fbpx

We invite you to a complimentary tasting of this dry red wine on Thursday, November 15 in our Tasting Room from 4 – 6 p.m. This year’s Winemaker Series Nouveau displays aromas and flavors of black cherries and plums, and we will be pairing it with Irish Stew from our campus partner’s kitchen at Public House Brewing Company.

In honor of this year’s harvest, we not only created a our annual Nouveau wine, but also a three-part video series covering the harvest from our St. James Winery vineyards. The videos are posted below for you to enjoy prior to our Nouveau Release Party.

The tradition of creating a Nouveau wine originated in the Beaujolais region of France. Beaujolais Nouveau began as an early release wine to celebrate the end of harvest with the intention of it being enjoyed young. Under French law, it is to be released on the third Thursday in November after each harvest.

In the early 1960’s some of the local vignerons saw potential to promote the wine with a contest to see who could get the first bottle to Paris. From there it spread throughout Europe, and by the 1980’s North Americans had joined the party followed by Asia in the 1990’s.

It’s so popular that one third of Beaujolais’ production is dedicated to the Nouveau style with over 28 million bottles produced annually. Following in this French tradition, St. James Winery began creating our own regional Nouveau over 20 years ago right here in the Meramec Highlands.

We hope you will join our St. James Winery family and be a part of this tradition to help us celebrate our bountiful harvest! Until then, enjoy the below video series where our Executive Winemaker, Andrew Meggitt, discusses the topics of weather conditions affecting harvest, quality vs. quantity and farm to table agriculture in Missouri.

It takes the hard work and effort of an entire vineyard and cellar crew to produce our internationally awarded wines. Discover how the fruit is carefully cultivated to ensure the integrity of the wines you know and love!

In celebration of April being Chardonel month, our wine of the week is 2015 Chardonel!

From our Podium Series, 2015 Chardonel is soft and creamy, yet extremely rich and complex. Fermented and aged in oak barrels, this golden, dry white wine has depth, texture, richness, integrity and features fragrant aromas of vanilla, pear, pineapple and apricot.

See the handy Chardonel and Food Pairing infographic from Missouri Wines for inspiration on what food goes best with this wine.

Chardonel grapes, a cross between Seyval and Chardonnay, were created in 1953 in the hopes of producing a grape that could withstand the cold like Seyval, but possessed a similar character as Chardonnay. Its high productivity and durability to frigid weather makes Chardonel ideal for growing in Missouri!

The Podium Series is a collection of innovative wines that reflect our winemaking creativity. Handcrafted in small lots, and created in celebration of wine, our 2015 Chardonel is exclusively available in the St. James Winery Tasting Room. You can also reach out to our friendly customer service team at 800-280-9463 for information on ordering a bottle (or two!).

 

Try our take on the Moscow Mule with this recipe of the St. James Mule. Parts great with savory cheeses and baguette.

  • Equal parts Sauvignon Blanc and ginger beer.
  • Garnish with a slice of green apple.

Serve over ice in a preferred stainless steel St. James Winery logoed stemless glass.

 

 

 

 

Traditionally, Nouveau is the first wine bottled to celebrate the recent harvest. This year, our farm team harvested 1950.7 tons of grapes in just under two and a half months, so we certainly have a reason to celebrate! Our cellar crew selected some of the best grapes of harvest and has expertly crafted them into the 2017 St. James Nouveau.

After only a few weeks of fermentation, this small batch of excellence will debut Thursday, November 16. This wine is intended to be enjoyed young and, because it is handcrafted in an elite small batch, it is being introduced as a part of the St. James Winemaker Series. Our Winemaker Series selections are available only for a limited time online and in our Tasting Room. Don’t procrastinate ordering or you may miss the opportunity to enjoy them!

The tradition of creating a Nouveau originated in the Beaujolais region of France where the wine would release the third week of November after each harvest. Following in the French tradition, St. James Winery began creating a regional Nouveau 20 years ago from right here in the Meramec Highlands.

Our 2017 debut will begin with our complimentary annual tasting event, Friday, November 17. You are invited to sample this dry red wine from 5 – 7 p.m. in the St. James Winery Tasting Room. Nouveau displays aromas and flavors of black cherries and plums and we will be pairing it with roast beef, black olives, and chocolate covered cherries.

We hope your will join our St. James family and be a part of this tradition and help us celebrate our bountiful harvest!

