7: Lance Winters of St. George Spirits

Craft Spirits Podcast

Lance Winters is the master distiller and president of St. George Spirits in Alameda, California. In this episode of The Craft Spirits Podcast, Winters reflects on 25 years of distilling at St. George. The distillery was founded in 1982 by Jörg Rupf, considered by many to be the godfather of craft distilling in America, and Winters joined the team in 1996. What started as a distillery devoted to eau de vie eventually branched out to make Hangar One Vodka, absinthe, gin, whiskey and more. After the 2010 sale of Hangar One to Proximo Spirits, Rupf retired and Winters assumed majority ownership of St. George. In early February, Winters spoke to editor in chief Jeff Cioletti when he was just shy of hitting his 25-year anniversary.