When John Staten, president of Field Stone Winery & Vineyard, near Healdsburg, planned the harvest blessing for his 2005 crop, he didn't have to look very far for a clergyman to perform the duties.

Staten is an ordained Presbyterian minister, and he conferred the blessing personally.

"This was the 20th anniversary (of the event) and I thought it was the right time to do it," he said. Staten handled the duties himself during the first five years, but then asked other members of the clergy of all faiths to participate.

"We wanted it to be broad and inclusive," he said. "Whoever does it can do it according to (his or her) own tradition. Those who come every year see how pluralistic it is."

And many do come. The event has turned into somewhat of a happening -- more than 100 people attend, many of them come year after year, including a busload that comes from Half Moon Bay, and even a few who travel from out of state. After a ceremony of 45 minutes or so, the assembled guests gather for a barbecue banquet with, of course, Field Stone Wines.

Staten looks at it a little differently from the way other wineries (and there are many) that conduct blessing ceremonies. Rabbi Michael Robinson of Santa Rosa's Congregation Shomrei Torah Reform was the guest in 1996, and he told Staten, "The blessing is the grapes," and ever since Staten has conducted the ceremony accordingly. "I see it as a ceremony of thanksgiving for the grapes," rather than a blessing of the grapes, he said.

The event has achieved some notoriety -- a film crew making a documentary filmed the 2005 ceremony.

Sacramental wine

The harvest blessing isn't the only thing that Staten brought to the wine industry from his previous life as a theologian. A few years ago he launched a new wine brand, Convivio, that he described as "a wine for Communion, but also for everyday drinking. It's not a second label," he said. "It's something new, but with old roots that reach back to biblical times when the special wine used for religious ceremonies was the same wine enjoyed at tables in every home and public gathering place."

He attributed the idea of Convivio to Robert Fuller, a church historian who wrote monographs about wine and religion, and Staten thought, "I can go further than that. I can come up with a wine that I can use to show the impact of wine in our lives.

"My wife came up with the name," he said. Convivio is derived from the Latin word convivium, which means a feast or banquet. "Literally it means 'with life,'" he said.

Last year Staten made 1,200 cases of Convivio, 600 cabernet sauvignon and 600 merlot. It is handled through his distributors in 14 states and said it has been well received. It's a wine that's made to be consumed by anyone, and not just at religious services, he said.

But he also has made 100 cases specifically for Communion use -- it's the same wine, but the only difference is the label. The Communion labels are gold-colored, the others are white, and on the back label of the Communion bottles the word "God" is mentioned. The Communion labels are also signed by "The Rev. John Staten, Vintner" and by "The Rev. Roger Hull, Retail Sales." Hull is also an ordained minister.

A portion of the gross proceeds from Convivio is donated to the Alliance Medical Clinic in Healdsburg, a nonprofit health center which serves farmworkers and their families.

Theology professor

Staten, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Divinity School, had been teaching theology at Mills College in Oakland when his father-in-law, Wally Johnson, died suddenly in 1979. Staten was asked to take over operation of the winery and vineyard, along with an 800-acre family ranch. He continued teaching and running the business, teaching four classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and spending Sundays at the college, doing considerable commuting until 1982 when he became convinced it was impossible to do both jobs.

Although he chose the wine industry, he continues with his church-related activities, serving as theologian-in-residence at Windsor Presbyterian Church in Windsor. “It was hard to give (theology) up entirely,” he said. “I wanted one leg in the ag world and one in spiritual life. I do miss the teaching.”

Sitting in his small office, one can see evidence of the two lives. Stacks of books are piled on tables, on the floor and on his desk, and intermingled are hundreds of books with wine titles and religious titles.

When he was still deciding about which career to follow, though, he went to a friend, Jon Fredrikson, noted wine industry analyst, for advice, and Fredrikson convinced him to give up the ranch and concentrate on the 45-acre vineyard property.

