Charles Gendrot
Director of Winemaking Operations

Charles Gendrot, winemaker at Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard, is involved on a day-to-day basis with every stage of wine production. He and his staff will be available to consult estate owners at Vineyard Estates regarding wine growing and production of private label wines. Noting the similarities in climate between Virginia and his home of Bordeaux, he is confident in the potential of Virginia-grown grapes to make world-class Kluge Estate wines.

Born in 1961, the year of a spectacular Bordeaux vintage, Gendrot began his education at Bordeaux University, graduating with a degree in science. Following in his father’s footsteps, Gendrot’s passion for the art of winemaking led to consultations at over a hundred different châteaux in the Bordeaux region, including Margaux, St. Estèphe and Pauillac.

In the United States, he worked with Kendall Jackson Family Farms at Vérité Winery in California, where he was responsible for all aspects of the winemaking process from vine quality control to laboratory management and analysis.

Gendrot believes in using the latest technology to create wines of the highest possible standard, both in precision and quality. He describes his winemaking ideology in terms of “using elite viticultural practices to reveal the true nature of Carter’s Mountain terroir.”