A trifecta of winemakers may signal a new era in Missouri

These days, Missouri’s prestigious wine industry attracts winemakers the world over. But when I first visited the state’s wineries in the summer of 1973, I found a fledgling group of passionate families determined to return our state to the level of notoriety that it enjoyed prior to Prohibition. Nearly all of the people actually making the wine were, at best, accustomed to doing so in small amounts for family use. They generally were mom-and-pop operations and had little or no formal training in wine making or grape growing. The next generation of winemakers frequently involved the children of the folks who founded the wineries. This group, which included the three Held children at Stone Hill, two boys of the Hofherr family at St. James, Elaine Hoffmeister Mooney at the Ste. Genevieve Winery and many more, often attended such renowned schools as California State University-Fresno for professional wine education. This era established our wineries as having the potential for world-class wines; it brought us to the new millennium and created the need for even more qualified and experienced winemakers to ensure that the industry’s enormous growth continued well into the future. That need led to an effort to entice the world’s winemakers to Missouri. As a result, several talented and non-native winemakers decided to make Missouri wine country their new home – major players with major credentials who moved halfway around the world to grow unfamiliar grapes in a region where grape growing can be a huge challenge. St. James Winery, Stone Hill Winery and Crown Valley Winery have all scored superbly qualified wine-making talent from south of the equator, enabling each to enhance product quality in three of the major wine-growing regions of Missouri (St. James, Hermann and Ste. Genevieve, respectively). Andrew Meggitt, vice president of wine making and product development at St. James Winery, was lured to St. James in 2002 because it was the “right challenge at the right time.” His first wine-making gig as a student – of the nearly 10 New Zealand wineries on his resume – was with the Montana Winery (labeled as Brancott Vineyards in the U.S.), and this is where his passion for the world of wine flourished. Meggitt, who has a post-graduate degree in viticulture and eonology from Lincoln University in New Zealand, spent the 2000 and 2001 harvests in France, where he experienced the grapes of Alsace, along the German border. The 2001 harvest also found him working in the Chardonnay vineyards of Macon in the Burgundy region. Shaun Turnbull was enticed by the Held family to leave his native South Africa and join the wine-making team at Stone Hill – even though the grapes grown in our region are dramatically different from the vinifera varieties he knows so well. Educated at the Elsenburg Agricultural College, he did internships in South Africa’s famed Stellenbosch region, spent a harvest at the famed Heitz Cellars in Napa Valley and eventually earned a reputation for making award-winning wines back home in South Africa. He came to Stone Hill in 2005, where he joined veteran Dave Johnson, winemaker since 1978. Daniel Alcorso was not even sure where Missouri was located when he saw a posting for a wine-making job on the Internet in 2005. He called Bryan Siddle, general manager of Crown Valley Winery, to tell him that he was coming to Ste. Genevieve to take control of the wine making. After growing up around tanks and barrels (grandfather Claudio started the Moorilla Winery on the Australian island of Tasmania in 1958), Alcorso eventually majored in enology at the University of Adelaide, worked at wineries in Australia and New Zealand and learned about the U.S. wine industry by taking a position with the Kendall-Jackson family of wineries in California. His resume includes other big Australian names, including Jacob’s Creek as well as the enormous volume brand, Yellow Tail. I was surprised to find that all three had the same attitude about moving to Missouri wine country: excitement about a new place, new grapes, new challenges and new opportunities. “Being part of creating something unique and distinctive by challenging your mind to think outside the box is very gratifying,” Turnbull said. “To produce something that is not mainstream but has its own character and personality makes a person feel worthy. I found that in Missouri.” “It really just came down to the position,” Alcorso concurred. “I wanted to work somewhere where they actually wanted to make good wine. When I looked over the hills, it looked like any other wine region – [with] probably a better view than most.” Meggitt’s objective is “to capture the environment and bring it to the drinker,” which he seems to have accomplished, if the accolades are any indication: 325 competition medals for St. James wines in 2006, the Critics Challenge International Wine Competition’s Eastern U.S. Winery of the Year 2007 and a spot as one of Wine Business Monthly’s Top 10 Hottest Small Brands of 2005. He said he very much enjoys the winery’s experimental wine program and the freedom to explore new ideas. With over 70 wineries in Missouri, the demand for more and better wine will only increase. Though most of our state’s wineries will likely remain family owned and operated, it is great to see such well-respected international talent interested in filling that demand. These three gentlemen are truly the next step in adding to the national and international reputation of our local wines.