St. George Spirits is a distillery based in Alameda, California. Founded in 1982 by the German-born distiller Jörg Rupf (1944–), St. George initially focused on Old World–style eaux-de-vie, made from California-grown fruits including pears, cherries, and raspberries. In 1984, Bill Mannshart joined the distillery as the first official employee; following his retirement in 1996, Rupf hired Lance Winters (1965–), a former navy nuclear engineer, as head distiller. At the time, Winters was working as a brewer at a nearby brewpub in Hayward and brought a bottle of his homemade whisky as a liquid resume to the initial interview with Rupf.
Around this time, St. George began expanding beyond its original brandy roots, barreling its first single-malt whisky in 1997 (the first bottles were released in 2000), creating the Hangar One line of vodkas in 2002, experimenting with spirits made from agave (Agua Azul, a single release in 2008), and, in 2007, introducing St. George Absinthe Vert, the first domestically produced absinthe to be released in the United States in almost a century.
In 2005, St. George added Dave Smith to the distilling team. Following the sale of Hangar One to Proximo Spirits in 2010 (under terms of the sale, St. George continued producing the spirit until 2015), Rupf retired, Winters assumed the title of master distiller, and Smith was named head distiller. Following Rupf’s departure, St. George continued expanding its product line, adding the agricole-style Agua Libre rum in 2010 (rebranded in 2013 as St. George California Agricole Rum), a line of three gins in 2011, a new range of vodkas in 2015, and Bruto Americano aperitif liqueur in 2016.
See also Rupf, Jörg, and eau-de-vie.
Pape, Allie. “Hangar One and St. George Spirits Are Parting Ways.” Eater San Francisco, May 1, 2014. http://sf.eater.com/2014/5/1/6231343/hangar-one-and-st-george-spirits-are-parting-ways (accessed April 6, 2021).
Pape, Allie. “St. George Spirits Launches Three New Solo Vodkas After Hangar One Sale.” Eater San Francisco, March 4, 2014. http://sf.eater.com/2015/3/4/8148815/st-george-spirits-new-vodkas-chile-citrus-all-purpose-hangar-one (accessed April 6, 2021).
“St. George Spirits Is America’s Craftiest Distillery.” Food Republic, April 22, 2015. http://www.foodrepublic.com/2015/04/22/st-george-spirits-is-americas-craftiest-distillery/ (accessed April 6, 2021).
St. George Spirits website. https://stgeorgespirits.com (accessed April 6, 2021).
By: Paul Clarke
Murray Stenson at the Zig Zag in Seattle, ca. 2010.
Photograph by Dan Crawford.
Murray Stenson at the Zig Zag in Seattle, ca. 2010. Source: Photograph by Dan Crawford.