the Vine
Bev Stenehjem
Bev Stenehjem is a local wine enthusiast, author and free-
lance writer focused on the wineries of Santa Clara Valley.
Bev wrote “The Wineries of Santa Clara Valley,” a historical
photo book published by Arcadia Publishing in 2015.
Calerrain Wines
C
alerrain Wines, owned by Geoff and Chantelle Mace,
is one of the newest wineries to join the Santa Clara
Valley Wine Trail in Gilroy. Geoff and Chantelle met
while students at San Jose State University and married soon
after graduation. Both are “seize the day” kind of people with a
reputation for hard work and dedication to family. At 38, Geoff’s
impressive resume includes service in the Marine Corps, an
MBA, a degree in Finance and in Winemaking and most recently,
a winemaker of at Calerrain Wines. Chantelle, a pharmacist,
manages a local retail pharmacy. Married for fi fteen years, they
have two children; Lincoln and Morgan. Just celebrating their
one-year anniversary of the winery, the Maces produce premium
Chardonnay, Cabernet and Pinot Noir wines. Calerrain is
What did you do before you got started in the business?
After graduating from San Jose State with a degree in Finance, I joined
the Marine Corps and served two deployments in Iraq as an Infantry
officer. Fresh out of the service in 2007, I worked in sales in Southern
California. Then in 2010 I used my G.I. bill to go back to school.
I enrolled at Fresno State University in order to earn a degree in
Oenology and Viticulture while at the same time earning an MBA.
How did you become a wine entrepreneur?
Chantelle and I caught the “wine-bug” in 2005 during a visit to
Healdsburg. After visiting a number of wineries, we thought, ‘Wow;
people do this for a living? They grow grapes and make wine?’ and
determined that we were going to get into the wine business someday,
too. So we started exploring and tasting wine up and down the coast
of California – from Temecula, Santa Barbara, and Paso Robles up
through Russian River, Anderson and Mendocino Valleys. We were
fascinated to discover that the same varietals, grown and produced
in different regions could yield such different outcomes.
In 2015 I worked at Diageo as one of the winemakers for BV
Coastal wines. After receiving an unexpected bonus there, we used it
to buy some grapes to fulfill our life-long goal of making our own wine.
After much research and with a desire to stay close to family, Chantelle
and I chose the Santa Clara Valley to start a family and launch
our wine business.
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
one of three award-winning wineries located inside
The Stomping Ground.
How did you learn to make wine?
Alongside their Oenology and Viticulture program, Fresno State offers
a unique hands-on training at their 8,000 case commercial winery
where I was able to “learn by doing.”
How did you come up with the name, Calerrain Wines?
It is a combination of “California” and “terrain” and represents our
vision to illustrate how place influences wine—that the same varietals
grown in different regions of California can taste wildly different from
each other. For example, this year we offered two Cabernets; one
from the Santa Clara Valley and the other from San Benito County.
The Santa Clara Valley grapes, aged in French oak barrels, produced
a wine more in the old world style—medium-bodied with solid tan-
nins. In contrast, the Cabernet grapes from San Benito, were aged
in American oak barrels and produced a New World style wine—
fuller-bodied and more fruit forward.
What kinds of wine do you specialize in?
At the moment we are producing Chardonnay, Cabernet and
Pinot Noir; three varietals, across the different terrains in California.
What is your favorite wine gadget or wine trick?
I’m a big fan of using a glass decanter for heavy reds. Decanting
really smoothes out the tannins and brings out the best in these wines.
april/may 2019
gmhtoday.com
Geoff and Chantelle Mace, Owners