David Ramey
Winemaker

Dave Ramey and Ramey Wine Cellars have significantly influenced 21st-century winemaking, setting a new standard for what California wines can achieve. Chef Dustin Valette and the Ramey Wine Cellars team have created a stunning new Chardonnay from the Russian River region.

Starting from humble origins, Dave Ramey has risen through intellectual leadership and hands-on experience to be considered one of the iconic winemakers of California. David Ramey began his career at Simi under the mentorship of Zelma Long, another American wine pioneer. Together, they collaborated on research in whole-cluster pressing, lees contact, and cooler fermentations, establishing a benchmark Chardonnay style now emulated by many.

In 1996, David and Carla Ramey founded the winery, forging a new California winemaking style that combined old-world techniques with the premier fruit of Sonoma and Napa. The Ramey family has excelled in collaborating with multigenerational winegrowers to produce single vineyard wines as well as blends that showcase the defining characteristics of their sites. The second generation, Claire and Alan Ramey, began working at the winery in 2013 and have received cross-training in all aspects of winery operations.

David Ramey, often referred to as "Professor Chardonnay" by Wine Spectator, belongs to a distinguished group of pioneering American vintners who revolutionized modern-day winemaking, elevating California to the forefront of the international wine community. David's efforts have significantly influenced winemaking practices in the United States since the 1970s. He pioneered techniques such as whole-cluster pressing of white grapes, the use of oxidized juice in white winemaking, sur lies aging of white wines in barrels, malolactic fermentation of Chardonnay, native yeast fermentations, and bottling without filtration.