Becky and Clarence Jenkins are co-owners of Madrone Vineyard Management. Jenkins is a strong advocate for improving worker conditions by making sure they have fair wages, meals and health care.
Ryan lely/Sonoma Valley Sun
One of ten children, Becky Jenkins was born and raised in West Virginia. She turned her desire to help people and an interest in science into a career as a registered nurse. In 1980, she visited Napa on her first trip to California and met Clarence Jenkins. A month later, she was living in Sonoma and working at Queen of the Valley Hospital.
Today, Becky and Clarence Jenkins are co-owners of Madrone Vineyard Management, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Becky Jenkins is also a past president of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Association (SCGGA), and she and Clarence Jenkins have just bottled their first vintage, a Cabernet Sauvignon named Clarbec—a combination of their first names and a product of the Glen Oaks Ranch, which in the 1800s was a vineyard owned by Ellen Stewart, for whom Glen Ellen is named.
Clarence Jenkins, a third generation grape grower from Glen Ellen, was raised tending vineyards. He went on to work in diesel mechanics, and in 1987, he and Becky started Madrone Vineyard Management (MVM), managing vineyards for private landowners and wineries. “When we first started the company I did the books, kept us current with all the regulations that farmers need to comply with and the mounds of paperwork, and managed the payroll, but soon I was driving a tractor and running the harvest crew,” said Becky Jenkins.
She was no stranger to farm work; her father was a doctor but also had a herd of Black Angus cattle. Jenkins drove trucks and did farm chores growing up and enjoyed the physical nature of the farm business. Her nursing career also contributed to her understanding of grape growing; to her there is a philosophical comparison, “Every site we manage is different and unique. The vines are living things and you want them to thrive, so you make sure that their nutrition is right, the soil is right and they are healthy.”
Jenkins is also a strong advocate for better conditions for the workers they employ. “These are very honorable men that work long, hard days,” said Jenkins. “We pay competitive wages and do everything we can to make their lives easier, from serving them good, healthy meals to making sure they have medical care.” The Jenkins have provided farm labor housing year-round, and offer housing during harvest through the SCGGA. Most of their crew lives in Sonoma permanently now, and many have been with the company since it began. “You have to build a camaraderie with your employees,” said Jenkins, “It has to be good for both sides. If it’s not good enough for me, why should it be good enough for them?”
With grape growing turning into a year-round process that required planting, tending, analysis and harvest, Jenkins found herself overseeing 1,000 acres and more than 120 employees. “I discovered that bigger is not better,” said Jenkins. The company eventually trimmed its labor force and reduced the acreage it managed. “ We wanted to get back some balance in our lives, when you’re self-employed, you never really get off work,” said Jenkins.
But when fall arrives and a year of hard work culminates in a buzz of activity in the vineyards, the harvest yields more than just grapes for Jenkins. “During harvest, you start at daylight, you’re the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. It is so refreshing to be out there at dawn, hearing the singing in the vineyards, smelling the fragrances of the land and really seeing all the aspects of nature come together. It is truly a spiritual experience.”
