French-born Paul Masson (1859-1940) is considered one of the most important pioneers of Californian viticulture. He immigrated to California from Burgundy in 1878, where he worked for Charles Lefranc in his Almaden Vineyards winery as marketing manager. Masson returned to France in 1880, but later emigrated permanently to California due to the phylloxera disaster and, after Lefranc's death in 1887, married his daughter Louise. After a short-lived partnership with his brother-in-law Henry Lefranc, he founded his own winery in Almaden. There he produced his first sparkling wine in 1892, which subsequently earned him the title of "Champagne King of California" due to its great success. After the accidental death of his brother-in-law in 1909, he also managed Almaden Vineyards until 1930.
In 1901, Masson founded a winery under the name Paul Masson Mountain Winery in Saratoga, where he outsourced part of the production and produced sparkling wines, which were still marketed under the now forbidden name "California Champagne". Built on a hill above the winery in 1905, the "Château" offers a view of the Santa Clara Valley. The winery was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1906 and rebuilt afterwards. A special feature is the church portal of St. Patrick's Church in San Jose, which was also badly damaged and dates back to the 12th century, which was built in the course of this renovation. During Prohibition (1920-1933), Masson was granted a licence to produce "sacramental and medicinal wines". In 1936, the Paul Masson Mountain Winery was acquired by Martin Ray. Finally, in 1952, the winery and with it the wine production were shut down.
Since 1958, the elaborately adapted winery has been operated as an event centre under the name Historic Mountain Winery for weddings, conferences and events of all kinds. Concerts with famous artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Ringo Starr, Ray Charles, Carlos Santana and Stevie Wonder, as well as chess tournaments, have been and continue to be held regularly. The Château is also used for events. From the neighbouring "Mount Eden" winery, wines are produced under the "Mountain Winery" label. However, the grapes do not come from the estate's own vineyards, but are purchased. The new owners since 2004 (including an ex-vice president of INTEL and one of the founders of HotMail) have now planted a small vineyard again; the first wine (since 1952) was marketed in 2008.
In 1990, the vineyards and the brand name Paul Masson were bought by Vintners International, which in turn was taken over by Constellation Brands in 1993. This multi sold the Almaden Vineyards, Inglenook Winery and Paul Masson to the Wine Group in 2008. There are no connections to the former Paul Masson Mountain Winery. Paul Masson is one of the most successful US brands (see GAMIT). It is also known through a commercial with Orson Welles (1915-1985) from the 1970s, in which the actor promises: "We will sell no wine before its time". An infamous "outtake" (unpublished part) of the commercial can be seen on the internet (YouTube), showing Welles in a slurring, drunken state.
The headquarters is in the town of Gonzales in Monterey County. The total vineyard area is around 2,300 hectares. A wide range of alcoholic beverages is produced under the "Paul Masson" label. These include liqueurs, brandies, fortified dessert wines in Marsala, Madeira, sherry and port styles, sparkling wines, as well as simple draught wines in larger glass bottles and bag-in-boxes. Wines under the Taylor label (Taylor California Cellars) are also produced here.
