Founded in 1973 and named for Jean Sheffield Merzoian, sister-in-law and wife of the founders. The 1920s chateau began as a summer home built by Ernest Goff; its oak-paneled rooms serve as the Reserve Tasting Room. The Cinq Cépages Bordeaux blend is the flagship. Bocce, rose gardens, redwood picnic groves.
Chateau St. Jean is one of Sonoma Valley's most recognizable estates, a winery of long reputation for single-vineyard Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The property in Kenwood was built in the 1920s as a private summer retreat and converted to a winery in 1973. The flagship Cinq Cépages Cabernet Sauvignon blend from the Alexander Valley has become a California collector's wine. The tasting room and grounds remain one of the most visited destinations in the Wine Country.
Cinq Cépages — The iconic five-variety Bordeaux-style Cabernet blend; the 1996 vintage was Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year.
Robert Young Vineyard Chardonnay, Alexander Valley — A celebrated single-vineyard white, rich and layered.
Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon — A structured, dark-fruited Cabernet from the warm valley.
Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir — An elegant cool-climate red from the coast.
Sauvignon Blanc — A crisp white from the founding vineyard-designate house (est. 1973).
Founded in 1973 and named for Jean Sheffield Merzoian, sister-in-law and wife to the three founders, Chateau St. Jean was designed from the ground up to keep vineyard lots separate — a radical proposition at the time that would establish the winery as a pioneer of vineyard-designated California wine. Founding winemaker Dick Arrowood set the template; current winemaker Lisa Evich carries it forward with the flagship Cinq Cépages Bordeaux blend and a portfolio of small-production, single-source bottlings. The 1920s chateau on the estate was originally a summer home built by industrialist Ernest Goff — its oak-paneled rooms now serve as the Reserve Tasting Room, with garden-view seated experiences available on the patio. Bocce courts, rose gardens, redwood groves for picnicking, and Pique-Nique au Château for a full afternoon.
Appointed winemaker at Chateau St. Jean in October 2024, Lisa Evich brings a deep Sonoma County wine background to the iconic Kenwood estate. She holds a BA in Environmental Studies and Planning and a Wine Business MBA from Sonoma State University, plus a Winemaking Certificate from UC Davis. Previously Director of Winemaking at Simi, she has also held winemaking leadership positions at Pine Ridge and at Arrowood — the latter directly connecting her work to Sonoma's broader Cabernet legacy. She concurrently oversees winemaking for Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery, now in its 120th year of producing Sonoma County wine. Her appointment at Chateau St. Jean follows Foley Family Wines & Spirits' 2021 acquisition of the property and their reinstatement of on-site winemaking with the 2022 vintage. Her first major release, the 2022 Cinq Cépages, marked a stylistic modernization of the flagship blend — a more full-bodied, expressive interpretation while preserving the five-Bordeaux-varieties framework that has anchored the wine since 1990.
Chateau St. Jean was founded in 1973 by Ken Sheffield and brothers Bob and Ed Merzoian, San Joaquin Valley table-grape growers who set out to build a fine-wine estate in the European style. They settled on 250 acres of the Goff estate in Kenwood, beneath Sugarloaf Ridge, and named the winery for Jean Sheffield Merzoian — wife, sister, and sister-in-law to the three, and the “saintly” figure who held them together. With first winemaker Dick Arrowood, they pioneered single-vineyard-designated bottlings that won early acclaim. The estate, now part of the Foley portfolio, still centers on that founding vision of site-expressive wines.
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Cinq Cépages — The iconic five-variety Bordeaux-style Cabernet blend; the 1996 vintage was Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year.
Robert Young Vineyard Chardonnay, Alexander Valley — A celebrated single-vineyard white, rich and layered.
Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon — A structured, dark-fruited Cabernet from the warm valley.
Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir — An elegant cool-climate red from the coast.
Sauvignon Blanc — A crisp white from the founding vineyard-designate house (est. 1973).
Chateau St. Jean is one of Sonoma Valley's most recognizable estates, a winery of long reputation for single-vineyard Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The property in Kenwood was built in the 1920s as a private summer retreat and converted to a winery in 1973. The flagship Cinq Cépages Cabernet Sauvignon blend from the Alexander Valley has become a California collector's wine. The tasting room and grounds remain one of the most visited destinations in the Wine Country.
Founded in 1973 and named for Jean Sheffield Merzoian, sister-in-law and wife to the three founders, Chateau St. Jean was designed from the ground up to keep vineyard lots separate — a radical proposition at the time that would establish the winery as a pioneer of vineyard-designated California wine. Founding winemaker Dick Arrowood set the template; current winemaker Lisa Evich carries it forward with the flagship Cinq Cépages Bordeaux blend and a portfolio of small-production, single-source bottlings. The 1920s chateau on the estate was originally a summer home built by industrialist Ernest Goff — its oak-paneled rooms now serve as the Reserve Tasting Room, with garden-view seated experiences available on the patio. Bocce courts, rose gardens, redwood groves for picnicking, and Pique-Nique au Château for a full afternoon.
Appointed winemaker at Chateau St. Jean in October 2024, Lisa Evich brings a deep Sonoma County wine background to the iconic Kenwood estate. She holds a BA in Environmental Studies and Planning and a Wine Business MBA from Sonoma State University, plus a Winemaking Certificate from UC Davis. Previously Director of Winemaking at Simi, she has also held winemaking leadership positions at Pine Ridge and at Arrowood — the latter directly connecting her work to Sonoma's broader Cabernet legacy. She concurrently oversees winemaking for Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery, now in its 120th year of producing Sonoma County wine. Her appointment at Chateau St. Jean follows Foley Family Wines & Spirits' 2021 acquisition of the property and their reinstatement of on-site winemaking with the 2022 vintage. Her first major release, the 2022 Cinq Cépages, marked a stylistic modernization of the flagship blend — a more full-bodied, expressive interpretation while preserving the five-Bordeaux-varieties framework that has anchored the wine since 1990.
Chateau St. Jean was founded in 1973 by Ken Sheffield and brothers Bob and Ed Merzoian, San Joaquin Valley table-grape growers who set out to build a fine-wine estate in the European style. They settled on 250 acres of the Goff estate in Kenwood, beneath Sugarloaf Ridge, and named the winery for Jean Sheffield Merzoian — wife, sister, and sister-in-law to the three, and the “saintly” figure who held them together. With first winemaker Dick Arrowood, they pioneered single-vineyard-designated bottlings that won early acclaim. The estate, now part of the Foley portfolio, still centers on that founding vision of site-expressive wines.
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