Another longtime friend who offered advice to Staten was Andre Tschelistcheff, who, in a way, was instrumental in the origin of the blessing of the harvest ceremony. “Once Andre asked me why Protestants don’t have harvest blessings,” Staten said.

Meeting Andre Tschelistcheff

While Staten was teaching in Oakland, he and his family visited the ranch during the summers, and he accompanied his father-in-law on visits to the wineries that purchased grapes from the vineyard. That’s where he met Tschelistcheff.

“When I took over the winery, (Tschelistcheff) volunteered to help me,” he said. Tschelistcheff started consulting with Field Stone in 1981, a relationship that continued until just before he died in 1994.

Tschelistcheff visited Field Stone regularly, and on every visit, after talking “about vineyard practices and winery protocol, he asked questions about life and we had great discussions,” Staten recalled.

Once Tschelistcheff told him that the owners of Chateau Ausone, a French First Growth producer, were interested in finding some property in California that would match their vineyard in Saint Emilion so they could produce a similar wine in California as a joint venture.

Twenty-seven sites were identified — a vineyard block at Field Stone was one of them —and a team came to the United States to do soil analyses on all the properties.

“This vineyard was chosen,” Staten said. An offer was sent to him but the joint venture idea had been shifted to a purchase, and “Purchasing this was out of the question,” Staten said. Apparently some problems had arisen within the family that caused a split, resulting in a change in the family’s plans.

It turned out just fine for Field Stone, though. Staten said, “Andre told me, ‘We have the lab analysis from Bordeaux and the opinion of a First Growth. Now we should not be nervous about planting merlot,’” the predominant grape in Saint Emilion.

The grapes for Convivio merlot, along with Field Stone’s merlot, come from this block, which was named the Andre Tschelistcheff Vineyard following Tschelistcheff’s death.

Red wine producer

Field Stone currently produces about 10,000 cases — 70 percent of them are red wines, including cabernet sauvignon, merlot, sangiovese, syrah and petite sirah, along with reserve cabernet sauvignon and reserve petite sirah, and occasionally a reserve petite sirah vintage port. White wines include chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and viognier, along with a reserve viognier. The Convivio brand includes cabernet sauvignon and merlot and occasionally semillon.

All the reds, plus the viognier, are estate grown and carry the Alexander Valley appellation designation. “Andre convinced us to plant the viognier,” Staten said, adding that although only 300 cases were made, it was selected as one of the top wines of the year by a leading newspaper. But he believes the sauvignon blanc will be “our biggest white,” at about 1,500 cases.

The first class he took at UC Davis after taking over the winery was Economics of a Small Winery, “even before a viticulture class,” he said. “I learned that marketing must be guerrilla marketing — no advertising, just marketing done on site.”

Direct sales are what he’s targeting. The winery is located on Highway 128 just outside Healdsburg, and Staten said about 14,000 to 15,000 people come through the tasting room each year. “The key is the (tasting room) personnel,” he said. “You have one great chance to win customers (in the tasting room), and it’s not only customers, but their relatives and the other people they tell.”

He said direct sales account for about 60 percent of the winery’s volume, and he’s aiming for 80 percent.

Charming

tasting room

The tasting room is literally right in the winery, and a visitor walks through a door and passes stacks of barrels before entering the tasting room. “It’s not a showcase hospitality center,” but a place with a charm that people like, he said. The winery is built underground, and “we didn’t want to build a separate tasting room.” There is no charge for tasting.

Staten claims that Field Stone became one of the first wineries in the area to create a wine club, and it currently has about 1,500 members.

Field Stone calls itself a family winery and Staten and his son, Ben, handle all winery business. Ben joined the winery in 1991 after graduating from Stanford University. As a result of that affiliation, the tasting room sells etched bottles with the Stanford logo — but just to be fair, Cal logo bottles also are sold.

For more information, go to www.fieldstonewinery.com