Winemaker Notes
Coming from special vineyard sites, our Chardonnays show great depth of flavor, length of finish, aromatic complexity, and a fine balance between richness and delicacy. Typically, the climate is cool and the soil vigor low, producing graceful yet vibrant wines. This is our fourth bottling from this unique vineyard.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
This cool-sited single vineyard, owned by the Martinelli family, was planted to Ramey’s specifications in 2007 using the famous old-fashioned Wente clone. Though the vineyard lies in the Russian River appellation, this wine is more Sonoma Coast in style, with wonderful lemony aromas and very bright, intense citrussy flavours. There's plenty of vibrancy and zing, and silky rather than creamy textures. Nineteen months' ageing in 20% new French oak barrels gives it depth and balance.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a Martinelli family-farmed site, a mark of excellence and history that's hard to beat. Floral and textured, it is marked by bright focused acidity around a core of textured baked-apple flavor and hazelnut crème brûlée. It tastes complete and complex, with undeniable richness and concentration.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Chardonnay Woolsey Road Vineyard has a wonderfully sexy nose of exotic spices, honeycomb and pear tart with suggestions of jasmine, brioche and nutmeg. Full-bodied, rich and seductive in the mouth, it has a compelling oiliness to the texture and loads of spicy accents, finishing with fantastic length and depth.
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Jeb Dunnuck
From a site just south of River Road, behind Martinelli on a north facing slope, the 2015 Chardonnay Woolsey Road Vineyard is another rich, intense, full-bodied Chardonnay offering loads of tangerine oil, spice, and honeysuckle. It has bright acidity and a clean vibe, but packs beautiful fruit.
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, became co-presidents of the winery in 2021. Claire and Alan began working at the winery in 2013 and have been cross-trained in all aspects of winery operations. Decanter greeted the news of Ramey’s status as a multigenerational winery by saying: "its reputation as a touchstone for world-class Chardonnay remains firmly in place… The Ramey family is expected to go from strength to strength." The vision is unwavering: to make classic wines from Sonoma and Napa that belong amongst the world's best. Tastings are offered by appointment in Healdsburg.
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.
A standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.