Brand Story

In 1971, Stephen & Paula Hawkes bought a 65-acre farm in southern Alexander Valley, where they have been living & farming grapes since. Jacob, a bald man in his early 40's with a sort of athlete-gone-to-seed figure, was born & raised on that farm. Never planning to make wine, he left home & bumped around. His jobs varied. Nightclub doorman in New York, grape-picker in Australia, alcoholic in Mexico, English teacher in Texas, but wherever he went, he failed. And when he failed, he came home & worked the vineyard. Today, Jake is resigned to failure. The upside is, he loves what he does! In dreams, he wanders the landscape of American Cabernet, looking upon the empty plain. “I will make great Cabernet for our time” he shouts. “Pipe down” his wife says, “You’ll wake the baby.”