We are excited to announce our new line, the Winemaker Series. This collection features select wines that are carefully crafted by our St. James Winery Cellar Crew. The wines are handmade in small batches – typically anywhere from 50 to 500 cases – and feature the best-of-the-best varietals and blocks of grapes.

Fans of St. James Winery may recognize the varietals and blends as having been originally a part of our Podium Series, a line of innovative R&D wines. These selected wines have now been time-tested and have grown in popularity. They’ve been moved into the Winemaker Series to give the wines and our winemaking team recognition for their high quality grapes and winemaking skills.

The special packaging for the Winemaker Series, designed in-part by the winemakers themselves, highlights the high quality nature of the wine inside. The label notes details such as the growing region and even the vineyard blocks where the grapes were harvested. These factors contribute to the distinctive flavors captured in the bottle.

The first four wines released in the Winemaker Series include our 2016 vintages of Chambourcin, Dry Vignoles, Seyval and The Folly. There will be additional wines released into this line in the future.

2016 Chambourcin
Smoky and dark flavors entwined with raspberry and dark chocolate aromas, exposed on the palate as liquorice, tobacco and oak.
Dry Red Wine | Cases bottles: 50 | ABV: 12.5%
More Details

 
 

2016 Dry Vignoles
Beautiful floral nose with juicy, bright flavors of melon, peach and pineapple. Crisp, light mouthfeel with excellent acid and a fruity finish.
Dry White Wine | Cases bottles: 117 | ABV: 11.5%
More Details

 
 

2016 Seyval
Aromas of melon and grapefruit with bright acid and a crisp palate of lemon, green apple and slate.
Dry White Wine | Cases bottles: 227 | ABV: 11.5%
More Details

 
 

2016 The Folly
Medium-bodied white wine with honeyed peach overtones and beautiful tangerine spice flavors.
Dry White Wine | Cases bottles: 140 | ABV: 11.5%
More Details

 
 
 
These four Winemaker Series wines will be released on Friday, May 19, 2017.

Join us for a complimentary wine tasting and food pairing that night from 5 to 8 p.m. held in the St. James Winery Tasting Room (540 State Route B, St. James, MO 65559), as part of our Little Italy of the Ozarks Festival. Each wine will be paired with bites from the Public House Brewing Company: St. James Taproom restaurant:

  • 2016 Chambourcin with Heritage Pasta
  • 2016 Dry Vignoles with Margherita Pizza
  • 2016 Seyval with Spring Salad
  • 2016 The Folly with Pretzel Bites

After the event, our Little Italy of the Ozarks Festival continues in The Gardens with an outdoor movie at 9 p.m.

Try the new Winemaker Series this summer and rediscover unique wines, handcrafted by our St. James Winery Cellar Crew.

When we re-released our Brut Champagne American in the summer of 2016, we shared the story of our champagne-making process and the potential disaster that ultimately led to greatness.

Of the three exceptionally small batches made, Bin 3 was the first to be released in June 2016 with only 18 cases produced. It had a pronounced floral nose, with flavors of bright citrus, peach and honeycomb with a lively effervescence and medium creamy body.

Now Bin 1 and Bin 2, with 4 cases and 12 cases produced respectively, are ready to be released.

Join us at the Brut Champagne American Tasting Event on Friday, March 17, 2017 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the St. James Winery Tasting Room in St. James, Mo.

You’ll be the first to taste these two very limited sparkling wines and pair them with cheese, chocolate and fruit. The wines will also be available for purchase that evening, while supplies last.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Remove the sausage casings and crumble into a large frying pan.
  2. Cook the sausage over medium high heat until browned. Drain any excess fat from pan.
  3. Add onions and sauté until limp.
  4. Add wine and simmer over medium low heat for about 10 minutes.
  5. Add cream and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes or until thickened.
  6. Cook pasta according to package directions, then drain.
  7. Put pasta on serving dishes, then cover with sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Come and try the 2016 Nouveau on Friday, November 18, 2016, in the St. James Winery Tasting Room! Traditionally, Nouveau is the first wine bottled to celebrate the recent harvest and is made to be enjoyed young. We’ll pair it with cheese, meat, and chocolate, so stop in anytime 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. This event is complimentary!

