Our Winemaker - Brett Raven: Winemaking and farming represented a significant career change for Brett. After working as an attorney in a law office in San Francisco for nearly ten years, we had the opportunity to purchase property in Sonoma County which we did in 1995. While taking viticulture courses at Santa Rosa Junior College under Rich Thomas and installing our vineyard along with the help of veteran consultant, Bob Dempel, Brett discovered a new passion and he soon began applying himself to the art and science of winemaking.

He has literally learned the winemaking process from the bottom up. While attending U.C. Davis Extension courses and industry sponsored seminars, Brett has worked in wine production at Alderbrook Winery, Matanzas Creek Winery and now Ramey Wine Cellars. This hands-on winemaking experience, knowledge of vineyard practices, and close association with the winemakers who have been purchasing our grapes, have allowed Brett to learn rapidly and leverage his experiences at every stage of his professional development.

Winemaking Philosophy: Our approach to winemaking is a simple one. We rely on careful viticultural practices to produce the best fruit possible from our site. We then utilize meticulous winemaking protocols that blend the best of old-world tradition with modern winemaking technique. We make our wines at Ramey Wine Cellars in Healdsburg where Brett holds the position of Cellar Master. Our custom crush agreement with David Ramey provides us with a modern facility and more importantly allows Brett regular and ready access to our wine. While our winemaking technique continues to improve and evolve, a number of cellar practices are employed regularly to produce the best possible wines.

Our Chardonnay, for example, is hand-harvested in the early morning hours into ½ ton bins. The grapes are then whole-cluster pressed and fermented in Burgundian barrels using indigenous yeasts. This results in a long, slow primary fermentation which contributes to more complex and desirable flavor profiles. Malolactic fermentations likewise proceed slowly often finishing up when the weather warms in the springtime, some six to seven months following harvest. During this time, stirring and topping takes place weekly in order maximize wine-lees contact and minimize potential problems with oxidation. Grapes from each vineyard block are kept separate throughout fermentation and are evaluated for quality regularly. The final cuvee is typically moved out of oak by mid-summer which provides a long period for the marrying of flavor components from the individual lots. By the time the wine is bottled, unfiltered, early in the following year, the assemblage has become a truly integrated wine which is ready for enjoyment.

For Red Wines we begin by harvesting in very small lots which helps us to select grapes which have achieved the optimal level of physiological maturity. At the winery, the grapes are sorted, de-stemmed and crushed. The red must then undergoes an extended cold soak which allows for the extraction of complex fruit flavors. On or about the fifth day, the indigenous yeast fermentation begins. All of this takes place in special insulated bins which are significantly larger than the ½ ton picking bins frequently used in small lot processing. The insulation in the bin walls allows for better temperature control during the cold soak and subsequent fermentation. We also believe that the larger lot size is advantageous with regard to the optimization of color and tannin extraction. Following primary fermentation, the must is heated to maximize extraction of color and to volatilize excess alcohol. The wine is then pressed off the skins and put to barrel where it begins un-inoculated malolactic fermentation. Our best lots are blended early, in the traditional manner, while lesser lots are sold off in bulk. The wines are bottled unfiltered early in the year following harvest and allowed to age in-bottle until release.