October 25th, 2007
St. James Winery is proud to announce another second generation member has been appointed to the Board of Directors, Peter Hofherr son of original founders of the winery, as Chief Financial Officer. Peter is certainly no stranger to the winery or its operations.
Growing up in the wine industry, Peter and his brothers worked the vineyards on a day to day basis helping their parents establish St. James Winery as one of the premiere wineries in the Midwest.
After attending Auburn University, graduating with a degree in Microbiology, he received his MBA from Georgia State University in 1989 with a degree in Finance. Presently is to receive his PhD from the University of Missouri in Agricultural Economics with emphasis in entrepreneurship.
After receiving his degrees, Peter was employed in the private sector as a consultant with the ninth largest accounting firm in the United States and later as a member of the management team at Cooper and Lybrand in Georgia for six years, a big six firm.
Returning to the winery in 1995, he was appointed General Manager. He was instrumental in the reorganization of the overall business work flow of the winery along with the cellars and vineyards focusing on increased productivity and quality.
Peter left the winery in 2001 to become Deputy Director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture and later became the Director of the Department for yet another two years.
Most recently, Peter has been the Director of Business Information Development Group (BRIDG). A group established by the state of Missouri to facilitate the basic and applied business and entrepreneurship research principles for consulting services in statewide centers.
St. James Winery is a wholly owned private family enterprise established in 1970 by the Hofherr family. With estate vineyards located in Missouri, the winery also has vineyards located in Arkansas and Michigan.
Production capabilities exceed 200,000 cases annually and they are the largest winery within a twelve state area. St.
James Winery is one of the most awarded wineries in the United States and presently ranks 4th in number of Gold medals won in the United States. Their vintages are currently distributed in fourteen states with further US expansion planned in 2008.
Peter joins mother Patricia, Chairman of the Board, and brother Andrew, Chief Operations Officer in the management of the winery.