Christopher Jackson is the only son of Barbara Banke and the late Jess Jackson. He grew up on the winery’s mountain vineyard in northern Sonoma County and remembers running through the vine rows to keep up with the long strides of his father. Chris’s parents were both land-use attorneys before dedicating themselves full-time to wine. Likeminded, he earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of California Berkeley School of Law, but he always knew he wanted to continue working in the family business.
He finds the expansive mountain site—and the wine world—simultaneously humbling and inspiring. "The more you know about wine, the more you realize you don't know all that much. That's kind of what our mountain is to me on a micro level. The topography is so complex that we sometimes have to go back and pick the same vineyard block three times in order to harvest it correctly. The mountain is perpetually challenging what I think is possible. I'm still discovering it."
Chris' wife, Ariel Jackson, has joined him in the endeavor. She is a Sonoma County native and holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School. She is an ambassador for Stonestreet.
The Stonestreet name honors a Southern country doctor and family friend from the early 20th century who delivered Chris’s grandfather. The middle name has been passed down for four generations, most recently to Chris and Ari's sons.
Our understanding as a family is to make sure that what we bring to the table, off this estate, is as special as it can possibly be.
