Enthusiast Magazine

Originally from Ceresole d’Alba, Italy, winemaker Simone Bergese puts 25 years of winemaking experience to work at Chateau Elan Winery. After earning his degree in Oenology and Viticulture, he sharpened his skills across three continents, working as Chief Winemaker at prestigious wineries in Italy, Australia, and the U.S. Under his direction, Chateau Elan has won over 300 awards at wine competitions worldwide. His expertise and passion for creating wines are evident in every bottle that the winery produces.

One of Chateau Elan’s biggest assets is their winemaker, Simone Bergese. He is the expert behind the production of all of their fine wines. 

Simone describes a good winemaker as, “someone that has talent and experience in understanding exactly the potential of the grape variety he is working with, so that his approach can be as minimal as possible in order to express exactly the character of the final wine.” He explains that this talent comes from experience, allowing the winemaker the ability to anticipate what will happen during fermentation and aging. Simone has experience across many regions, becoming an award-winning winemaker prior to his arrival at Chateau Elan, where he brought his skills and knowledge to the table to develop the best possible wines.

Simone is originally from Ceresole d’Alba, Italy. He began his career in winemaking as a student at the University of Turin in Northern Italy where he studied Oenology, the study of wine, and Viticulture, the study of grape cultivation. Once he received his degree, Simone worked under several different winemakers in the Barolo and Barbaresco regions of Italy, where some of Italy’s finest red wines come from. After spending some time winemaking in Australia, Simone returned to Italy as the Chief Winemaker at the Patria Winery in Sicily. Three years later, he was named Chief Winemaker at the prestigious Firriato Winery. During those six years in Sicily, Simone acquired many achievements, including numerous awards. In 2008, he decided to move to the United States to take a job as the Winemaker in Potomac Point at the Potomac Point Winery in Stafford, Virginia. He entered his wine into many local, national and international competitions, where he won over 60 awards. Simone’s wine is so unique among others because of his winemaking methods. He has paired his education with real world experience and has developed his own winemaking philosophy, which he brought to Chateau Elan in 2012.

Chateau Elan produces 30 in-house wines made through Simone’s process. He has thrown the idea of “textbook winemaking” away, preferring experimentation and trial and error to create simple, healthy and sustainable wines. He has a team of wine experts who believe in his philosophy and play a major role in the production of Chateau Elan wines. One of the important factors in Simone’s wine is the number of sulfites he adds. Added sulfites act as preservatives in wine, used to keep them fresh and provide a long shelf life. These preservatives prevent the spread of bacteria in wine. Most winemakers add sulfites to the grapes and add more before bottling. Simone’s wines range from undetectable to 35 parts per million, which is significantly less than most wines and ten times less than the legal limit in the United States. His belief is that the naturally occurring antioxidants in wine can replace those added sulfites, producing a much healthier wine. He has proven this to be true as he has produced wine with this mentality for years. His wine has been poured, served and sold after years of aging, showing no signs of deterioration.

Simone’s winemaking process relies on one thing in particular, and that is the quality of the grape. This is the most important aspect of his wines. The grapes used in the Chateau Elan wines are found in several Georgia vineyards as well as a few different California vineyards in the Lake County and Clarksburg regions. The environment in which a grape is produced effects how it’s juice will convert into wine. There are many factors involved in this, as Simone explained, “Climate is not the only factor, we should say ‘how does the terroir affect flavors...’ It does immensely as the grapes grow and ripe under the sun, with roots in the ground and tended by men. If we would grow the same exact variety, say Chardonnay, changing only the terroirs, we would have completely different wines.” Each region has its own unique terroir, producing different grapes and different wines. Simone explained that no one region is superior to another when it comes to the taste of wine. When asked which region makes the most consistently delicious wine, he responded, “Each wine region of the world produces outstanding wines which differ as far as variety and style but can hit the same high-quality levels. There are regions more famous and with an older heritage than other, such as Italy and France which can overall offer a larger amount of wines from a larger amount of producers with average higher quality standards. But the potential of producing high quality wines are identical for several regions, once the right combination of terroir and varieties is found.”

One of the most popular wines made at Chateau Elan is their Muscadine. The highest quality muscadine grapes are found in hot climates. In these climates, the grapes are able to fight off bacteria and disease, producing resveratrol, which has been known to benefit cardiovascular health, blood sugar and joint pain. Chateau Elan obtains their muscadine grapes from Georgia, where red clay soil holds the moisture, helping the grapes grow and thrive. Chateau Elan’s muscadine wines have a high alcohol content with a low sulfite count and lower amounts of sugar.

Chateau Elan produces wines made from grapes in California Vineyards as well, primarily in Clarksburg and Lake County. Some of these varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Grapes grown in Lake County, California, located north of Napa, have the benefit of a large lake that provides a unique climate. The breeze from the lake cools the vineyards in the hot summers while the grapes are still getting high UV exposure. The combination of Lake County’s cool winters and dry summers leads to the production of grapes with extremely low pesticide rates. Grapes found in Clarksburg also have a unique climate. With less fog in the area, these grapes receive several more hours of sunlight. They also see significantly less frost and rainfall, ensuring quality grapes. California grapes are transported to Chateau Elan in a temperature-controlled truck. Simone and his team receive these grapes in French barrels, unfiltered and unstablized as not to compromise the integrity of the grapes. Once the wines are in the barrels, they stay there until it is time for them to be bottled. Simone explained, “In the barrel the wine concentrates itself because of the evaporation through the staves; it also reacts with the wood tannings and stabilizes the color and smooths down the overall taste profile.” He characterized the barrels as the vessels for wines to express themselves. Once bottled, these California grapes make up the wines in the Chateau Elan’s American Reserves, but the finest bottles become a part of the Fingerprint Collection. The Fingerprint Collection is made up of the superior wines from each harvest. This collection is catered to those who appreciate the finest of wines.

In addition to the muscadine wines, American Reserves and the Fingerprint Collection, Simone imports wines overseas from his hometown. These specialty wines include a Moscato and a sparkling wine. All of Simone’s wines are unique. He described them as each having their own personality: “They all have one, some are more in your face” than others...the muscadines have a very unique and strong personality, and then you have my fingerprint collection wines, which think they are the absolute best athletes in the world...so they all really have big egos.”
Chateau Elan offers a variety of ways to taste and learn about Simone’s wines. The Tasting Room is open for guests to stop in and have a glass or buy a bottle. For a more extensive tasting, groups can choose seven Chateau Elan wines to taste, including the Fingerprint Collection, sparkling wines and ports. The most exclusive Chateau Elan wine tasting experience is a Private Pour, a customizable experience based on the party’s preferences. Guests can taste up to six Chateau Elan wines in a guided tasting while on a walking tour of the vineyard, winery and production facility. Chateau Elan wines are also for sale online, providing over 37 states the opportunity to taste one of Simone’s wines. 

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