![]() ![]() These were good times for Masson who celebrated his success with grand soirees at the chateau where wine flowed freely and fine food was served in copious amounts. Patrick's Cathedral in San Jose added a distinct new feature. ![]() A 12th Century Spanish portal that Masson had cunningly "acquired" from the rubble of the old St. By 1907, a new wine cellar stood in its place. A year later the winery's cellars lay in ruins, a casualty of the great San Francisco earthquake. La Cresta, Paul's ""vineyard in the sky"" was completed in 1905. In the small, secluded town of Saratoga, he found the perfect location. Suddenly the whole world knew about Paul Masson Champagne of California.Ī few years later with a label of his own and a successful champagne business Masson decided to build his own winery. The prestigious Paris Award, which he won at the Paris Expo of 1900, did not go unnoticed by the French press. Masson's champagne won countless awards throughout the years. Masson was now free to pursue his "Champagne Dream" with new vigor even spending his honeymoon in Champagne, France. The company known for so many years as Maison Lefranc became The Lefranc Masson Wine Co. In 1888, Masson secured himself a place in a winemaking dynasty by marrying Lefranc's oldest daughter, Louise. He predicted that a city as sophisticated as San Francisco would be a receptive market for a fine locally grown champagne…he would be proved right! These elegant parties provided Masson with a new business idea. Soon they were spending their evenings socializing with some of the most famous and wealthy people in San Francisco. The outcome of their endeavor was a selection of fine wines that turned the two men into local celebrities. Using a transplanting technique known as grafting, Masson and Lefranc experimented with the "Mission" vines planted by the Franciscan padres years before and the vines from Lefranc's vineyard, grown from clippings brought over from France. Lefranc, himself French expatriate was a highly respected vintner but it would be his collaboration with Masson that helped to put California wine on the world map. Good fortune or perhaps destiny led him to the winery of Charles Lefranc, located a days journey south in the Santa Clara Valley. Born in Burgundy to a family of well-established winemakers, Masson grew-up surrounded by some of the finest wineries and vineyards in the world. In the fall of 1878, Paul Masson an ambitious young Frenchman arrived in San Francisco. This 12th-century Spanish Romanesque portal came around the Horn. Click on any picture to see larger images.Ĭlick the blue links for more information and other waymarks. ![]()
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