Vintners We Love: David Ramey

	David Ramey

David Ramey is part of a select group of California winemakers who can be credited with revolutionizing modern day American winemaking. During the 1980’s, they brought Old World traditions back to a New World that had thrown in its lot with university scientists to make squeaky clean, almost ‘steriile’ wines, largely devoid of character. The goal of these innovative winemakers was to put terroir back into the bottle and create wines of unique distinction.

At first, Ramey followed a traditional path and received a graduate degree from the University of California at Davis, where his 1979 thesis on volatile ester hydrolysis (translation: how flavors evolve in wine) is still used today. His groundbreaking work with indigenous yeasts and malolactic and barrel fermentation yielded a new California style that is richer, more lush and silky smooth than previously had been believed possible.

Shortly after his university work, Ramey worked for the Moueix family at the renowned Chateau Pétrus in Bordeaux, and was introduced to the centuries’ old time-honored methods of French winemaking.  Ramey brought these lessons home and applied them to the grapes he found growing in California’s premier wine regions, helping to establish a number of wineries that would soon become household names. They include Chalk Hill, Matanzas Creek, Dominus Estate (owned by Christian Moueix, of Pétrus), Rudd Estate, and most recently, his own Ramey Wine Cellars.

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