by Fred McMillin for May 29, 1997 A Tale of Two Wineries Prologue: In 1890 the Fredson family from Sweden founds the Chris A. Fredson Winery in Sonoma County. Sons Donald and Leonard Fredson move the winery to the Dry Creek Valley. Donald's son Bob likes the winery and learns the business. In 1934 Italian-born Giovanni and Maria Cambiaso buy a 52-acre hillside ranch above the Russian River. They clear land and plant 35 acres of vines. Their three children ultimately take over and in the 1960's begin selling all their Cabernet Sauvignon to the Charles Krug Winery. The Rest of the Story: So what do Bob Fredson and the Cambiaso Winery have in common? A lot...he merely caused the winery to change its name! Here's how it happend. In 1976 Bob became Cambiaso winemaker. Because of the rising demand for varietal wines, he turned out one under a new brand name, Domaine Saint George. It sold out in a few weeks. Other varietals followed; success was so great that the Cambiaso Winery became Domaine Saint George. Today Bob turns out five very affordable varietals. Try his Cab...for only $8 you get plenty of berry fruit and vanilla oak. 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon, Apln.—California Domaine St.George Winery Sonoma County, CA Phone—(707)433-5508 $8 Category: Recommended in its price range Postscript: Maria and Giovanni Cambiaso would be suprised at the growth of their little 1934 winery. Today annual production is 300,000 cases! About the Writer Fred McMillin, a veteran wine writer, has taught wine history for 30 years on three continents. He currently teaches wine courses at San Francisco State and San Francisco City College and is Northern California Editor for American Wine on the Web. In 1995, the Academy of Wine Communications honored Fred with one of only 22 Certificates of Commendation awarded to American wine writers.

Read more articles by Fred McMillin in the eGGsf Welcome to WineDay, the electronic Gourmet Guide's daily update. Monday through Thursday, WineDay presents a wine profile. Then on Fridays we present the Winery of the Week to take you through the weekend Current WineDay January WineDays February WineDays March WineDays April WineDays 05/28/97 Quiet! Woman at Work 05/27/97 Yorkville Fills the Bill 05/26/97 A Cab Lab 05/23/97 Winery of the Week De Loach Vineyards 05/22/97 When the Vintners Drew a Blanc 05/21/97 Barbera with Backbone 05/20/97 Make Mine Merlot 05/19/97 Waiting for Verdot (vair-dough) 05/16/97 Winery of the Week Sutter Home Winery 05/15/97 What's OVOC Zinfandel? 05/14/97 The Olympic Games White, A Reprise 05/13/97 Roy's Niche in Time 05/12/97 Meanwhile, Back at the Chateau 05/09/97 Winery of the week Gundlach-Bundschu Wine Company 05/08/97 A Pretty Pink for Mother's Day 05/07/97 Was the Wine a Success? 05/06/97 A 365-Acre Adventure 05/05/97 A Little Star 05/02/97 Winery of the week Scharffenberger Cellars 05/01/97 Pinot Noir's Kissin' Cousin

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