2021 Ramey 'Woolsey Road Vineyard' Chardonnay Russian River Valley
Aromatically the wine is perfumed with apricots, lemon, golden apples, and honeysuckle. On the palate, the wine is nutty with hints of lemon zest, orange blossoms, and a touch of honeycomb.
David Ramey is one of the true aces of winemaking in California. While he had an established track record at Matanzas Creek, Chalk Hill and Dominus, we first got to know him well during his stint at Oakville’s Rudd Estate, where he helped take the project into the stratosphere with his work in the vineyard and cellar. In 1996, he and his wife Carla launched Ramey Wine Cellars, which has since become phenomenally successful on the strength of David’s rare winemaking skill. Ramey is a classicist and a Burgundian at heart; his wines are pure, frank, and unmanipulated. The Chardonnays go straight from the press to the barrel, and undergo malolactic fermentation and lees-stirring in barrel. The quality here is first-rate, and will appeal to lovers of great French wines.
Vinous
The 2021 Chardonnay Woolsey Road Vineyard is another dense, ample wine in this range. The Woolsey Road has a good deal of phenolic intensity. There's real breadth and resonance here. Lemon confit, white pepper and dried herbs are nicely amplified.
Wine Spectator
Fragrant, focused and precise, offering flavors of lemongrass and lemon blossoms, with Meyer lemon and green papaya accents, plus a touch of tangerine. Shows green tea, lemon balm and white pepper notes on a mouthwatering frame, with a hint of salinity that lingers.