2021 Martin Ray Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Napa Valley 750 ml

Rutherford might be the most famous AVA in Napa Valley. Its soils are world-renowned, and the list of vineyards and wineries there reads like the list of cameos in an Altman film: Caymus, BV #1, Scarecrow, Staglin, Georges III, Quintessa—a slew of greats. 

The label doesn’t reveal the specific provenance, but Martin Ray’s 2021 Cab hails from those sacred soils—and we’re talking about a blue-chip site with a famous name that sits a solid relay-throw away from Quintessa and Heitz, which is farmed by one of the most famous names in Napa viticulture. Martin Ray can’t say so we can’t say, but you’ll certainly taste it in every glass. 

Martin Ray was a pioneer of California viticulture, right alongside legends like Don Chappellet and Robert Mondavi. Mentored by the legendary Paul Masson, he crafted single-variety wines from 1943-1972 at what is today the Mount Eden winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. His wines were widely renowned and enjoyed by Presidents Johnson and Nixon. 

Winemaker Courtney Benham has been working on wines like this since 1990. After finding some of Ray’s still-aging wine in a warehouse, Benham purchased the Martin Ray brand and set out to revive Ray’s mission of producing single-variety artisan wines, from a new home in Sonoma’s Russian River Valley.  

If Martin Ray had the opportunity to taste a wine like this 2021 release, he’d be bowled over and proud. Aged for 18 months in 60% new French oak, this bottle was released about a year ago, and it’s drinking fabulously now, although it will age nicely for a decade plus. It’s one of the biggest steals you’ll see in Cabernet from a top-level Rutherford site.