Raymond Vineyard & Cellar

Raymond makes some of the best value wines coming out of the Napa Valley these days. Its Reserve Chardonnay is a perfect example. If this were 10 years ago, when Chardonnay still held much sway, the wine would be double the price. So, thrifty consumers, pay particular attention to this Chardonnay.

The nose is full of ripe Comice pear and sweet Crenshaw melon; while on the palate, everything’s here for a well-made, extremely satisfying wine. It’s balanced, possesses ripe, juicy fruit, and has a goodly wash of acidity. It’s fairly light and crisp and very food friendly, particularly with citrus-based salads.

The grapes primarily come from Raymond’s Jamieson Canyon estate vineyard near the Napa airport in the southern part of the valley, not far from the cool Carneros. To its credit, Raymond opted out of going with the malolactic fermentation regime and only 70 percent of the juice was aged for just three months in new French barrels. The 18,000 case production has a stated alcohol of 14.1 percent, while the pH is 3.61.

Reviewed March 19, 2008 by Alan Goldfarb.