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History
S. E. Chase Cellars pays homage to Sarah
Esther Chase Bourn a woman who, like the wine which
bears her name, demonstrated incredible strength of
character, an indelible personality, and a take-notice
presence.
The
wife a wealthy businessman, Sarah Esther Chase discovered
the Napa Valley while visiting the area's spas in
the late 1800's. But it was a tragedy that compelled
her to create a home in the valley. After the loss
of a young son, Sarah persuaded her husband William
Bourn to purchase the Madrona Estate, as it was known,
on the southwestern edge of St. Helena. With a strong
will and determination Sarah turned the property into
a working ranch. In addition to the vineyard that
already existed, Sarah added chickens, olive trees,
wheat, corn and even a silk worm farm to her holdings.
A colorful figure in the community, who was noted
as much for her travels to Europe with her daughters
as her goings-on at Madrona, Sarah's legacy became
the vineyard that first attracted her to the property.
Upon the death of her husband the estate management
of the estate was turned over to her son William Bourn
II, who was as industrious as his mother. William
perpetuated Sarah's impact on the area by selling
the family grapes to Napa Valley's first winemaker,
Charles Krug. It was the start of what would become
a long-standing family tradition. Not content to only
sell grapes, William wanted to produce wine and create
a place to do so for himself and his neighbors. The
answer was to build a co-op for wine production and
storage. In 1888 he built Greystone Cellars, the historic
and formidable stone building at the northern end
of St. Helena.
In
1894 when phyloxera wiped out much of Napa Valley's
vineyards, including Sarah's, William sold Greystone
to the Christian Brothers. Today it is home to the
venerable Culinary Institute of America Less than
ten-years after the vineyard went fallow William's
sister, Maude and her husband William Alston Hayne
planted the eponymously named vineyard with zinfandel,
and other varietals. Today the Zinfandel vines still
thrive. The head-pruned Zinfandel vines are dry-farmed
in the sandy-gravelly soil that produces Napa Valley's
most exuberant and robust zinfandel grapes. In
1998, Sarah's great-great grandson, Andy Simpson and
his wife Pam Simpson harvested grapes from a twelve-acre
parcel within the Hayne Vineyard and created their
first vintage of S. E. Chase Family Cellars Zinfandel.
Using a garage built next to the property's original
white cottage as a winery, the couple held their first
crush in September 2002.
S.E. Chase Family Cellars Zinfandel
vibrantly expresses the rich history of the Hayne
Vineyard and the passion of the Chase family that
has tenderly cared for the grapes grown in one of
the world's premier vineyards for more than a century.
Our
Philosophy: Making the best wine possible starts in
the vineyard. For a century, these old vines have
flourished in Napa Valley 's best soil, allowing each
vine to develop its own unique personality. It is
our commitment to nurture these gnarly old vines into
the next century so they can continue to bring you
incomparable wines.
Pam
Simpson grew up in the downstate cornfields of Illinois
where farming is still a way of life and family farms
are inherited. While attending the University of Illinois,
Pam became interested in politics and graduated in
1985 with a degree in Political Science and Speech
Communication. She began lobbying in Illinois and
continued her political career upon moving the St.
Helena in 1990. Pam’s extensive political background
has taken her from lobbying in Illinois to running
state assembly, congressional and presidential campaigns.
She was also District Director for Napa's Congressman
in the 1990's.
Andy
Simpson has lived in St. Helena since 1990. A fourth
generation California Native Son, he grew up around
agriculture. His parents owned over 100 acres of pear
orchards in the Sacramento Delta area and he learned
there to work the fields and tend to the fruit. His
family instilled in him the love of the land and the
passion for growing the finest fruit possible. Andy
ventured beyond California for college. He attended
and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1984.
Upon moving to California, Andy continued his engineering
studies at U. C. Davis where he later earned his degree.
He now has his own professional civil engineering
practice in St. Helena.
Nile Zacherle, our winemaker, has produced wines from
vineyards throughout the World. He and has held winemaking
positions at Barnett Vineyards, Chateau Montelena,
Pierro Margaret River Vineyards ( Australia) and worked
in France at Chateau d’Arsac ( Bordeaux), Navarro
Vineyards and Sterling. Nile has a B.S. in Fermentation
science from UC Davis that is focused on Enology,
Viticulture and Brewing sciences. He gained further
skills from working as a brewer and microbiologist
for Anderson Valley Brewing Company. His winemaking
style is focused on vineyard site expression (Terroir),
elegance and age-worthy structure. The Hayne Vineyard
and the other Chase Family Wines are a reflection
of this style.
Jeff Blaum, Pam's older brother, moved to St. Helena
in 2002 to help build the winery. Because of his extensive
sales and management experience, he soon joined the
team full-time to take charge of the new tasting area
and the day to day duties at the winery. He has traveled
extensively for Chase over the last seven years and
is now direct sales manager, working closely with
Pam on national distribution.
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