Wine Enthusiast 98
"This is an outstanding vintage of this wine: sinewy and seductive in black pepper, garrigue and brooding black fruit. Made from grapes grown at both Cole Creek Vineyard and Rodgers Creek, it is sublime in texture and complex in structure, with lasting layers of smoked meat, citrus and olive."

The Wine
89% Syrah co-fermented with 11% Viognier
50% Cole Creek Vineyard, 50% Rodgers Creek Vineyard
Very gravelly Felta clay loam at Cole Creek
Volcanic Kidd series gravelly loam at Rodgers Creek
Fermented in tank with 25% of the Syrah whole cluster
Native-yeast and malolactic fermentation
Aged sur lies for 19 months in 70% new French oak barrels
Bottled unfiltered in June 2019
871 cases produced


The Estate
A select group of winemakers can be credited with revolutionizing modern day winemaking in California. They are the innovators who, some 20 years ago, brought Old World traditions back to a New World that had thrown in its lot with university scientists to make squeaky clean wines largely devoid of character. The goal of these new wave winemakers was to put terroir back into the bottle and create wines of unique distinction.

David Ramey is widely acknowledged to be among the wine pioneers whose efforts helped raise the bar for all American winemakers and brought California to the forefront of the international wine world. Davids groundbreaking work with indigenous yeasts and malolactic and barrel fermentation yielded a new California style that was richer, more lush and silky smooth than previously known. As a result, he created a benchmark style now emulated by many.

David Ramey is certainly one of the best known and most highly regarded winemakers in California. David has finally realized his dream of producing wines under his own name and has devoted himself exclusively to this pursuit.

A multi-tasker, David Rameys Healdsburg operation garnered lavish reviews for his Cabernet Sauvignons in issue #186. He also demonstrates a Midas touch with Chardonnay, while continuing to fine tune his Syrah portfolio. In addition, Rameys consulting business appears to be growing by leaps and bounds, and he has been a major factor in turning around the quality of a number of wineries. The 2007 Ramey Chardonnays are all strong efforts, including the three generic offerings from the Sonoma Coast, Russian River, and Carneros, and his single vineyard efforts from the Hudson, Hyde, and Ritchie vineyards. Robert Parker, February 2010