2012 Ramey Wine Cellars Chardonnay Woolsey Road Vineyard Russian River Valley 750 ml

Old Wente Clone on Martinelli’s Woolsey Road Vineyard

Woolsey Road Vineyard, Sonoma

At a time when North Coast winemakers seem to be focusing their attention on just one or two varieties, David Ramey continues to march to his own drummer. Ramey’s “Pedregal,” drawn from the same Oakville hillside above the Silverado Trail that fathers Dalla Valle and Phelps “Backus” Cabernet Sauvignons, is one the most sought-after wines in Napa Valley.

Off a cool perch on Sonoma Coast, Ramey’s Rodgers Creek Syrah joins Joey Tensley’s Colson Canyon, Colgin Estate, and John Kongsgaard’s Hudson Vineyard as the highest-rated in California.

But if we were obliged to pick one variety where Ramey has long set a bar so high that only the likes of Kistler and Peter Michael measure up, it’s Chardonnay. David’s single-vineyard bottlings off of Hyde and Hudson vineyards in Carneros and Platt in Russian River are rich, tautly mineral, and fabulously age-worthy. That said, David’s latest single-vineyard creation, a mere 350-case production off the Martinellis’ Woolsey Road Vineyard, that may be his most extraordinary to date. Here’s why.

In 2007, Ramey (who is good at many things, but really BAD at slowing down) approached the Martinelli family and asked them to plant a parcel just south of the winery on Woolsey Road. The soils are Huichica clay-loam over clay. The vineyard was planted to David’s specifications: vines tightly spaced at 6.5’ x 3’, rootstock the low-vigor 420-A. Old Wente clone cuttings were taken from Ramey’s rows on Platt Vineyard.

Five years later, the 2012 growing season provided an ideal script on Woolsey Road: Exceedingly dry, but with mild temperatures that made for a long, moderate growing season with extended hang time and even ripening. When the call to harvest was made on September 1st, the tiny-berry Wente clone clusters were golden and ultra-sweet, even if sugars came in at a modest 22.7 Brix.

The 2012 Ramey Woolsey Road Vineyard Chardonnay is glistening green-gold. Precise aromas of ripe apple and pear, white flowers, and anise, lightly touched with new-wood cedar. Rich, creamy, and dense on the attack but without any sense of being overweight or ponderous, fabulously high-toned and mineral, finishing with great tension and tautness. Delicious now, but like all of David Ramey’s sensational single-vineyard Chardonnays, the 2012 Woolsey will age effortlessly for 10-15 years.

96 points from Wine Enthusiast. 94 more from Antonio Galloni at Vinous. $65 on release, just $55 today — as if discounting matters on rarities like this. 300 bottles are up for grabs.