian River Valley of California’s Sonoma County that is primarily focused on the production of premium Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The $28-a-bottle La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2021 was recently named Wine Spectator’s Top Wine Value of the Year. Purchased by Jackson Family Wines in 1993, La Crema has been a consistently high scorer for the company.
And the WNBA, as it enters its 28th season, is poised to become the next big thing in sports. Earlier this month, the women’s NCAA collegiate National Basketball Championship game between South Carolina and the University of Connecticut had a television audience of over 18 million viewers — four million more than the audience for the men’s finals. It was the culmination of a record season that saw an unprecedented spike in interest in the women’s game. College players like Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who has been a transcendent figure this season, LSU’s Angel Reese, and South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso are expected to give the WNBA star power when they take the floor as professionals when the WNBA season begins in May.
Of course, Kendall-Jackson and La Crema are not doing this just to be associated with the star players. Rather, they have committed to this partnership with the intent of reaching the fans of both the NBA and WNBA who are potentially customers of their wines. The demographics of both league’s fans skew closely to that of the premium wine consumers: educated, affluent, and young. Interestingly, men have been the largest percentage of WBNA viewers in the past, meaning there is room for the sport and their sponsors to grow the fan base of female consumers.
Julie Morris, NBA senior vice president of commercial development and media, said in a release, “This partnership recognizes the dynamic interests of our players and fans and uniquely blends the culture of wine with the excitement of the game.”
It will be interesting to watch this pairing in the seasons to come.
2022 La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
So, I have highlighted this wine recently before in earlier vintages, but it seemed right to go with it once again given the circumstances of the partnership with the WNBA. If I can make an awkward analogy, the NBA is to the WNBA as Bordeaux style wines are to Burgundian wines. Cabernet Sauvignon is bold, powerful, vibrant, and occasionally over the top. Pinot Noir wines on the other hand have finesse, diversity of flavors, and a precise nature. The men’s and women’s games are different. You can like both, just as you can like Pinots and Cabs. But I think that the La Crema pairing with the WNBA fits right for the times and tenor of the women’s game. You go, girl.
