David Ramey is one of California's most influential winemakers, a Davis-trained enologist who studied in Bordeaux at Château Pétrus in 1979 before making wine at Simi, Matanzas Creek, and Chalk Hill through the 1980s and '90s. In 1996 David and his wife Carla launched Ramey Wine Cellars with a focus on bringing European cellar practices (barrel fermentation, native yeasts, extended lees aging, no fining or filtration) to California's best vineyards; he also led winemaking at Dominus Estate and Rudd Estate until 2002, when he turned full time to Ramey. The wines quickly became a benchmark for ambitious New World Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from a portfolio of long-term grower partnerships across Sonoma County, Napa Valley, and the Russian River.
Hyde Vineyard Chardonnay, Carneros: David Ramey's debut wine (1996) and flagship; a Burgundian-built, age-worthy white.
Ritchie Vineyard Chardonnay, Russian River Valley: an old-vine single-vineyard bottling of power and structure.
Russian River Valley Chardonnay: the appellation white from the "Professor of California Chardonnay."
Claret, Napa Valley: a Bordeaux-style red blend Ramey has made since 2001.
Sonoma Coast Syrah: a cool-site, Rhône-inspired red, now built on Cole Creek, a vineyard planted to Ramey's specifications.
In 2021 David and Carla passed leadership to their children, Claire and Alan Ramey, who serve as co-presidents: Claire oversees the vineyards and Alan the winery's operations, with Cameron Frey, at Ramey since 2002, as Vice President of Winemaking. The Ramey portfolio spans Russian River and Sonoma Coast Chardonnay (Hyde, Hudson, Ritchie, Platt), Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Bordeaux-variety reds including the flagship Annum and Pedregal Cabernet Sauvignon. The Ramey estate is Westside Farms on Westside Road, about 40 acres bought in 2012 and planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Visits take place at the Healdsburg Avenue tasting room a block from the Plaza: a seated tasting of six wines in an upstairs parlor overlooking the Ramey cellar, about 90 minutes, $50 per person and complimentary for wine club members, with appointments daily at 10 AM and 2 PM. The space is intimate, focused, and squarely centered on the wines: a stop worth booking ahead on the Healdsburg wine walk.
