Brice Cutrer Jones
From USAFA Folklore
Brice Cutrer Jones
Contents |
[edit] Education, History, and Accomplishments
- BS in Engineering, USAF Academy Class of 1961
- MBA, Harvard Business School 1972
[edit] Honors, Awards, Public Recognition
- Founder of the USAF Academy Hockey Program. Member of the USAF Academy Aero Club, Dance Committee, Hockey Club, Photography Club, Protestant Choir & Ski Club. In Navy Week 1960, planned, executed & led the 1st successful raid on the US Naval Academy that resulted in the capture of the Navy Goat (featured in Life magazine). Two combat tours in Vietnam where he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, and 13 Air Medals. Selected as Sonoma County Wine Maker of the Year for 2000.
[edit] Publications/Media Contributions
- Featured in the 1986 Viticulture History of Napa and Sonoma Counties. Featured in the 1994 California Soil, Climate and Man.
- Acknowledged authority on winemaking, whose initiatives & contributions are widely recognized. Responsible for creating a market identity and emphasizing product quality for the Chardonnay industry. His most important contributions to the Chardonnay wine industry involved creation of a signature style of wine making & introduction of innovative practices. Pioneered use of a cooling tunnel to chill grapes prior to fermentation, use of earthen-floor cellars to maintain ideal temperatures and humidities, and a special filling machine that keeps a blanket of nitrogen gas on the wine, protecting it from the ravages of oxidation. Also pioneered a new grape crushing technique that takes grapes from the culling table to the press, preventing excessive tannin extraction from the steams and seeds. The Washington Post called Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay the finest chardonnay made in the United States.
[edit] Professional Organizations
- Inducted into the Chevaliers de Tastevins, an elite international organization of wine experts.
[edit] Professional Career Summary
- Military: 1961-62 Pilot Training at Webb AFB TX; 1962-63 Pilot 14th Troop Carrier Squadron at Hunter AFB GA; 1963-64 Pilot 1st Air Commando Squadron at Bien Hoa AB Vietnam; 1964-65 Pilot 7th AF at Tan Son Nhut AB Vietnam; 1966 Pilot 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Myrtle Beach AFB SC; 1967-69 Pilot 113th Tactical Fighter Wing, Myrtle Beach AFB SC; 1969 Pilot 5ADVON at Osan AB Korea.
- Business: In 1972, shortly after graduating from Harvard Business School, founded the Sonoma Cutrer Vineyards, which in 1981 became a Winery producing Chardonnay wine. In 1999, Brown Forman (Jack Daniels, etc.) paid $125 million to acquire controlling interest in Sonoma Cutrer Vineyards: Brice Jones stayed on in a management capacity until BF bought out his contract in 2001.
- Shortly after signing papers with Brown Foreman, Jones and selected partners and former Sonoma Cutrer managers founded Emeritus Vineyards, planting pinot grapes in two Sonoma County locations: the home ranch in Sebastopol, in the Russian River Valley, and the William Wesley Vineyard, named after Jones's father, in the coastal mountains of the Sonoma Coast. The first year's bottling (2004) was destroyed in the Mare Island warehouse fire; the 2005 vintage received ratings of 91 (Russian River Valley) and 93 (William Wesley) from James Laube of the Wine Spectator.
[edit] Community Service
- In 1968, instituted and helped endow the Roger Stringer Memorial Award for Forensics at USAFA. For more than 15 years sponsored the World Croquet Championship and Wine Auction, the proceeds of which are donated annually to several charities including the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the Polly Klass Foundation, and the Magic Moments Foundation. Helped found the Hospices of Sonoma in 2004; this prestigious Pinot Noir barrel auction raises funds for local charities and organizations to assist wounded military personnel and their families, and the families of police and firefighters.
[edit] Comments
There is no doubt that by any standard, Brice Cutrer Jones’ exemplary military and civilian achievements coupled with his model humanitarian qualities mark him as a truly distinguished graduate.
Brice spent 20% of his short but active military career flying combat missions in Vietnam. His Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, and 15 Air Medals are testimony of his devotion to duty. He left the military only because he was not allowed to return to Vietnam for a third tour of duty. He balanced his military pursuits with a deep and abiding concern for the US Air Force Academy as an institution. In 1968 he established and funded the Roger Stringer Memorial Award, given annually by the USAFA English Department to a cadet who excels in Forensics.
In his civilian career he was equally driven to excellence and, after graduating from the Harvard Business School in 1972, he founded Sonoma Cutrer Vineyards. Through a combination of hard work and zeal, he created the world’s premier Chardonnay Wine. However, he has shared his success with those who are less fortunate and beginning in 1985 sponsored and organized the World Croquet Championship. This annual event was held as a charity, which over the years donated millions of dollars to the Greater Bay Area Chapter of Make-A-Wish Foundation, The Polly Klaas Foundation, and Magic Moments--charities dedicated to helping children in need. On May 20th, 2000, spurred by the generous spirit of its 1,400 guests, Sonoma-Cutrer's 2000 World Croquet Championship Live Auction raised $1,026,400 for children in life-threatening circumstances.
In 2004 Brice, through the WCC Charitable Foundation, helped found America's largest and most prestigious Pinot Noir barrel auction, Hospices of Sonoma, modeled after the centuries-old Hospices du Rhone wine auction in Burgundy, France. In 2007, the event raised more than $450,000 for local charities as well as organizations that assist wounded American military personnel and their families, and the families of police and firefighters.
Speaking of the croquet championship, Brice said: "The phenomenal success of this event just shows that our society cares deeply about the welfare and happiness of its children. We are constantly inspired and awed by the unbounded generosity of our sponsor and patrons. Once again, we owe a debt of heartfelt gratitude to everyone who made this possible." These are modest words of a man worthy of the Distinguished Graduate Award. It is impossible to chronicle the depths and breadth of Brice’s community service because he does so much behind the scenes with anonymity.
In an industry of boosters and self-promoters, Brice Jones stands out, paradoxically, simply because he doesn’t stand out. He never talks about wine as a mission or a Holy Grail. He talks about it as a business and he sees himself, ingloriously enough, as a manager. His job is to make excellent wine --a lot of wine connoisseurs are happy that he is as good as anyone can be at his job. And this is what the Air Force Academy trained him for…to strive to be the best he could be.
In 1999, he sold his successful Chardonnay winery (Sonoma Cutrer) to Brown Forman and established a world class pinot winery, Emeritus Vineyards, in Sebastopol, California.
That he is a distinguished and successful businessman, there can be no doubt. But the fact that he has given so much to the abused and unfortunate makes him a truly distinguished graduate—in our view, singularly so.
