Jan Shrem, who left an indelible mark on California's wine industry through his dedication to the arts and charitable generosity, died last month at the age of 94. The founder of Clos Pegase winery in Calistoga, Shrem was also a consummate philanthropist, contributing to The MET Opera, Festival Napa Valley, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the University of California at San Francisco Neurology Clinic. Perhaps most notable was Shrem's long-lasting partnership with the University of California at Davis, supporting the arts, including helping to fund the construction of the university’s Manetti Shrem Museum of Art.
"Jan was very passionate. He didn't do anything half-way," said Rick Walker president and CEO of Festival Napa Valley. "His business in Japan was immense and hugely successful; and the winery in Napa was an architectural masterpiece with great wine and art. He was also very amusing. He had a twinkle in his eye and was always lighting up the room."
Born in 1930 in Colombia to Jewish-Lebanese parents, Shrem grew up in Jerusalem and immigrated to the United States as a teenager. He later graduated from the University of California Los Angeles. Shrem worked selling encyclopedias before moving to Japan, where he founded a successful company that published English-language reference texts and art books. While there, he met his first wife, Mitsuko.
A Shift to California Wine
Shrem founded another publishing enterprise in Europe and began developing his impressive art collection. Following another interest, he enrolled at the University of Bordeaux to study enology before eventually returning to California. He and Mitsuko landed in Napa Valley, purchased 50 acres in Calistoga and founded Clos Pegase in 1983.
André Tchelistcheff made the first wines from the 1985 vintage, and the winery became a beloved destination for art lovers, who visited to admire Shrem's sculpture garden, which included works of contemporary and classic art within the winery grounds.
Mitsuko passed away in 2010, and in 2013, after Shrem had grown Clos Pegase to a 25,000-case winery with 215 acres of vineyards, he sold it to Vintage Wine Estates. Jay Adair, a Texas-based auto-parts billionaire, recently acquired the winery following Vintage Wine Estates' bankruptcy proceedings.
Charity with a Focus on Art
Shrem established a charitable foundation, backed by his extensive real estate and art holdings. In 2011, he and his second wife, Maria Manetti Farrow, provided a $10 million naming donation to U.C. Davis to help fund the campus art museum and teaching and cultural resource center.
"He was always a joy to be around," said Robin Baggett, proprietor of Alpha Omega Collective and current chairman of Festival Napa Valley. "I've never seen him without a smile on his face."
In 2016, when the U.C. Davis museum opened, Shrem told Wine Spectator that the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art was a dream over 60 years in the making. "This museum was a shared vision with our dear friend, Margrit Mondavi, and it was our privilege to partner with her and so many others in its realization." Mondavi, a friend of Shrem and Manetti Farrow at the time, made a $2 million gift to the museum, which today houses the university's 5,800-plus works of art, including from Wayne Thiebaud, Bruce Nauman, and Deborah Butterfield.
Shrem is survived by his wife, Maria, and his son, Marc Shrem.
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