From his cellar in Healdsburg, David Ramey sources fruit from some of the best vineyards up and down Napa and the Sonoma Coast. He spent sixteen years making wine in California before founding Ramey Wine Cellars; he`d been involved with a variety of prestigious estates, but it was during his stint at Dominus when owner Christian Moueix allowed him to make `a little Chardonnay on the side`. That was in 1996. By 2001 he had quit the day job and was dedicated full-time to Ramey Wine Cellars. Fast forward a bit more. David`s pioneering contributions to the field have helped define the way top-flight Chardonnay is now made in America.

His winemaking methods encompass a lot of what we are familiar with from contemporary Burgundy, including the use of indigenous yeasts and deliberately allowing the juice to oxidise in white winemaking (it ultimately makes the bottled wine more resilient). Recent vintages have seen ta change in the Ramey profile, from a rich and more oak-derived style to one that is leaner, zestier and more elegant. (NT 17/07/23)