$49.99 at Crush Wine & Spirits in Bryant, Arkansas (AR)
Robert Parker – 92 points
22,860 cases produced
Blend: 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot, 2% Petite Sirah, 1% Merlot
Aged 18 months in 37% new French oak
Fresh blue and black fruits on the nose. On the palate, raspberry, plum, blackberries flavors with spice notes. Full bodied. Thick smooth tannins on the finish.
Raymond Vineyards was founded by Roy Raymond in 1970. Roy who was married to Martha Jane Beringer had been the winemaker at the Beringer winery since 1933. He founded his own winery with the help of his sons Roy Jr. and Walter when they purchased the Rutherford Estate Vineyard which had 90 acres in Napa Valley on Zinfandel Lane in St. Helena where the family built the winery. They had their first harvest in 1974. Roy and his sons grew the operation and quickly established Raymond Vineyards as a force in quality winemaking in Napa Valley. By the time the family sold the winery, they had over 300 acres of vineyards and had won several awards.
The family sold the winery to Kirin Beer in 1989. Kirin’s main contribution was to complete a $6.5 million upgrade to the winery including new equipment and winemaking facility.
Twenty years later in 2009, Kirin sold it to the Boisset Collection owned by Jean-Charles Boisset. Jean-Charles grew up in the Côte de Nuits district of Burgundy where his parents founded the family winery, Maison Jean-Claude Boisset. Jean-Charles and his sister Nathalie continue their father’s entrepreneurial spirit as they have grown the Boisset Collection umbrella to include twenty-four wineries throughout France and California. The French winemaker first arrived in California in 2003 when it bought DeLoach Vineyards in Sonoma County. Under Jean-Charles direction, Raymond has become a leading producer of luxury fine wines and it has implemented organic and biodynamic farming on its St. Helena and Rutherford estate vineyards.
Jean-Charles has also brought talented and distinguished winemakers to Raymond. Stephanie Putnam is the Director of Winemaking at Raymond. Prior to Raymond in 2010, she spent eight years as winemaker at Far Niente Winery and before that position, she was part of the winemaking team at Hess Collection. She received her winemaking education at University of California Davis.
Also, for Raymond’s two top-tier wines, Generations and the District Collection Cabernets, Boisset has brought in superstar Philip Melka to be the winery’s consulting winemaker.
