This Texas native had no plans to become a winemaker when a harvest intern job in California fell in her lap. Jackie van Sant Downes grew up in the Houston area and studied Communication and Psychology at Texas Tech. Her aunt and uncle had a wine bar in Katy, and Jackie was able to taste wines from all over the world and began developing her own palate. She didn’t grow up in a wine-drinking family, and in college, like many of us, she may have bought wine in a box. After sharing these beautiful imports from France and Italy, she wanted to seek out delicious wines – in a bottle and not a box!
In the summer of 2007, her aunt Robin called and said she just met a winemaker from Sonoma who needed a harvest intern, and Jackie should take the job. So, three days after graduation, she hopped on a plane with no idea what was to come. She had one suitcase and zero idea of how to make wine. Jackie confides, “My only opinion of California was based on the TV show The OC and things like that, so I didn’t know what to expect. It was so cool because we’d be sitting around barbecuing, listening to Willie Nelson, and it was just like all the things we do in Texas.”
She took a leap of faith in taking the internship because she had no training and, frankly, no idea how to make wine. She says, “In that first week, I found out I’m really good at doing manual labor. Things just really clicked early on, even in that first week. I was so green, and they gave me such an amazing opportunity. I was doing things I had no idea how to do, but they taught me.” The three-month temporary job turned into a career that kept her in California for nearly 15 years working for three wineries and starting her own brand.
By 2020, Jackie was married, had two young children, and was feeling the pull to get back to Texas and closer to family. When they looked to move back to Texas, they wanted a small-town feel similar to where they lived in Healdsburg, California. And they needed to be near the wines! They visited friends in Wimberley and went wine tasting at the nearby Driftwood Estate Winery. Jackie was impressed with the wines, so back in California, she did some online searching to learn more about Texas vineyards and grapes. She ended up on the website for Texas Hill Country Wineries, and a job posting for a winemaker at Driftwood Winery popped up. Jackie says, “Isn’t that interesting?! I wasn’t even looking for it, but the job posting popped up and it happened to be the winery we had just visited. We fell in love with the Hill Country, I liked the wines at Driftwood, and we were ready to move home to Texas, so it made sense that I should apply.” In early 2021, she interviewed and started as the winemaker before harvest. Jackie feels that everything just fell into place for her family to be in Texas, and they couldn’t be happier with the decision.
Driftwood Estate Winery is a beautiful 200-acre property with 18 acres of vines. They produce an average of 6,000 cases of wine each year. Jackie’s own wine, Jaclynn Renée, is a small 1,000 cases, and the wines are available at pop-ups and events around Wimberley and online at JaclynnReneeWines.com. At the moment, she has a Chardonnay, rosé, and Bordeaux-style red blend, all made from California grapes.
2019 Franklin’s Blend is named for her grandfather and won a Double Gold at the 2024 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.
2021 Chardonnay Sangiocoma Robert’s Road Vineyard, Petaluma Gap, Sonoma Coast, and is also a Double Gold winner at San Francisco.
2021 Pinot Noir Bacigalupi Vineyard, Russian River Valley, Sonoma, and is a Gold winner in San Francisco – dark plum, tea leaf, cinnamon, vanilla – sold out.
2023 Rosé is a perfect summer sipper. The wine is 80% Zinfandel from Comstock Ranch and 20% Pinot Noir from Bacigalupi. It was aged four months in neutral French oak barrels. The flavors are bright with white flowers, hibiscus tea, and strawberries. It’s smooth with no bitter bite that can be dominant in a rosé. The label is a nod to both California and Texas with a watercolor of a girl on a horse and hills covered in vines in the background.
The first Texas wine for Jaclynn Renee has just been bottled in July and will be available later this year. Jackie says, “I can’t imagine doing anything else. I love being full-time in the winery and it brings me so much joy.”