Jason McClain is a successful entrepreneur from the advertising and technology world as well as a TV Show host and motivational speaker. After founding the Christopher Group, the largest ministry marketing agency in North America, he sold his TV show Life can Change to one of the largest online paid subscription services. To top it off, he created an online divorce website helping people with limited economic resources to find the best resolution to their divorce or legal separation.
Not afraid of change, Jason shifted his life’s plan to do what he really loves – winemaking. Driven by a tireless entrepreneurial spirit and a great passion for wine, Jason became a member of 32 different wine clubs, turned his garage into a temperature-controlled wine cellar and stored more than 1,000 wine bottles in it. After two years (2016-2017) of actually making wine, in June 2018, McClain Cellar’s first wines were released. As an expert in social media and at the time not having a tasting room, Jason organized a series of pop-up parties that resulted in total sales of more than 500 cases of wine within six months.
“I want to create an emotional event every time that I share a glass of wine with someone else. I want to be part of people’s lives,” McClain says.
Indeed, there is no better convivial time than one wrapped around a good bottle of wine with some friends to provide health, happiness and a sense of wellbeing.
Today, Jason and his wife Sofia, parents of three beautiful daughters, have founded and own McClain Cellars. The newly-opened retail wine bar and tasting room is located in Laguna Beach. The location, next door to the Sawdust Festival, is an intimate space showcasing 90-and-91-point wines (according to Wine Enthusiast) from Santa Ynez Valley. The space not only offers tastings of their wines but also a curated selection of olive oils and flavored original Amish Country popcorn, which McClain personally makes and packages.
McClain Cellar’s production is supervised by winemaker Dean Guzman, previously with Fess Parker winery. The grapes are carefully selected from many different growers in the Santa Ynez Valley and combined with McClain’s own Santa Ynez grapes. McClain has been producing since 2016 at an average of 2,500 cases a year. There are 16 wines, and all of them have a unique family story, which inspires the name.
For example, “Summer Breeze” is a 2017 white blend that owes its name to the song played on the radio when Jason first met Sofia, and another is “Kiss of Life,” named after Sade’s 1991 song title played on the radio during their first kiss. The “Purpose Road” wine commemorates the road of life Jason has chosen, and “Hope and Faith” represents a nostalgic memory and not-to-be-forgotten dark time in Jason’s life when he was bankrupt and living on the street for six months with hope and faith being what sustained him.
Others wines McClain offers are a Petit Verdot named “Painted Dreams,” a Cabernet Sauvignon named for Sofia, his “Sacred Love,” and a 2013 Cab blend “Faithful Friend,” which is named after Jason’s old-time friends.
With the idea of immortalizing the best moments in life, each bottle has a registered number. By inserting the bottle number on the McClain Cellars website, uploading some pictures and comments of your experience, you receive points to buy more McClain Cellars wines. This strategy has boosted sales and production.
“It’s not about the bottle of wine only, but the experience,” Jason says.
There is no doubt that Jason McClain has realized his dream with McClain Cellars. Jason and Sofia, together with their three daughters, Kayla (14), Savanna (12), and Mackenzie (10), are fully committed to providing unforgettable wine tasting experiences that help everyone appreciate the most valuable moments in life.
This boutique wine cellar, assembled on the three core pillars of family, friends and love, wants to inspire everyone to use as much time as possible sharing experiences, not only with those that we love but with the world.
All McClain Cellar red wines retail from $48 to $88, and whites from $28 to $36. Through the Wine Club you can find different special discounts ranging from 10% to 30%. Other items offered include apparel, candles, complimentary wine tastings, and event invitations. For more information, visit McClainCellars.com/wine-club.
There is no doubt that Jason McClain has realized his dream with McClain Cellars. He is fully committed, together with his family, to providing unforgettable wine tasting experiences that help everyone appreciate the most valuable moments in life.