For most wine lovers, Ravenswood is synonymous with big, rich, full-bodied and intense. Why is it that way?
Winemaker Joel Peterson explains:
"When I was starting my own winery and tasting a lot of wine in the 1960s and 70s, the European wines I admired were made in a relatively primitive way, without much technological interference. Even then this was unusual, but I didn't see why we couldn't employ Old World methods if we were vigilant. If it ain't broke, it seemed to me that trying to 'fix' a time-honored tradition with technology was more like food processing than winemaking.
"As a result, at Ravenswood we employ relatively archaic winemaking techniques. Instead of sterilizing our juice with sulfur and adding a commercial yeast culture, we use native vineyard yeasts that have a broader range of flavors and aromas. We ferment in small, open-topped tanks and allow the temperature of the juice to get very warm to extract all the color and flavor possible. We leave the wine in contact with its skins for weeks, not days, after which it's aged in small French oak barrels whose flavors are consistent with our wines, particularly Zinfandel.
"Why is Ravenswood so closely identified with that grape? Again, because the wines I like most come from old, dry-farmed, low-production vineyards planted in ideal locations. In California, that means one varietal: Zinfandel, which has been grown here since the nineteenth century. By working with different growers, I've found that many of these meticulously farmed vineyards yield wines with distinctive flavor profiles from specific spots."
The result is Ravenswood's prized Vineyard Designate Series — unique, hand-crafted wines that are very limited in production and availability.
Not all vineyards are so singular, but if you make many wines from an excellent area and blend them judiciously, you can create an "archetypal" varietal wine for that region. Voilà: Ravenswood's moderate-production County Series.
That still leaves one indispensable category: wine for everyday drinking. Answering the call, our popular Vintners Blend is made by combining wines vinified at Ravenswood with suitable examples that Joel searches out on the statewide bulk market, selecting only those worthy of the Ravenswood imprimatur.
Thanks to this carefully conceived and executed system, the odds are good that you'll find a reliable bottle of Ravenswood in any store or restaurant that you might walk into, anywhere in the country.
Wine & Spirits Poll Results
Wine & Spirits Magazine released the results of its 16th Annual Restaurant Poll this week, reporting on the most popular wines in America's top restaurants for the fourth quarter of 2004. (Results are in the April issue.)
According to sommeliers at 308 leading restaurants, U.S. wine sales are on the rise. Even in the midst of price hikes due to the decreased power of the dollar abroad, three-quarters of the sommeliers polled noted that wine sales had increased as a percentage of their total business, the highest percentage since 2000.
The weakened dollar points to a big shift in imported wine pricing as some regions saw sales decline while others capitalized on the shift with inexpensive regional bottlings. French wines dropped significantly by volume as the average price for popular Burgundy rose 14 percent and Champagne rose 29 percent. While Italy also saw a marginal decline in the overall percentage share of wines sold, many sommeliers reported an increase in popularity for lower-priced wines such as Barbera and Dolcetto, and lesser-known southern Italian varieties. Spain accounts for only 3.7 percent of the most popular wines in the report (compared to 4 percent for Australia, 13.4 percent for France, 15 percent for Italy and 58.3 percent for the United States), but "wins on buzz" this year, according to the report, generating the most excitement in follow-up interviews with sommeliers.
The report noted that Pinot Noir sales are increasing while diners are experimenting more, bypassing familiar varietals for more esoteric selections. Red wines accounted for 60.9 percent of the most popular wines in the poll, up from 46 percent 10 years ago.
Wine & Spirits ranked the 10 most popular restaurant brands as follows:
- Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards
- Cakebread Cellars
- Kendall-Jackson Vineyards
- Silver Oak Wine Cellars
- Jordan Vineyard & Winery
- Santa Margherita
- Robert Mondavi Winery Buy Now!
- Franciscan Oakville Estates Buy Now!
- Stag's Leap Wine Cellars
- Chateau Ste. Michelle
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