" We don't sell the wine without touching the vine "
Wine from St James Winery
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The St James Winery Estate
Wine brings people together….whether it’s lazy summer evenings spent on a deck or cozy winter nights in front of a fire. Wine is the special ingredient for toasts to the new year, the newly married, and the newly born. Because wine is made for sharing, its flavors turn a good meal into something extraordinary. Wine helps make memories, and for the Hofherr family at St. James Winery, wine is a family’s legacy.
Jim & Pat Hofherr believed there was great potential to resurrect the winemaking acclaim Missouri enjoyed prior to Prohibition, so with dreams of building a winery from the ground up, the Hofherrs came to St. James, Missouri, and opened their winery in 1970. It remains family owned and operated.
That first year, St. James Winery produced about 8,000 gallons of wine (3,400 cases), but two of those first wines have become the stuff of legend. Year in and year out since 1970, Velvet Red and Velvet White have been bestsellers, and the hundreds of awards these wines have won attest to their quality.
As the winery grew, the push for excellence became a driving force. St. James Winery began to win important awards at major wine competitions. In 1994, St. James Winery Norton was named Best of Show at the International Eastern Wine Competition, and in 1995 St. James Winery Seyval was named one of the Top 50 Wines in the World by Bon Appetit. In 1997 and 1998, the winery won back to back Governor’s Cup Awards for Best Wine in Missouri, each time for Vintner’s Reserve Vignoles.
The popularity of St. James Wines skyrocketed, and between 1995 and 2000, annual production went from 10,000 cases to 100,000 cases. St. James Winery’s reputation spread throughout the wine community. To continue to keep up with demand, St. James Winery grew its vineyard acreage, enlarged the cellar, added a twist-cap bottling line, expanded the warehouse, and increased its distribution network.
These changes made St. James Winery one of the most modern and best-equipped wineries in the state. In 2006 St. James Winery was included in Wine Business Monthly’s Top 10 Hottest Small Brands in the US, and in 2009 Critics Challenge named St. James Winery “Winery of the Year-Eastern US.”
Today St. James Winery makes more than 200,000 cases of wine each year.
The St. James Winery logo, a schoolhouse, honors these Italian settlers who first planted grapes here in Missouri. The original schoolhouse built to educate their children still stands today and is adjacent to the winery’s vineyards.
The St James Winery Vineyard
The winery tends vineyards planted with Catawba, Chardonel, Norton, Concord, Seyval, Vignoles, Chambourcin and Rougeon grapes.
During the 1800s, Missouri had a thriving wine producing community. German immigrants planted vineyards in the Hermann area, and Italian immigrants planted vineyards in the area around St. James, Missouri.
The Italian immigrants here called the area Rosati, and, and they prospered as they planted vineyards. Grapes became a big business in the region with eventually more than 2000 acres of grapes planted in about 200 vineyards.
Today, the area is known throughout the region as “Little Italy of the Ozarks” thanks to the Italian settlers who originally planted grapes here. Of course, the area has another name now because in 1987 it became an official American Viticulture Area known as the Ozark Highlands AVA.
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Made from cranberries
7% Alcohol by Volume
15% Residual Sugar
Crafted from real cranberries for an authentic fruit taste. Fruit forward style and nicely balance of sweetness and tartness with a clean finish. Seasonal offering for consumer enjoyment in November and December, a time of year where Cranberry recognition and use is at its highest.
St. James Winery fruit wines are the most awarded fruit wines in the USA offering the taste profile that consumers love: sweet, vibrant and authentic.
Sweet and tart with bright, festive cranberry colors, aromas and flavors. Our Cranberry wine offers refreshing, freshcranberry acidity with a nice, long cranberry finish. Enjoy with your holiday turkey or mix it up for a festive cocktail!
Made from peaches
9.5% Alcohol by Volume
13% Residual Sugar
Our Peach wine brings fresh from the orchard peach flavors and aromas to your glass. It’s the next best thing to biting into a perfectly ripe peach.
Serve chilled with spicy cheeses or your favorite dessert.
Select Wine Competition Awards:
2011 SILVER San Francisco Chronicle
2011 GOLD Florida State Fair International
2010 BRONZE Indiana
2010 SILVER Tasters Guild International
2010 BRONZE San Francisco Chronicle
St. James Winery Strawberry is made from blackberries
11.4% Alcohol by Volume
13.4% Residual Sugar
Fresh picked strawberries never tasted this good. Our Strawberry wine, made from sweet vine ripened strawberries, is excellent served cold especially for dessert with pound cake or milk chocolate.
Select Wine Competition Awards:
2012 GOLD San Francisco Chronicle
2011 BEST OF SHOW San Diego
2011 BEST OF CLASS Pacific Rim
2011 GOLD Dallas Morning News
2011 GOLD Grand Harvest
2011 GOLD Winemaker Challenge International
2011 SILVER Monterey
2011 SILVER Florida State Fair International
2011 SILVER Los Angeles International
2011 SILVER Riverside
This Concord sweet red wine is a tribute to the Concord grapes grown in the Ozark Highlands along Missouri’s Historic Route 66 for over 115 years.
