Winemaker David Ramey to introduce more affordable, fun wines

Is David Ramey the hardest-working winemaker in Sonoma County? It would seem so, given that he runs his own busy operation, Ramey Wine Cellars in Healdsburg, in addition to consulting for other producers such as Rodney Strong Vineyards, Lancaster Estate, Laurel Glen, Brassfield Estate, Buena Vista and Ledson Winery.

“Even though he is a classicist, he is not one to do something just because of tradition and certainly not one to follow a trend,” said winemaker Jesse Katz of Lancaster Estate. “He will always think about the reasoning behind each step, see if it can be improved upon, and apply it if it works towards his final goal of quality and style. David is not just a brilliant mind in the wine industry, he is a brilliant mind, period.”

Adding to the fun is the new Sidebar Cellars, a line of affordable wines aimed at younger consumers, motivated in part by his daughter Claire’s participation in the business. Sidebar is kicking off with a 2014 Kerner, a crisp white grape grown in Lodi’s Mokelumne River area; a 2014 Lake County sauvignon blanc; and a 2014 rosé made from syrah grapes grown in the Russian River Valley.

“Sidebar is a chance for some fun and some new experiments and experiences,” Claire Ramey explained. “Dad has made great sauvignon blanc and rosé in the past, but they’re really just starting points, something solid to launch with. The hope is to develop some more fanciful names for blends and to bring in some unusual varietals; Kerner is the first of more to come.”

The first wines will sell for $25 a bottle. A grenache-based blend will be added soon, for $36. Everything else Ramey makes otherwise is upward of $40. Some of his vineyard-designated cabernets inch toward $200 a bottle.

“Ramey is all about serious wine, and as such there’s usually some waiting time for the wines to reach full potential, both in the barrel and in the bottle,” the younger Ramey added. “It’s a kind of delayed gratification. Sidebar, on the other hand, is more instant gratification, or the wine to drink while making wine. Sidebar is still high-quality wine; it’s just more accessible.”

Before launching Ramey Wine Cellars in 1996 with his wife, Carla, David Ramey had already worked a lifetime, first in Bordeaux at the famed Chateau Pétrus, then returning to California in 1980 to make wine alongside Zelma Long at Simi Winery. He then worked at Matanzas Creek Winery and Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards & Winery.

After that, he crossed over the county line to the Napa Valley, around the same time he was launching his own brand, to build Dominus Estate and then Rudd Oakville wineries.

Ramey is a master at making age-worthy, texturally lush and graceful wines from exquisite vineyard sites. In late 2012, he bought Westside Farms along Westside Road in the Russian River Valley, a 75-acre piece of land with 42 acres of vineyard he can call his own.

Starting with the 2013 vintage, a Ramey Westside Farms Chardonnay will be released, with Westside Farms grapes also making up the base of Ramey’s more largely available Russian River Valley chardonnay, which comprises fruit from Dutton, Rochioli and Martinelli vineyards.

In addition, Ramey makes several other highly sought-after, vineyard-designated chardonnays, from Platt Vineyard, Ritchie Vineyard and Hyde Vineyard, all 2012s to be released later this year. And there is also a new 2012 source, Woolsey Road Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, farmed by the Martinelli family.

In 2012, Ramey also made his first pinot noir from the Platt Vineyard, a spicy, savory take on cool-climate pinot noir from an ocean-view site. A Westside Farms pinot noir may come to fruition in the near future.

These wines complement Ramey’s finely honed syrahs from Sonoma, two from the Sonoma Coast, including his famed Rodgers Creek Vineyard, and a new syrah from Cole Creek Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. For each of them, Ramey co-ferments the brawnier syrah with small amounts of floral viognier.

While he continues to make his wines and receive visitors at a downtown Healdsburg location, Ramey’s plans are to eventually move some of the winery operations to Westside Farms and use an existing hop kiln there for tastings.

Virginie Boone is a freelance wine writer based in Sonoma County. She can be reached at virginieboone@yahoo.com and followed on Twitter @vboone.