Jayson Woodbridge, creator of coveted Napa Cabernets, extends offerings with launch of two new specialty brands Fortunate Son and Summer Dream
St. Helena, Calif., November 1, 2022–Hundred Acre Winery, producers of the highest-scoring wines in the world, today named a new executive team to run its Napa Valley operation, including the promotion of Landon Patterson to CEO. The company also promoted Nicole Kilbourne to COO, hired veteran wine industry executive Tory Sims as CFO and welcomes back Burges Smith as Director of Client Services.
The new executive team are overseeing the launch and development of the two new wine projects under the Hundred Acre umbrella, Fortunate Son and Summer Dreams, which will focus on small-lot production from Napa Valley and the wilds of the western Sonoma County coast and other appellations in the future.
“We are proud to have such an experienced and dynamic executive team to oversee Hundred Acre, especially as we launch these long planned and very serious new wine projects,” said Jayson and Helen Woodbridge.
Jayson is the winemaker, founder and owner of the much coveted wines crafted at the lauded Hundred Acre Wine Group and its vineyards along with the historic vineyards dedicated to the Fortunate Son wines in upper Napa Valley and St. Helena itself.
“Together we will continue to produce the unique, balanced and intricate top-scoring wines that have garnered a total of thirty three perfect 100 point scores to date which has helped build our reputation as the premier single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon in the wine world today,” he added.
Executive Appointments
In his new role as CEO, Landon Patterson will manage all non-winemaking and vineyards aspects of the business and focus on building upon the legacy of Hundred Acre as well as the development of new projects and wineries for the future.
Patterson became a member of the Hundred Acre team at the beginning of 2011 and has taken on a wide range of increasingly important responsibilities at the company. Early in his tenure as Vice President of Sales, and was then appointed Chief Revenue Officer, where his focus was on developing a team of educators and liaisons to assist our global and highly valued clients and collectors in over 130 countries worldwide supporting Hundred Acre’s position as singular luxury wine in the world of many wines. Patterson was formerly the VP of Sales/Marketing for several small family brands in both Napa Valley and Sonoma.
“It is a tremendous honor to become the CEO for such an iconic winery,” Patterson said. “Working with a true visionary in Jayson Woodbridge has been both an honor and a great learning experience. I look forward to the carefully guided development of our company and the building upon the success of Hundred Acre with the addition of the Fortunate Son and Summer Dreams wines to our portfolio. We will continue to execute on Jayson’s vision for the future of our company, which I believe will continue to be intriguing and very bright indeed.”
Nicole Kilbourne was named Chief Operations Officer after spending the last six years at Hundred Acre as its Production Manager. A member of the Hundred Acre Wine Group for 10 years, she is a graduate of the UC Davis Viticulture and Enology program with a Bachelor of Science in Fermentation Science.
The newly appointed CFO, Tory Britton Sims, comes to the Hundred Acre Team from her previous positions as CFO at Ovid, Frank Family Vineyards, Rombauer, Seghesio, and Cuvaison. Tory enjoys the diverse activities that privately-owned wineries offer a CFO, from Strategic Planning, Financial Reporting, real estate acquisitions, to Estate and Tax Planning. She holds a Business degree from University of Kansas and an MBA from University of Colorado.
Hundred Acre welcomes back Jayson’s trusted friend Burges Smith as Director of Client Services.
New Projects
The company’s two new projects specialize in small-lot wines from exclusive vineyards, offering patrons and collectors a new range of wines of the highest pedigree forged from within the Hundred Acre family of remarkable wines.
The first, Fortunate Son, will be a red-wine centric Napa Valley brand focused on making wine from small lot heritage and historic vineyard sites dating back to the first pioneers and especially from our vineyards planted at our new Fortunate Son winery in St. Helena at The Historic David Fulton Vineyard established and planted originally in 1860 along with another ranch from the late 1800’s in partnership with other heritage family sites of exceptional quality across the valley.
The second, Summer Dreams, brings Hundred Acre’s expertise across the hills to the Sonoma Coast and other intriguing appellations. It will produce Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc in small production micro lots from only the most exceptional sites.
About Hundred Acre Wine Group
Jayson Woodbridge is the founder and he and his wife Helen Woodbridge are the sole owners of the Hundred Acre Wine Group. Jayson is the sole winemaker of one of the world’s most sought-after wines, producing the highest-scoring wines in the world under the Hundred Acre label, with 33 scoring a perfect 100 from Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate and former The Wine Advocate writer, Jeb Dunnuck, now of JebDunnuck.com. Woodbridge owns and operates various Napa Valley vineyard properties, including the 9 – acre Morgan’s Way Vineyard in St. Helena, the 13 – acre Ark Vineyard outside of St. Helena, and the 5-acre Few and Far Between Vineyard outside of Calistoga.
In addition to Hundred Acre, Woodbridge produces wine under the Fortunate Son and Summer Dreams labels. In 2017, Woodbridge sold the highly successful Layer Cake, Cherry Pie and If You See Kay brands, which produced value-oriented wine from California, Italy, Australia and Argentina. He also owns vineyards and makes wine in Australia’s Barossa Valley.
Additionally Jayson has been distilling single malt whiskey for the last ten years (yet to be released and only very small quantities) aged in used Hundred Acre barrels and is also building a new micro distillery in St. Helena in 2023 while working on his first two books for publication in 2025 (or sooner God willing).
