David R. Bennion
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

David Ralph Bennion (1929–1988) was a leading
California wine California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted ''Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. ...
maker who was the founder and
winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...
at Ridge Vineyards in California from 1959 to 1969. From an early period, Bennion labeled Ridge Vineyards wines by vineyard, district and appellation, a first for California Zinfandel and a practice later followed by nearly every winery in the state. Ridge's flagship wine, Monte Bello is considered one of the great wines of the world.


Early life

Bennion was born in Utah, on his family's farm on February 12, 1929. In the late 1940s he moved to California, where he enrolled at
Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
. While at Stanford, he met Frances Lusk, whom he married in 1953.


Career at SRI

Bennion started his career at
Stanford Research Institute SRI International (SRI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California, United States. It was established in 1946 by trustees of Stanford Univer ...
(SRI) where he specialized in Magnetic Circuits. He was instrumental in designing the circuitry for Shakey the Robot, which has the distinction of being the first
robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...
to reason about its own actions.


Founding of Ridge Vineyards

In 1959, Bennion,
Hewitt Crane Hewitt D. Crane (1927–2008) was an American engineer best known for his pioneering work at SRI International on ERMA (Electronic Recording Machine, Accounting), for Bank of America, magnetic digital logic, neuristor logic, the development of an ...
,
Charles Rosen Charles Welles Rosen (May 5, 1927December 9, 2012) was an American pianist and writer on music. He is remembered for his career as a concert pianist, for his recordings, and for his many writings, notable among them the book '' The Classical St ...
and Howard Zeidler purchased an 80-acre winery and vineyard above
Cupertino Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 60,38 ...
in the
Santa Cruz Mountains The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...
. That same year, he produced his very first wine, a
Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...
from the vineyard. Excited by the quality of the early wines, the partners decided to re-bond the winery in time for the 1962 vintage, calling their endeavor Ridge Vineyards. In 1964, he produced the first Ridge Zinfandel, from a small nineteenth-century vineyard on the nearby Picchetti ranch. This was followed in 1966 by the first Geyserville Zinfandel. By focusing on single-vineyard Zinfandels—Sonoma, Santa Cruz, Lodi, Paso Robles—Bennion showed that Zinfandel can express
terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...
. He would go on to make single-vineyard wines from many other varieties including:
Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...
,
Ruby Cabernet Ruby Cabernet is a red Olmo grape variety that is a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignan. It can produce wines with good color and a pleasant cherry flavor, but is mostly blended into bulk wines.Robinson, Jancis ''Vines, Grapes & Wine ...
,
Riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...
and
Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...
. Bennion hired a San Francisco artist to design a unique label for his wines. It featured the use of Optima font and featured specifics that were nearly unheard of in California winemaking, such as the vineyard, grape composition, and exact alcohol by volume of the finished wine. Each bottling featured winemaking notes, detailing the weather, harvest conditions and bottling date. His winemaking style championed minimal intervention. A major component of this philosophy was to make use of the natural yeasts on the grapes. To this end, only a small amount of
Sulfur Dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless gas with a pungent smell that is responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is r ...
would be used during the winemaking process. This would only kill off the unwanted wild yeasts but allow the wine yeasts to survive on the grapes. For the fermentation process, Bennion used a system of wooden lattices to keep the cap submerged in the must. This technique, which was used widely in France and elsewhere in Europe in the 19th century, proved extremely successful and would later be adopted by many California wineries. In 1967, Dave Bennion left SRI completely, to become the first president and winemaker of Ridge. Bennion served as winemaker at Ridge until 1969, when he hired Paul Draper to oversee winemaking operations. After hiring Draper, Bennion continued to serve as the President of Ridge until 1984.


Legacy

On March 28, 1988, Bennion was killed in an automobile accident on the
Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States. The structure links San Francisco—the northern tip of the San Francisco Peni ...
. After his death, a Trust Fund and
Fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...
at
UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...
was created to continue his viticulture work and preserve the history of winemaking in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In 1976, the 1971 Ridge Monte Bello placed fifth in the
Judgement of Paris The Judgement of Paris is a story from Greek mythology, which was one of the events that led up to the Trojan War, and in later versions to the foundation of Rome. Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited to the wedding of Peleus and Th ...
. On May 24, 2006, a 30-year re-enactment of the Judgment of Paris was held with simultaneous tastings in London and in Napa. The judges tasted the original ten wines, now over thirty years old. The winning wine in both the London and in Napa tasting was the 1971 Ridge Monte Bello.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennion, David American winemakers SRI International people Year of birth unknown 20th-century American engineers 1929 births 1988 deaths