Wine That Reflects Where We’re From — The Meramec Highlands
AWARD WINNING WINE FOR EVERY OCCASION
Just off Historic Route 66 in St. James, our winery is a great place to stop by or to spend the afternoon. Enjoy a personalized wine tasting then relax in our family and pet-friendly outdoor space, The Gardens.
Explorer Collection
The Explorer Collection is a celebration of our 50-year legacy and multi-generational commitment to producing quality wine. Featuring five elegantly balanced wines, the Collection highlights regional standout varietals such as Norton and Vignoles.
Throughout the Collection, Executive Winemaker Andrew Meggitt and his team have honored the spirit of the area’s early Italian settlers while using varietals and techniques they could have never imagined. Our vineyards, managed with the best-of-industry sustainability practices, yield some of the highest-quality grapes in Missouri.
The Explorer Collection wines are now available in select retail stores. Find them soon in our tasting room and our online store.
Heritage Sweet Collection
Winemaker Series
Our Specialty Series features small batch wines made for the special moments and experiences. Wines in the series will periodically vary based on availability and capacity by the winemaking crew. A few mainstays in the series include our semi-sweet Sparkling Moscato and Sparkling Blush, which are perfect for special occasions like weddings, or simply for a morning brunch. Our specialty wines are only available at our St. James Winery Tasting Room or online.
Sparkling Fruit Wines
A variation of our popular fruit wines, our Sparkling Fruit wines are lower ABV than our traditional fruit wines, and are carbonated to create a light, sparkling fizz. These refreshing wines are perfect for outdoor occasions and any where life may take you. In a convenient canned 375 ml size, they are ready-to-go anywhere from getaways & gatherings, docks & decks, pools & porches, to backyards & BBQ’s.
Our Farm to Your Table
Our land is more than a winery — it’s home to our families, our friends, and our heritage. We’re committed to sustainability because we’re proud of our home, and we want to take care of it.
At St. James Winery, we make wine that reflects where we’re from — the Meramec Highlands. This rich, fertile region is a stretch of communities forming the heart of Missouri.
Our one and only focus has always been to make delicious wine. We are proud to be the most awarded winery in Missouri, and we are consistently among the top five most medal-winning wineries in the country. The recognition is nice, but we don’t do this for the awards — we do this for you.
The Meramec Highlands provide winemaking conditions unlike any other region in the world — and that’s not an exaggeration. Missouri’s distinctive weather patterns and the unique soil in our vineyards are exactly what we need to make wines that continue to win fans from around the world.
St. James winery has much to offer
Awards
For over 50 years, St. James Winery has produced unique regional wines, and our hard work in the vineyards and winery cellar has paid off. Today, St. James Winery is the largest and most awarded winery in Missouri and is consistently one of the top five gold medal-winning wineries in the country. Competition after competition, our quality shows.
Facilities
The little things make a difference, so we recycle all our materials, use eco-friendly lighting and compost everything we can. The big things make a difference too, like the refrigeration system we installed to save energy while still meeting the needs of Missouri’s largest winery. Take a tour of our facilities and we’ll point out everything we do to minimize our environmental impact.
Region
St. James Winery was founded to re-establish the tradition of winemaking in the Meramec Highlands, and we work to sustain that tradition. Our partnership with the Friendship School Foundation, helps us invest in and work to sustain the cultural heritage of our vineyards, our craft and our community. The Foundation name pays homage to the 19th-century schoolhouse that still stands next to our vineyards, and is featured in our Friendship School red and white wines.
Our History
When they opened St. James Winery in 1970, Jim and Pat Hofherr reinvigorated the local Italian wine heritage by creating wines that were easy to drink and share with friends and family.
Italian Heritage
Italian immigrants settled in the St. James area of the Meramec Highlands in the late 1800s. The railroad carried them to new and inexpensive land where the immigrants built a life and eventually began to use their agricultural knowledge to grow high-quality Concord grapes. Initially, these grapes were used predominantly for juice and jelly. However, the pristine growing conditions helped build new markets and more than 1,000 acres of grapes and over 200 wineries surrounded the St. James area by 1922. This community of winemakers helped make Missouri the second-largest wine-producing state in the U.S. until Prohibition wiped out the family wineries that had come to define the region. The ground was still fertile, but without any place to sell their wines, the families who had come to call St. James home were forced to close their wineries.
History Brought Back To Life
As Missouri wines began to comeback in the 1960s, Jim and Pat Hofherr decided to re-establish the craft of winemaking in St. James. They used the same grapes and similar wines that made the region world famous a half-century before, and created the now-famous Velvet Red and Velvet White that remain a hallmark of the St. James Winery lineup. Using all the Hofherr children as (more or less willing) extra hands, the family produced 8,000 gallons of wine in 1970, their inaugural year. Winemaking was back in business in St. James.
Bold Step Forward
It’s been nearly 50 years since the Hofherr family began making wine. In that time, St. James Winery has helped put Missouri wines back on the national stage. People throughout our state and across the country seek out our wine, and we have expanded to meet their demand. St. James Winery now produces 500,000 gallons of wine per year and is available for purchase in 16 different states. Some days, we produce as much in one day as the Hofherr family produced in the entire year of 1970. Jim and Pat’s middle son, Peter Hofherr, is now the CEO and he and world-class winemaker Andrew Meggitt see to it that our wine stays true to the quality of the first winemakers of Meramec Highlands, while they grow and develop new award-winning flavors.
Join Our Mailing List
You’ll be notified when there are new events and members on the wine trail.