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This year Domaine Saint George Winery will be celebrating St. George brands' 20th Anniversary. As the winemaker at Domaine Saint George for over twenty-eight years, it really does not seem that long ago when the first blends were made in the lab.
In the early eighties, vineyards were being planted in Sonoma County at a rate that soon would produce more wine than the consumer base could buy. In 1984, we crushed a record number of tonnage of Chardonnay that were grown in the nearby areas of Alexander Valley and the Russian River Valley. These wines were tank fermented, racked, finished, and placed in storage. One year later, we were ready to enter the marketplace with one wine, a Sonoma Chardonnay, at a price and brand name that had broad appeal. Domaine Saint George was selected.
The wine blend had to match the name and would be a blend from our own cellars. The request from management was "a dry, straightforward, Chardonnay with lots of fruit, tropical essences with a crisp finish and good acid balance - can you do that Bob??" Thus, the blend was made, tasted, re-blended, tasted, refined, re-tasted until we achieved our goal of creating an easy drinking yet complex wine. After bottling, the wine was shipped to key markets. Instantly, it became a success. We sold out of the first bottling, and were soon blending more wines and entering into national distribution. For a number of years, we were one of the fastest growing brands in the U. S.
We soon followed with a Cabernet Sauvignon and then added a Merlot to our family of wines. While maintaining our image and brand recognition of Domaine Saint George, we expanded over the years into three tiers of product. Our Coastal line of Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Merlot is our most popular, and at the current time is undergoing a packaging upgrade to reflect the changing marketplace demands. Several years ago, we introduced a trio of Sonoma County wines which includes Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. These are blends from some of the best Sonoma appellations and vineyards. These are sold under the Domaine Saint George Barrel Reserve label and are also in national distribution.
Seven years ago, we replanted the old hillside vineyards surrounding the winery with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Zinfandel. We are now producing an estate line of these wines under the STG line. All the grapes for this program are grown here on our estates in Healdsburg under the Low Impact Sustainable Agriculture (LISA) green farming program.
STG, short for Saint George, is what every winemaker wishes for - access to single vineyards that produce outstanding grapes which capture the very best of the aromas and bouquet of a particular variety. From these special vineyards, we handpick a Chalk Hill Chardonnay, a Dry Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Dry Creek Zinfandel. These four barrel fermented and/or aged wines are all bottled under the STG brand.
In all, it has been a very rewarding and remarkable twenty years of growth at the Winery. From the first blend to our product line of today, we are still very aware of changing market trends and value our consumers' input into making our wines. Thanks to all for the support of Domaine Saint George. We now look to the future of our brand with your continual support and input.
Robert "Bob" L. Fredson
Winemaker
Domaine Saint George Winery
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