David R. Bennion
David Ralph Bennion | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | |
| Died | March 28, 1988 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Winemaker Engineer |
| Known for | Pioneering Single-Vineyard Zinfandels |
| Spouse | Frances Bennion |
David Ralph Bennion was a leading California winemaker who was the founder and winemaker at Ridge Vineyards in California from 1959-1969. From an early period, Bennion labeled Ridge Vineyards wines by vineyard, district and appellation, a first for California Zinfandel and a practiced later followed by nearly every winery in the state.
Career at Stanford
Bennion started his career at Stanford Research Institute (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 to reason about its own actions.[1]
Founding of Ridge Vineyards
In 1959, Bennion, Hewitt Crane, Charles Rosen and Howard Zeidler purchased a winery and vineyard above Cupertino in the Santa Cruz Mountains. That same year, he produced his very first wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon from the vineyard.[2] 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.[3]
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. In 1967 Dave Bennion left SRI, completely, to become the first president and winemaker of Ridge. Bennion served as winemaker at Ridge until 1970, when he hired Paul Draper to oversee winemaking operations. After hiring Draper, Bennion continued to serve as the President of Ridge into the 1980's.
1988 Bennion was killed an automobile accident on the Golden Gate Bridge. After his death, a Trust Fund and Fellowship at UC Davis was created to continue his viticulture work.[4]
References
- ^ "AI Center :: David R. Bennion". www.ai.sri.com. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
{{cite web}}: no-break space character in|title=at position 19 (help) - ^ M., Taber, George (2005). Judgment of Paris : California vs. France and the historic 1976 Paris tasting that revolutionized wine. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0743247515. OCLC 58843337.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "History - Ridge Vineyards". Ridge Vineyards. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
- ^ "Scholarships and Endowments | Viticulture & Enology". wineserver.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
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