Jensen played a pivotal role in establishing Pinot Noir as one of North America’s great varietal wines. While doing so, he built Calera into one of the world’s most revered wineries—a captivating story that author Marq de Villiers told in his 1994 book “The Heartbreak Grape: A California Winemaker’s Search for the Perfect Pinot Noir.” Under Jensen’s leadership, Calera has been honored by Wine & Spirits as one of the “Top 100 Wineries in the World” nine times, with noted wine critic Robert Parker hailing Calera as “California’s Romanée-Conti.”
In the early 1970s, after completing his undergraduate studies at Yale, where he was a member of the rowing crew, Jensen traveled to England to attend Oxford, where he continued to row while earning a master’s in social anthropology. During his time at Oxford, Jensen developed a consuming passion for wine and began exploring the winegrowing regions of Europe. Inspired by these travels, he decided to try his hand at vineyard work, which led him to a coveted harvest position at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. The following year, Jensen deepened his understanding of viticulture and winemaking working at Domaine Dujac, and later at the Rhône Valley’s Château-Grillet.
Returning to the United States, Jensen began a quest to create a style of Pinot Noir that had not previously been realized in the United States. To achieve this goal, he spent the next two years searching for land rich in limestone—rare in California, but a key factor in the vineyards he most admired in Burgundy. In 1974, he found what he was looking for on the steep slopes of Mt. Harlan, a 3,278-foot peak in the Gavilan Mountains that divide Monterey and San Benito counties.
The following year, while living in a trailer on the remote property with his wife and her seven-year-old daughter, Josh founded Calera, named for the Spanish word for “limekiln.” With no paved road, electricity or phone, he began planting his first three estate vineyards: Jensen, Reed and Selleck, named after his father, Stephen Jensen, his father’s friend and the only original non-family investor in the business, Bill Reed, and an early mentor for Josh in the world of wine, Dr. George Selleck.
In 1978, these vineyards yielded their first small crop, resulting in Calera’s debut trio of vineyard-designate Pinot Noirs. Jensen’s early releases were a revelation for wine enthusiasts, offering a new level of structure and sophistication in New World Pinot Noir. In the years that followed, Jensen established his own Calera Pinot Noir clone, and planted three more small vineyards on Mt. Harlan: Mills, de Villiers and Ryan, as well as small blocks of Chardonnay, Aligoté and some of the earliest plantings of Viognier in California.
He also began working with some of the top vineyards on California’s Central Coast to make Calera’s Central Coast Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Viognier and a Vin Gris of Pinot Noir. Believing in the uniqueness of Mt. Harlan, Jensen spearheaded the establishment of a Mt. Harlan American Viticultural Area (AVA), which he achieved in 1990. As a result, like Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Calera is one of the only wineries in the world with its own AVA.
In August 2017, after a 43-year career guiding Calera, and with three grown children each pursuing careers outside the wine industry, Jensen sold Calera to Duckhorn Portfolio. Commenting on the sale at the time, Jensen said, “Having started the winery on a hope and a prayer, this is a wonderful way to ensure the future of Calera. I was able to place my life’s work in the hands of true wine people that believe in quality.” As part of the sale, Jensen took a position on The Duckhorn Portfolio’s board of directors alongside fellow wine icon and friend, Dan Duckhorn, and continued to offer his wisdom and insight on Calera for the next several years.
For Mike Waller, who was appointed the winemaker for Calera by Jensen in 2007, Jensen’s legacy is clear. “In the 1970s, when Josh began planting his first vineyards on Mt. Harlan, Pinot Noir was barely relevant in California—and site-specific, terroir-driven Pinot Noirs even less so. But Josh had a dream, and he stuck to it, never wavering. When you worked alongside Josh, knew him, or even just tasted his wines, it was easy to become a believer in Josh’s dream of creating California Pinot Noirs that could stand alongside the world’s best. Over the years, I’ve had numerous winemakers tell me that they make Pinot Noir because of Josh. He showed generations of vintners and winemakers the way.”
Josh Jensen is survived by his three children, Silvie Jensen, Duggan Jensen, and Chloe Jensen; and five grandchildren. A remembrance book will be available at the Calera Tasting Room for the next four weeks for anyone wishing to share a message, or condolences. The books will then be given to the Jensen family.