Fruits of the vine

Legates Jim and Judy Barrett use their gifts to bring Christ to a thirsting world . . .

Wine lovers around the world have been sipping, swirling, drinking and celebrating the production of California wine for more than 35 years — and none more than the jewel in her crown: the wines of Chateau Montelena.

It was this Napa Valley label that won the historic 1976 “Judgment of Paris.” Chateau Montelena’s 1973 Chardonnay was in competition with nine other wines from France and California under blind tasting. All eleven judges awarded their top scores to either the chardonnays from Chateau Montelena or Chalone Winery, another California wine producer.

The decision sent shockwaves through the wine industry. Business Week wrote that the event “had a revolutionary impact on expanding the production and prestige of wine in the New World.” A bottle of the award-winning Chateau Montelena rests in the Smithsonian, and the event was the basis of the 2008 movie Bottle Shock.

Sharing the faith

The man behind Chateau Montelena — Jim Barrett — is a legend in the American wine industry. Perhaps less known is his profound Catholic faith and his extraordinary efforts to evangelize. Jim and his wife Judy Barrett, members of Legatus’ newly minted Napa Valley Chapter, came to the Catholic faith in radically different ways.

“My parents were born in Ireland, and both were committed Catholics who believed totally in Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary,” said Jim Barrett, an 84-year-old attorney-turned winemaker. “We had priests in our house for dinner all the time. In fact, we called them the ‘penguin colony.’ My brother eventually became a parish priest.”

That rock-solid faith helped guide him through college and law school. Barrett earned a Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School in 1950. “I never doubted my faith for a minute,” he said.

Judy Barrett came from a Lutheran family and converted many years after marrying Jim. She always attended Mass with her husband, and developed a close relationship with his brother, the priest. They had many discussions about Catholicism, though she says, “he never pushed me.

“I had a really strong conversion experience — not like St. Paul, but it came to the point where I knew I had to be in the Church. It was necessary like air and water,” she said.

Jim’s lifelong love for the Catholic faith led him to write A Pilgrim’s Journey. It was published last fall.

“One of my great heroes is Blaise Pascal,” he explained. The 17th century philosopher and mathematician “wrote a series of Pensées for himself to analyze why he believed what he believed. I read these 25 years ago and decided to write my own Pensées. My book is about reason illuminated by faith,” he said.

As an attorney for 28 years before entering the winemaking business, Jim constantly looked at evidence, facts and reality. He used the same kind of observational skills to prove the reasonableness of faith in his book, which is available at Amazon.com. After jotting down ideas for 15 years, Jim realized he had accumulated a great deal of evidence to support Christianity.

Michael McLean, a member of Legatus’ Ventura/LA North Chapter and president of Thomas Aquinas College, is a fan of Barrett’s rational approach to explaining the faith. “This book will be an encouragement and inspiration to anyone who reads it,” he said.

“The book shows the breadth of Jim’s intellectual interests, his concern to share his faith,” McLean explained. “He believes, as I do, that it is intellectually defensible. He’s convinced that Catholicism is the truth and that it brings people, ultimately, to happiness and fulfillment.”

Also championing Barrett’s book is Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput. “Jim makes no claim that A Pilgrim’s Journey is a ‘grand’ book or that it answers every urgent question about God, faith and unbelief,” he told Legatus Magazine. “But he speaks about these things with the kind of intelligence, clarity, zeal and uncommon common sense that comes from great experience on the road of discipleship. Any believer looking for encouragement on his or her road to God should read it.”

Faithful service

Barrett’s passion for the faith extends beyond winemaking and writing. He and his wife are also involved in Catholic education and other forms of evangelization. Jim served on Thomas Aquinas College’s board of governors for 17 years, and Judy is on the board of Wyoming Catholic College.

The Barretts turned to TAC after Jim became disillusioned with his alma mater, Loyola Law School. After noting that there was little Catholic about the school, he and a few law school friends offered to establish and fund a St. Thomas More chair. The school refused.

“It was horrible, and then I heard about Thomas Aquinas College — which was founded by a group of guys who had been kicked out of the University of San Francisco for being too Catholic,” he said. “I realized that this school was for real. Thomas Dillon, their late president, was like a younger brother to me.”

Over the years, Jim and Judy have developed a shared philosophy for their charitable giving in three areas: seminarian education, developing young Catholic leaders, and aiding the poor.

The couple is passionate about dioceses where vocations are booming.

“Think how much good one priest can do,” Judy explained. “One priest can influence thousands of people. We are close to Archbishop Chaput and support the St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver.”

The Barretts also work with programs that form young Catholic leaders. They support Catholic colleges that are faithful to their Catholic identity. That interest led them to the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. Founded by Curtis Martin, a member of Legatus’ Denver Chapter, FOCUS helps strengthen the faith of Catholic students on secular campuses.

Martin began FOCUS in Judy’s hometown of Greely, Colo. “I got acquainted with Curtis Martin, I met the staff, and I liked what I saw,” she said. “There are so many vocations coming out of FOCUS.”

The Barretts also live their faith by caring for poor children in Haiti and other poverty-stricken countries. For 35 years, Jim has been a special advisor and board member for Friends of the Orphans, a group of homes for orphaned and abandoned children in Latin American and the Caribbean.

The couple also has an interest in pro-life causes, Catholic media, and their local diocese. Judy served as the Santa Rosa diocese’s Respect Life coordinator for 17 years.

“I have always felt very strongly about abortion and all the life issues,” she said. “I got involved while I was doing RCIA. I had to choose an area of service and decided to work for the Respect Life Office. Eventually, they asked me to take over the program.”

Fruit of the vine

Bo & Jim Barrett

Above all, the Barretts say they are grateful for the blessing that Chateau Montelena has been to their family. To express that gratitude, they have their vines blessed by a priest every year. This tradition began under their first winemaker, Mike Grgich, a native Croatian who brought the European tradition with him.

“The blessing of the harvest of grapes and the people who work on the farm is very Old World,” said Bo Barrett, Jim’s son who took over running Chateau Montelena in 1982. “We hear this in the Mass: ‘fruit of the vine and work of human hands.’We’ve always had a priest, sometimes a Carmelite brother, come to do the blessing. Other vineyards have tried to outdo us by bringing in Buddhist monks and Muslim imams. But most of our Latino workers — about 89% — are Catholic.”

When Jim Barrett looks back at the success God has granted him through his vineyard, he notes the importance of wine in human history — as well as Catholicism.

“Wine has been a part of man’s history for 12,000 years. We go back to the Blessed Sacrament, the night before Jesus died. It’s a part of the solemnity of being with family. The Old and New Testaments are full of references to wine. It’s part of the goodness of being alive.”

Sabrina Arena Ferrisi is a Legatus Magazine staff writer.