CHATEAU ST. JEAN

A Showcase Winery

in Sonoma Valley

by Richard Paul Hinkle
It is possible, of course, to make fine wines in an insulated tin building. But where’s the fun in that? “The [founding families] Merzoians and Sheffields went all out when they built this place,” notes St. Jean’s winemaker Margo Van Staaveren, who’s been with the winery since 1980. “They set out to build a showcase winery, and I’m so glad that we have that to work with today.
“Because we have the facility we have, we are able to have a voracious, absolutely loyal Wine Club, for whom we put on lots of one-on-one events…dinners, parties, even vertical tastings of our Cinq Cépages Cabernet Sauvignon blend.  People don’t want to just get wine in the mail, they want to experience the winery in person.  Wine has become a very personality-driven business, which means that people want to come here, they want to meet me, they want to walk through our gardens, and the want to taste our wines where they are made.”
Van Staaveren says that what we...

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