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Winter / Spring 2006
A Big Thumbs Up, Jan
Clos Pegase’s Jan Shrem celebrates a full and fascinating 75
years
 By Paul Franson
To mark his birthday this past summer, Jan Shrem, along with
his wife, Mitsuko, gave art and wine lovers a gift. The founders
of Calistoga’s Clos Pegase Winery created the Clos Pegase Foundation—to
manage the winery and expand its art collection. It’s a typically
generous move for the vintner and
ex-publishing entrepreneur, whose winery contains one of America’s most remarkable
private collections of art.
Jan was born in Lebanon and grew up in an Orthodox Jewish community
in Jerusalem. In 1955, while studying for his master’s degree
at UCLA, he spent time in Japan, where he started importing textbooks
and reference guides. Soon he was publishing these volumes himself,
building an empire of 2,000 employees and 50 offices. Jan indulged
himself with a small art gallery on the side, which was where
he met Mitsuko. It was she who introduced the former teetotaler
to wine. Mitsuko’s family was against their marriage, so the
couple eloped and moved to Paris, where Jan started another publishing
company, this one focusing on the art that he and Mitsuko loved.
The Shrems continued to expand their art collection, and also
pursued their other passion—wine. Eventually the couple decided
to try their hand at winemaking, and moved to the burgeoning
Napa Valley, where they have succeeded in creating yet another
successful empire. Clos Pegase wines are internationally acclaimed,
and Clos Pegase’s museum-quality art collection features some
of the world’s greatest 20th-century works of art.
“Fate gave
me a big fortune to make a small one in the wine business,”
Jan says. “And I love sharing my success with others.” |
