California’s Ramey wines: Latest releases tasted

David Ramey founded his eponymous winery with wife Carla in 1996, while he was still working as the winemaker at Dominus.

Given the freedom to start this side project making Chardonnay, his first vintage was made from fruit sourced from Hyde Vineyards. He soon began buying in fruit from Rudd – who he joined as winemaker in 1998 – and in 2001 produced his first Cabernets with fruit from Diamond Mountain and Jericho Canyon.

Scroll down to see Elin McCoy’s Ramey tasting notes

It wasn’t until 2012 that Ramey purchased his first vineyard, Westside Farms in Healdsburg, Russian River Valley, with 17ha of vines.

David’s work at Ramey is the culmination of all his previous experiences; long hang times for the fruit to ensure maximum ripeness, barrel fermenting with wild yeasts, and ageing on the lees.

The David Ramey interview

His Chardonnays are often ripe, but Ramey also prizes balance alongside power. ‘We also need to bring out finesse and minerality,’ he told Decanter for the magazine’s California supplement last year.

Introduction by James Button

Ramey’s latest releases tasted:

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