Tasting Notes: This dry red wine has aromas and flavors of red raspberries, cocoa, and juicy red cherries. It is well-structured with a lasting finish. Our 2016 Nouveau will only be available in the St. James Winery Tasting Room for a limited time.

Learn more here.

St. James Winery has been growing Norton for four decades. Every year we produce one of the most awarded Norton’s in the country, our Estate Norton. In 2015 we set aside our very best,
hand-selected Norton grapes to produce two additional unique, small batch wines.

norton_422015 Norton 42
Back for the fourth year, our Norton 42 has gained a cult following with our dry red wine lovers. The name for the wine came partially as a nod to the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
because we discovered the answer to the ultimate question of making wine was 42. When this wine recipe was first created, we were celebrating our 42nd anniversary, and our Executive
Winemaker Andrew Meggitt had turned 42 years old. It seemed that all the stars had aligned to help make this wine from the oldest block of vines – Block 14, which is 41 years old this year
– in the vineyard.

We crop at a low rate of 1-2.5 tons of per acre to create intense fruit flavors and give this wine an old world feel and complexity. We also harvest it much later than our other vineyards, due to the slower ripening of the old vines. The wine is made as naturally as is possible, destemmed and 60% whole berry fermentation. The berries are cold soaked to extract flavor and tannin for up to five days, then fermentation is started with the naturally occurring yeasts. We incorporate the stems as a source of tannin and structure in the wine during the fermentation process, too.

Tasting Notes: This wine has an old world charm that presents it self as having plum, black current and red cherry aromas. These fruit aromas can also be found in the flavor of this wine, along with a great tannin structure that creates an extremely elegant and well-balanced palate. There is subtle oak and integrated tannin that gives the wine a silky mouthfeel.

$24.99 / bottle
Take advantage of our 10% case discount when you buy 12 bottles

norton_label_20162015 Norton Cellar Selection
What do you get when you give each cellar hand 2,000 lbs. of fruit to ferment? A distinctive, intense wine called Norton Cellar Selection. This unique blend shows the hard work of 10 different cellar staff members who had the opportunity to try their hand at winemaking. Each one created their own recipe and list of ingredients, with direction from Executive Winemaker Andrew Meggitt and Assistant Winemaker Aaron Spohr. The wines were fermented, pressed and barreled in the individual lots, aged for nine months and then blended together.

This wine had its genesis in a conversation about creating, understanding and making better wine. This collaboration helped the cellar workers engage in and better understand the process of making wine. Its exceptional quality, structured tannins and flavor intensity captures the vibrant personality of our cellar team.

Tasting Notes: Aromas of black cherry and red plum, with cinnamon and cloves as a supporting cast. The palate has blackberry and cherry flavors, structured tannins and
a unique, great intensity.

$24.99 / bottle
Take advantage of our 10% case discount when you buy 12 bottles

St. James Winery Podium Series is a collection of innovative wines that reflect our winemaking creativity. Handcrafted in small lots, created in celebration of wine, our Podium wines are available only in the St. James Winery Tasting Room in St. James, Missouri.

wine_food_MWGB

St. James Winery and the Missouri Wine and Grape Board are excited to announce the launch of the Missouri winery Visitors’ Program (MVP). MVP will reward visitors to Missouri wineries through points redeemable for unique rewards. The program will officially launch on Thursday, September 1, just in time for the first weekend of Missouri Wine Month!

Participating wineries, including St. James Winery, will hand out MVP tickets, each with a unique code, which program participants can collect every time they visit. These codes are then entered into a free account the participant creates on MissouriWineMVP.com for points. The first visit to a winery will earn participants 500 points, with visits 2-10 to that same winery being worth 100 points each, and 11+ visits to the same winery accruing 10 points each. Points are redeemable for rewards on the MVP website. The best strategy to earn points for rewards is to explore Missouri wine country – visit new wineries throughout the state and you’ll not only earn more points, but you will also discover great wineries and award-winning wines along the way!

wine_food_people_MWGB

Wine enthusiasts to those new to the wine scene will have the opportunity to get acquainted with St. James Winery and Missouri wines… and earn points for each winery visit! With more than 125 wineries and 10 wine trails in Missouri wine country, what are you waiting for?

Although wineries will not be handing out tickets until September 1, those interested in becoming an MVP can register ahead of time on the program’s website MissouriWineMVP.com. For more information about MVP, please review the program Terms and Conditions and FAQ on the MVP website.