Debi Kirkland comes from a lineage where striving against seemingly
insurmountable odds and a penchant for hard work course through
the family veins. Debis father, Larry Kirkland, was born poor
in Vallejo, but while still a child he began working his way up
from being a newspaper carrier with 50 houses to one with 450. From
there he became a licensed building contractor, an entrepreneurial
cattle rancher, a wildcat oil tycoon and finally the creator and
owner of Kirkland Ranch Winery. Larry also had a deep passion for
his family and one of his dreams was to create a business that could
employ all of his family. Though it took years for the dream to
materialize today both of his daughters are central players in the
winery business, and both are strong women who have blazed their
own trails.
Like her father, Debi Kirkland began working at the age of thirteen
when she basically assumed responsibility for tracking the family
finances. I had excess energy, a head for numbers and strong
organizational skills, so my parents turned over the family accounting
to me. Ive been paying the family bills ever since.
By the time I have listened to her entire story, I am struck by
Debis exceptional drive, her inordinate affinity for detail,
her ability to morph from one career to another, her willingness
to start at the bottom and work her way up in record time and her
insatiable curiosity. The growing list of professions she has mastered
is clear evidence that she is a true Kirkland.
Debi has held a number of seemingly disparate jobs, including administrative
assistant at her fathers oil business (where she was soon
buying houses and cars for relocating executives - basically organizing
their entire lives), receptionist at a law firm, administrative
assistant for the Assistant District Attorney, forensic pathologist,
cattle rancher, and now general manager of Kirkland Ranch Winery.
Everything she has done along the way is colored by her drive to
excel and her quest to keep learning.
In 1984 Debi had lost interest in the cattle business and was working
for a law firm as a receptionist. She was quickly promoted to be
a legal secretary to three attorneys. A year later she was working
for the District Attorney where her attention to detail and relentless
energy sparked an interest in the field of criminal justice. She
began studying criminal justice and criminal law in college.
An FBI man was teaching a class at the time and he told her that
she had the makings to become a forensic pathologist. At the
time I was recently divorced, raising two children and working full-time,
but I was still fascinated by the possibility so I took a job as
a forensic technician in Contra Costa County. I know everyone assumes
it was similar to what you see on television but to tell the truth,
it was pretty boring. I spent a lot of time comparing fingerprints,
searching desperately for similar whorl patterns under a microscope.
However I did work on dead people, extracting physical evidence,
looking for entry and exit wounds, reporting all the markings and
constructing a full physical inspection.
As to whether she loved her job, she tilted her head briefly as
if to consider her answer. Well I know it sounds a bit creepy
because the people I was working on were dead, but I was always
thinking about the families of the victims who were out there waiting
for an answer. If I could uncover something that brought them peace,
it was very rewarding.
Debi recounted this story because she is deservedly proud of her
own ethics. I learned I had cancer when I was 27 years old.
Because I wanted to have children I underwent a series of minor
surgeries and treatments for over two years. I went on to have my
children, who are the light of my life, and I survived. In
1991, Debi faced cancer surgery again. It certainly made me
realize that life is precious, and its important to make sure
you enhance the lives of the people around you.
My father wanted us to be part of the family business but
he also encouraged each of us to go out on our own for at least
two years so we would develop a real sense about how the world operates
and what is required to earn a paycheck, Debi explained. He
wanted us to learn that working for a family business is not a free
ride; we all have to work hard to make it a success.
Debis father purchased the 2400 acre Kirkland Ranch property
in 1978. A portion of the property was originally part of the Suscol
Rancho, owned by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and which had
been known as the Sheehy Ranch. Another portion was the former Lynch
Ranch which included the 1908 Lynch House, now the home site of
the Kirkland Ranch. Traces of the old stagecoach road connecting
Napa to Suisun still exist on ridges north of the winery.
For many years the Kirklands maintained the property as an active
cattle ranch. Where the winery is now located was the site
of our bull field, Debi said. Male bulls
were kept separate until time for breeding. But according
to Debi, the cattle industry became more and more fractionated.
The cattle business began being subsidized by the Federal
Government, which created many of the same problems inherent to
the chicken industry: we became manufacturers of a product. The
pride of ownership was gone and it became more and more difficult
to maintain a profitable business.
At about the same time Debi and her sister were expressing an interest
in coming back to work for the family business. My father
decided that it would be wise to develop a marketable product, and
since we are in the Napa Valley he decided to plant a little over
three acres with four varieties of grapes to see if the land could
yield a marketable grape harvest. Even though they thought
white varietals would do the best they discovered that Merlot and
Cabernet grapes were superior. They planted 20 acres a year for
the next two years and sold the bulk of their fruit to Kendall-Jackson,
as well as to Mondavi and Sonoma Creek wineries.
As their interest in the grape business developed her father, his
brother, Lonnie, her sister and Debi all attended Napa Valley College
at night to study viticulture. Debi and her sister actually planted
vines by hand. We were out there in the trenches, Debi
said, smiling broadly, I was still driving a tractor until
a few years ago. They installed emitters for drip irrigation,
nailed the end post tags and hunted gophers. There we were
in our mukluk boots, chasing gophers, she reported. We
are so competitive that we made it a contest.
In 1995 they sold juice but retained all of their Cabernet grapes
and bottled their first wine. In 1996 they kept their Merlot and
Cabernet grapes and decided that it was finally time to make the
development of the vineyards and winery their family business. Cattle
ranching moved to the back burner. We still do cattle on the
side, even bringing some in to graze on the winery property during
the winter, Debi explained. We had 79 acres of vineyards
at the time but are now up to 148 acres. Over the last seven
years they planted and developed thirteen varietals on their property.
As the vineyard matured construction of the state-of-the-art winery
began. Many people claim we built this winery with monies
awarded from a lawsuit with the Napa Sanitation District, but that
simply isnt true, Debi explained. We were required
to purchase additional property with those funds so my father bought
a cattle ranch in Dixon, which we later mortgaged to pay for the
winery.
Once again Debis organizational skills were put into play.
We came up with a plan together but I actually had the opportunity
to design and style the Visitors Center. Basically the overall
design and the daily functions of the center are up to me.
The 50,000 square foot winery resembles a rustic mountain lodge
and features hand carved wood throughout. There are massive Oregon
Red Cedar tree trunks up to three stories high, rock fireplaces,
a sweeping veranda, moose heads, furniture upholstered with hides,
a genuine, fully decked-out antique chuck wagon and a large mural
of the ranch when it was primarily open space. I wanted to
make it feel as if the visitors are literally visiting our home.
The winery business is not the glamorous life everyone seems
to think it is, she admitted, settling into an overstuffed
chair. We were cattle ranchers all our lives and owning a
winery can be a lot of fun but basically we farm grapes, make, bottle,
and market wine and we work hard every single day. I know there
are people out there thinking that we live in luxury but the winery
business is a tough business that involves ongoing major expenses
and extreme dedication.
Asked if she has finally found her true calling, Debi admitted
that it has taken her a long time to feel comfortable with who she
has become. I am just now coming to appreciate who I am and
what I contribute to the business, but Im also feeling lazy.
Im moving more and more into the public aspects of our winery
business, so maybe its time to go back to night school and
study marketing.
Contributing Editor Susan Reynolds, is a freelance
writer and photographer who has lived and worked in the Napa Valley
for 14 years. Her work has been published in a variety of national
and regional magazines.
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