July 2nd, 2007
St. James, Missouri –
The Board of Directors of St. James Winery is pleased to announce Rodney Lough has been named President, Jack Bonar Vice President of Marketing, Dean Chalem, Vice President of Sales, and Andrew Meggitt, Vice President of Product Development effective immediately.
St. James Winery, established in 1970 by Jim & Patricia Hofherr, is a privately held corporation of which Patricia Hofherr still remains Chairman of the Board and son Andrew, Chief Operating Officer.
Continued growth and success of the winery has prompted the recent reorganization of executive management to meet the ever increasing business needs.
St. James Winery is the largest winery in the Midwestern 12 states with cellar capacity of over 600,000+ gallons and production up to 200,000 cases annually.
Demand for consistent quality wines has paved the way for further multi-state distribution expansion to include Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Texas.
Plans for further expansion in 2007, presently while not formally announced, will include yet another 5 states by year end. St.
James Winery is highly acclaimed as one of the most awarded wineries in the United States and ranks 7th in number of Gold Medal winning wines from top regional and national wine competitions as compiled by American Gold Medal Wines.
Executive Backgrounds
Lough was previously General Manger of St. James which he ran the day to day operations of the winery for over 6 years.
Prior work experience included Paramount Headwear where he was Director of Manufacturing for over 20 years operating 17 plants in both the United States and Mexico.
Lough is a former graduate of University of Missouri at Rolla and holds a degree in engineering.
Bonar, has been with St. James since 2006 as National Marketing Director.
Previously hailing from the casino industry with over 10 years experience, he was Executive Director of Marketing & Public Relations for the Desert Diamond Casinos in Tucson, AZ and Executive Director of Marketing & Sales for the Argosy Casino.
Jack graduated with a triple major and double minor Bachelor of Science degree from Baker University, Baldwin City, KS.
Chalem, has been with St. James Winery since 2004, formerly National Sales Director.
Prior to joining the winery, he was employed by Cadbury Schweppes for over 8 years located in Los Angeles, CA as Director of Sales Development, hailing previously with 10 years history from E & J Gallo Winery as Sales Manager.
Dean graduated from Wittenberg University with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Meggitt, formerly Head Wine Maker for St. James the past 5 years originally hails from New Zealand.
He has an undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree from University of Canterbury and Post Graduate Degree in Viticulture and Oenology from Lincoln University, both in New Zealand.
Bringing with him over 9 years of winemaking experience from New Zealand and France, he was previously associated with several wineries to include Sherwood Estates, Chancellor Estate both in New Zealand, and Frederic Mochel in France.
Keeping consistent with the quality and traditions established by St. James Winery, further expansion plans will be announced shortly building upon their already unprecedented success in the industry.
Patricia Hofherr, COB stated, “We are excited about the future of St. James Winery and these individuals contributions, past and present in keeping with our Mission Statement … to satisfy our customers by continuing to offer wines and juices of consistent quality, abundance of Midwestern varieties, and excellent value.”
St. James Winery has owned and operated by the Hofherr Family since 1970, conveniently located on Interstate 44, on Old Historic Route 66, only 90 miles southwest of St. Louis, Missouri in St. James, Missouri.
With over 700 miles of vines in Missouri, Arkansas, and Michigan, no other winery in the Eastern United States utilizes such state of the art technology from the vineyards to the bottling room as St. James Winery bringing you consistent, quality, vintages for your enjoyment.
St. James Winery, “Award-Winning Wines from America’s Midwest Winery” with over 2,000+ medals awarded to date is distributed in nine states presently and available on-line at www.StJamesWinery.com.