When Italian immigrants settled in the St. James area, they planted vineyards. By the 1930s, over 1,000 acres of grapes dotted the landscape. When Prohibition started, grape vines across the state were ripped from the ground. The Italians in the Ozark Highlands region approached the situation differently and were key to keeping Missouri’s wine industry alive.
“Instead of destroying their vineyards during Prohibition like others in Missouri, the farmers formed a fruit grower’s association in order to keep growing and selling grapes, along with other fruit, to stores in St. Louis,” said Peter Hofherr, St. James Winery chairman and CEO. “During WWII, a long-term contract with a prestigious juice, jam and jelly company helped make the local Concord grapes famous. The farmers even negotiated to be allowed to sell small quantities or quarts of fruit to individuals. They set up grape stands and sold grapes to those traveling along the highways.”
Every year during harvest, Italian descendants from the St. James area still carry on this tradition by setting up Concord grape stands along Historic Route 66 to sell their fruit to travelers.
The Concord wine is juicy and sweet, with an intense grape jam flavor and light finish. Serve it at refrigerator temperature, over ice or mixed with a club soda to create a light, grape spritzer
Pair with peanut butter cookies, soft cheeses, or roasted pork chops.
This sweet white wine starts with Welch’s 100% USA grown grapes that go from vine to press within 8 hours. Through the hard work of their 700 growers, St. James Winery is able to craft this sweet and bright white wine with a beautifully smooth finish. Sure to delight whether with friends and family, no matter the occasion.
St. James Winery Velvet Red - NV is made from 100% Concord grapes from Ozark Highlands AVA.
10.5% Alcohol by Volume
12.1% Residual Sugar
Tastes and smells like ripe, just picked grapes.
Velvet Red is fruity and mouth-filling and best served chilled.
Select Wine Competition Awards:
2011 GOLD Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America
2011 SILVER San Francisco Chronicle
2011 SILVER Pacific Rim
2011 SILVER Finger Lakes International
2011 SILVER Grand Harvest
2011 SILVER Los Angeles International
2011 SILVER Critics Challenge
2011 BRONZE Florida State Fair International
2011 BRONZE New World International
2011 BRONZE Dallas Morning News
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Dominus Napa Valley Red Blend is made from 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot.
The historic Napanook Vineyard, a 124-acre site west of Yountville, was planted in 1838. This vineyard was the source of fruit for some of the finest Napa Valley wines. Estate-bottled in the spirit of the Bordeaux châteaux, Dominus Estate is dry-farmed to allow natural stress and good concentration of fruit. Grape clusters are crop-thinned to allow sun and air to pass in between, helping to achieve full maturation and soften the tannins. Only 20% to 40% new French oak barrels are used in order to limit the extraction of oak notes. To express the unique terroir, the classic Bordeaux grape varietals of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot are planted with different root stocks best suited for the varying soil composition of gravel, heavy clay and loam.
Reviews:
One of the legendary Dominus, the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon is unquestionably in the same league as the 2018, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2010, and 1991, and to my mind, wine simply doesn't get any better. Sporting a dense purple hue as well as an incredible perfume of blackcurrants, crushed stone, cedar pencil, smoke tobacco, and baking spices, it s rich, full-bodied, and voluptuously textured, with ripe yet building tannins. It reminds me slightly of the 2010 (maybe the 2013), and I suspect it will have a similar evolution. Hide bottles for 7-8 years, and it will evolve gracefully for 30+ years. Hats off to the team of Christian Moueix and director Tod Mostero.
Jeb Dunnuck 100 Points
Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec.
The 2022 Robert Mondavi Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon shows notes of plum, blackberry, licorice, chocolate, violet, and warm spice. Dark plum and black fruit carry through to the palate. Fresh and lively with plush tannins and a polished structure.
Review:
"A solid representation of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine sources fruit from St. Helena down to Carneros, with the bulk of the blend coming from the Wappo Hill property in Stags Leap. All five Bordeaux varieties are included in the blend. Fermentation begins with a cold soak in stainless steel, followed by 26 days on skins, and 18 months of ageing in 31% new French oak. The wine opens with powerful Kirsch aromatics, lifted by bright Bing cherry, warm baking spices, new wood cedar, and white pepper. It is plush and layered on the palate, with black-toned fruit and robust, lingering tannins that carry through a long finish of dark red and black fruit, warming spices, and mineral tension. A balanced expression of power and fruit-forward ripeness, this vintage showcases both depth and structure, making for a bold yet polished Napa Cabernet."
- Jonathan Cristaldi, February 2025 Pts. Decanter
A very good introduction to Napa Valley cabernet for drinkers who are unfamiliar. This offers ripe, generous red and black fruit on a velvety texture of fine-grained tannins. Black cherries, dark plums and blackberries come up in the aroma and then go deeper on the palate. Contains 7% petit verdot, 8% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 1% malbec. Aged in all French barrels, 31% new, which add accents of cinnamon and cedar. Drink now or hold.
-James Suckling 92 Points
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