Winery hires new winemaker

Chaumette Vineyards & Winery announces the hiring of new winemaker, Mark Baehmann. Baehmann has been making wine for 25 years and spent the past 17 years as winemaker at Mount Pleasant Winery in Augusta. 

 Chaumette Winery Owner Hank Johnson said, “We are absolutely thrilled to have Mark join our team, we have long been friends, and we have respected his work for many years.”  In fact, before Chaumette Winery had the necessary equipment to produce wine on property, Baehmann was contracted by Chaumette through Mount Pleasant to make several of Chaumette’s 2000 vintages.

 Born in Nebraska and family from Wisconsin, Baehmann has resided in Missouri for 29 years. While at Mount Pleasant, he oversaw all vineyard and winery operations, and his wines have received innumerable gold medals, the coveted Governor’s Cup of Missouri, high ratings from Wine Enthusiast and Beverage Testing Institute including many 90+ point awards, as well as high ratings from Wine Spectator. Quantitatively, Baehmann is one of the highest rated winemakers in Missouri and in the Midwest grape growing region. Prior to his tenure at Mount Pleasant, he worked as winemaker at Montelle Winery in Augusta and consultant for several other wineries in Missouri.

Baehmann’s winemaking philosophy is simple and straightforward, “I make wine for the customer and not for myself.” Baehmann feels that it is critical to craft his wines with objectivity, keeping his customers’ preferences and opinions in mind, and he prioritizes staying connected with his customers through wine tastings, winemaker dinners and feedback from Tasting Room staff. “It’s so important to have a constant open ear to customer feedback, and to make my wine based on their style preferences.”  

Baehmann is presently bottling Chaumette’s 2008 vintage, and afterwards he will be hosting several wine tasting events at Chaumette while he prepares for the 2009 harvest.