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Located on Eastside Road in Forestville—northwest of Santa Rosa—the Ritchie Vineyard has been called a Californian Grand Cru. Planted in 1972, the gnarled vines produce just a few clusters of highly concentrated fruit in a cool microclimate that ensures good acidity. Most of the vines are of the Old Wente clone, which provides structure and acidity, but a small portion of Musqué adds an aromatic floral lift. Ramey’s Ritchie Chardonnay is an outstanding, multidimensional wine that combines intense fruit with the mineral elegance of a white Burgundy. Because the Ramey family is shifting to focus more on estate vineyards, this will be the last vintage of Ramey Ritchie Chardonnay. The 2023 growing season saw cool temperatures and slow ripening, allowing the fruit to develop layers of flavor while maintaining poise. James Suckling (97 points) described the wine as an "opulent, ripe, and lush white that overflows with fragrant pear and honey flavors," yet it remains laser-focused and precisely delineated. Such a classy wine provides a fitting final tribute to one of the Russian River Valley’s most legendary sites.
If there has been a movement in California away from buttery, tropical-sweet Chardonnay and over-ripe, high-octane Cabernet, surely one of the leaders is David Ramey. Located in picturesque Healdsburg, Ramey Cellars is a craft-winery that produces startlingly fresh and balanced Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon from vineyards in Sonoma County and Napa Valley. Many of Ramey’s wines express the terroir of single vineyards while others are specific to such appellations as the Sonoma Coast or Russian River Valley. With his master’s degree in enology from UC Davis, one might have expected Ramey’s wines to be faultless and squeeky-clean; however, an early internship at Chateau Petrus imbued him with the belief that wines should be restrained, balanced and crafted to accompany food. This combination of the empirical and the romantic (along with almost 20 years of experience at such wineries as Simi, Matanzas Creek and Dominus) has led him to experiment with indigenous yeasts and malolactic and barrel fermentation in search of a new California style. This style seeks to tame the naturally luscious and vivacious fruit of California with the traditional techniques of the Old World. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, novelist (and wine geek) Jay McInerny has described “his Chardonnays just a little more voluptuous than the average Puligny-Montrachet, his cabs less tannic than the typical Médoc.”
| Country | USA |
| Region | California |
| Appellation(s) | Russian River Valley (Sonoma) |
| Winery | Ramey |
| Vintage | 2023 |
| Color | White |
| Varietal(s) | Chardonnay |
| Closure | Cork |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Bottle Size | 8.0 x 30.0 |
| Case Size | 34.5 x 26.0 x 30.5 |
| Alcohol | 13.5% |
| Product Code | RM23RIT |
| UPC | 185983000084 |
| MLF | 100% |
97 points – James Suckling; 95 points – Wine Advocate; 93 points – Vinous.
Aromas of Meyer lemon and tangerine are accented with notes of ripe peach and flinty matchstick. The palate is complex, framing pear and honey in vibrant, mouthwatering acidity, leading to a long finish with a distinct mineral lift of sea salt and ginger spice.
The grapes were pressed as whole clusters and transferred to barrels for native primary and malolactic fermentation. 20 months aging in French oak barrels (25% new).