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Ravenswood
For as long as anybody cares to remember, this has been the credo (calling card? Battle cry? Team yell? Coat of arms?) of Ravenswood Winery in Sonoma, California. Expressing our commitment to full-flavored varietal wine — notably Zinfandel — it sums up our mission to capture everything a vineyard has to offer, and to promote it in a way that won't put people to sleep. Wine is, after all, one of the most fascinating and fun things in life, which is why Ravenswood winemaker Joel Peterson believes that it belongs on the table — not on a pedestal or in an ivory tower.
How did the name of Ravenswood become interchangeable with irresistibility? In the early 1970s, when California's claim to fame was the "best jug wine in the world," Joel's dream was to create wines that would rival the greatest of Europe. Turned out he wasn't dreaming: In his first vintage, 1976, he produced 327 cases of Dry Creek Zin that took first place in a prestigious San Francisco tasting. But despite the cult following and critical acclaim that began to swirl around its hypnotic logo, Ravenswood remained a roving boutique until the late 1980s, when its Vintners Blend program was launched. Conceived on Joel's conviction that, besides great wine, the world needs good, affordable wine ("a lake of wine an inch deep"), it redefined the concept of Best Jug Wine in the World.
Thanks to this and a few other things (not least, its tireless campaign against priggish elitism), Ravenswood acquired an informal reputation as the people's premium winery. In 1999 the company went public with a "Dutch auction" of shares offered over the Internet, and two years later Ravenswood was purchased by Constellation Brands, becoming part of its fine-wine division, Franciscan Estates — a productive partnership that kept the winery under Joel's control while providing greater resources for efficient operation and growth.
The picture has changed a bit since 1976. Following the original inspiration of wineries like Ravenswood, California has now shirked its once-wimpy status to a fault. But the more things change around our Sonoma headquarters, the more they stay the same. In this brave new enologically altered world, Ravenswood continues to set a stubborn standard for complex, balanced, uncompromising wine that captures everything a vineyard has to offer (and, we might add, nothing more).
Visit the Ravenswood website.
The 2005 Teldeschi Zinfandel is deep garnet in color and offers spicy aromas of cinnamon and cardamom amid an inviting black cherry overlay. Huge black cherry flavors follow through to the palate where they are followed by the typical Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel characters of vanilla cherry and sweet plum. more
BN#212176
The 2005 Barricia is likely the most perfumed wine of the vineyard designates, eliciting ethereal qualities on the nose. It will strike lovers of claret-style wines with its Cabernet-like structure and form. Possessing a wow of spice and having characters of blackberry and cassis, this wine will bring out the ... more
BN#216168
Bright, flashy, ripe raspberry, blackberry and vanilla flavors are wrapped around a soft sweet fruit core highlighted by scents of cinnamon. more
BN#226885
Sonoma’s first famous Zinfandel, made in 1862 by William Hill, was grown in this vineyard. These vines—probably Sonoma’s oldest—turn out remarkable wines. Old Hill, which is 75 percent Zinfandel, has a Rhone-like intensity with blackberry, black pepper, vanilla, coffee, smoky and mint scents. This 2005 Old Hill Zinfandel is a ... more
BN#212277
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