© 1997 JDM Enterprises
ST JEAN UPDATEby Jerry D. MeadLet's get a couple of things out of the way right up front. This Sonoma Valley winery is pronounced "gene" not as a French "szhawn" as you might expect. It was named after one of the founders wives. As famous as Chateau St. Jean is for its white wines, it does make red wine too...very special red wine. And the chateau just got its third winemaker since being founded nearly a quarter century ago. Dick Arrowood was the first winemaker (first employee, for that matter), when the winery was founded by wealthy table grape growers from the Central Valley. Arrowood became one of the first star quality winemakers of the 70s because of his pioneering work with single vineyard wines, especially Chardonnays, and for some of the state's first truly great late harvest wines. Arrowood left to do his own thing a few miles down the road in 1990, just as St. Jean was refocusing on red wine. Arrowood was replaced by his assistant and 14 year St. Jean veteran, Don Van Staaveren. His fine tuning of the red wines saw several years when they received better notices than the usually heralded white wines. Van Staaveren left St. Jean a few months ago to become head winemaker at Codorniu Napa, where he has the challenge of establishing a premium table wine program from the ground up while continuing the winery's critically acclaimed sparkling wine production. The newest winemaker is so new that he hasn't made any wine at St. Jean yet, though he is starting to blend and bottle the wines he inherited. But not to worry. Steve Reeder is the new guy and he has a track record. He was most recently winemaster at Kendall-Jackson and also made wine at Konocti in Lake County. Chateau St. Jean has had the same number of owners as it has winemakers. The founding Merzoian family, of course. In 1984 the winery was purchased by Suntory International of Japan. And in April 1996 it was purchased by Beringer Wine Estates, which also owns Beringer, of course, Chateau Souverain, Napa Ridge, Meridian and its most recent acquisition, Stags' Leap Winery.
BEST BUY WHITE WINE OF THE WEEK
BEST BUY RED WINE OF THE WEEKAnd the rest of the current St. Jean releases contain some pretty special juice too: Chateau St. Jean 1995 "Sonoma" Chardonnay ($11) Always reliable, vintage after vintage, offering good, solid varietal character and pleasant vanilla wood notes. Light tropical fruit flavors. Rating: 86/88 Chateau St. Jean 1884 "Robert Young Vineyard" Chardonnay ($20) This wine used to cause me no small amount of embarrassment. It's one of those limited number of California white wines that truly needs time in the bottle to show its very best. Before I learned that, I'd call the wine things like "overpriced" or "overrated," then I'd retaste it a few years later and have to eat my words. Two things have happened...I've become wiser and the wine is being made more user-friendly at release. This big white wine is 100 percent barrel-fermented in one half brand new French barrels. Ripe apple fruit is complemented by earthy-woody, and mineral-like complexities. It is delicious now with great potential for added improvement over 2-5 years. Rating: 92/86 Chateau St. Jean 1993 "Robert Young" Chardonnay ($50 the magnum) Available in magnums only, this is very great Chardonnay suitable for serving at the most special occasions. Tropical fruit, pears and ripe pineapple, with toasty, smoky wood notes and tons of vanilla. Exceptionally well done, but not overdone. Rating: 95/85 Chateau St. Jean 1996 "Sonoma" Gewurztraminer ($9) Spicy, lichee and jasmine aromatics, with grapefruit and lichee fruit flavors. Delicious; Best Buy. Rating: 90/90 Chateau St. Jean 1992 "Reserve" Merlot ($35) Truly great red wine. Smoky, Bordeaux-like bouquet, with deep black cherry fruit and bittersweet chocolate, enhanced by smoky, earthy, cedary complexity. Rating: 96/84 Chateau St. Jean 1993 "Cinq Cepages" Cabernet Sauvignon ($22) Blended to the other four major Bordeaux varieties, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot, this is one soft, silky, supple, sumptuous, sexy (is that enough "s" words?) red wine. Black cherry and cassis, vanilla and chocolate all at once. The winery is sold out but it should still be on some retail shelves. Case purchases highly recommended. Rating: 94/89 Chateau St. Jean 1991 "Reserve" Cabernet Sauvignon ($40) Cassis and blackberry. Big, chewy mouthful of Cabernet, with earthy, tarry, Bordeaux-like after-flavors. Another very special red wine. Rating: 92/84 Chateau St. Jean wines have national distribution, but inquiries about limited production wines can be made to: Chateau St. Jean, P.O. Box 293, Kenwood, CA 95452 (707) 833-4134. Wines are scored using a unique 100 point system. First number rates quality; second number rates value.
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