FOOD & DRINK


The Jordan Estate, which is Fish Friendly Farming and Sonoma Sustainable certified, produces extra virgin olive oil from 18 acres of Italian and Spanish olives and has a thriving garden that supplies Knoll with herbs, vegetables and fruit. The garden is planted almost entirely to heirloom varieties, with hundreds of seeds rotating throughout the seasons, making it a diverse habitat (and thus appealing haven) for local bees. Cultivated crops, such glossy Black Clayton tomatoes and Moonshadow Hyacinth beans from Baker Creek Seed Company, along with surrounding woodlands filled with native plants, offer a diverse diet that can sustain honeybees year-round.


It’s amazing to think that an insect with such an important role in the human food supply first arrived in California on a steamer ship in 1853 —by way of the Panama Canal. Only a decade ago, beekeeping in our country appeared to be in peril. Bee populations had been declining at alarming rates due to colony collapse disorder— the result of several factors—from loss of habitat and poor nutrition to pesticides. Numbers have only recently begun to improve, but Knoll knew that creating full-time homes for bees at Jordan —in a healthy environment surrounded by natural habitat—was the right thing to do as a sustainable business. It would also provide him with his own Jordan Estate honey, which complemented the foraged aspects of his Wine Country cuisine. “The bees have a unique relationship with our open spaces,” Knoll says, holding a sample jar. “You can see and taste it. Honey, like our wine, is a delicious and honest expression of Jordan terroir.”


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