Winemaker Notes
Minerality and density are indicative of this cool, high-elevation AVA. This viticultural neighborhood hugs the Pacific Ocean, creating wines of startling freshness and liveliness.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A bright silver/yellow color, the 2022 Chardonnay Fort Ross-Seaview is so energetic out of the gate, with a fantastic flinty lift, along with notes of lemon-lime zest and fresh pear. The palate is focused and bright, with lovely electricity, elegant ripeness, and a beautifully tapering finish with a note of salty earth.
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James Suckling
Flavors of key limes and lemon curd burst from this well-balanced, tangy, acid-driven wine as it lights up the palate. Despite a full body, it shows freshness, vibrancy and concentration, with hints of oak spices, vanilla bean and custard that echo on the finish.
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Vinous
The 2022 Chardonnay (Fort Ross-Seaview) is a very pretty wine. Jasmine, tangerine peel, mint and light tropical notes all run through this expressive, nuanced Chardonnay. All of this fruit is from the Martinelli family's Charles Ranch, a site most producers bottle as a vineyard designate.
David Ramey is among a distinguished group of pioneering American vintners who revolutionized modern-day winemaking and elevated California to the forefront of the international wine community. Hailed as “Professor Chardonnay” by Wine Spectator, David’s groundbreaking work with indigenous yeasts, sur lies aging and malolactic and barrel fermentation yielded a new California Chardonnay style that was richer, more lush and silky smooth. Ramey Wine Cellars crafts exceptional expressions of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Pinot Noir from top vineyards in Sonoma and Napa.
After earning a graduate degree at UC Davis, with his thesis on how aromas evolve in wine, David Ramey pursued a hands-on education in Old World winemaking traditions. He worked at Chateau Pétrus and would later apply these time-honored methods to California’s premier vineyards. In California, David led winemaking for Matanzas Creek, Chalk Hill, Dominus Estate and Rudd Estate. In 1996, David and his wife Carla founded Ramey Wine Cellars with the vision of crafting classically styled, elegant and balanced wines that age beautifully.
Still exclusively owned by the Rameys, the next generation, Claire and Alan Ramey, work at the winery as well. They have been training under their father and working in various roles across the winery, from vineyards to production to winemaking and more. Over the years, a team of highly talented colleagues have joined the winery where they continually push to make the best wines possible. Ramey Wine Cellars crafts exceptional expressions of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Pinot Noir from top vineyards in Sonoma and Napa. Tastings are offered by appointment in Healdsburg, California.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
On the far western edge of the larger Sonoma Coast appellation, the Fort Ross-Seaview AVA hugs right up against the Pacific coast. Vineyards, planted at rugged elevations between 920 to 1,800 feet, occupy only two percent of the total land in the AVA. Fort Ross-Seaview growers believe that the region boasts an ideal mix of sunshine, cool air and beneficial stress for producing high quality Chardonnay and Pinot noir.