Rob Davis takes on new role at Jordan Winery after 42 years

Rob Davis, who has worked at Jordan Winery since its inaugural 1976 harvest and is considered the longest-tenured winemaker in Sonoma County, has transitioned into a newly created role. He’s now the winegrower at the family-operated Healdsburg winery.

Maggie Kruse, who has worked alongside Davis for the past 13 harvests as associate winemaker, will take over lead winemaking duties.

Davis came to Jordan after graduating from UC Davis. Legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff, working then as the consulting enologist for Jordan, selected Davis to craft that inaugural vintage of Alexander Valley cabernet sauvignon. His role expanded throughout the years, including working with local growers during the phylloxera outbreak in the mid-1990s.

Davis will continue to manage all grower vineyards and serve as a mentor and advisor to Kruse and assistant winemaker John Duckett.

“For family businesses like ours, leadership changes like this only come around two or three times in a century,” said John Jordan, chief executive officer and proprietor, in a statement. “This newly created position will allow Rob to focus entirely on grapegrowing while letting Maggie take on more leadership responsibility after 13 years of dedication to the company.”

Bill Swindell