2007-02-23
MARTIN RAY WINERY
Guest Receive A Warm Wine Country Welcome
by Millie Howie
No matter how many times you have visited the historic winemaking facility formerly owned by the Martini & Prati families, you’ll find a stop at the winery these days an entirely new experience. As you drive through the entranceway and catch your first glimpse of the peaked roofs of the old winery, shining with fresh ivory and burgundy paint jobs, you’ll see the tasting room on a small rise, with guest parking adjacent to a pleasant picnic area.
Any visit to Martin Ray Winery is sure to provide visitors with a warm Wine Country welcome, starting with the sincere smiles and personal attention afforded by tasting room manager, Wendi Hawn and Tiffany Garcia, manager of sales and marketing. Both of these enthusiastic young women are generally on hand during the open hours of 11 a.m. till 4 p.m., Thursday through Monday (during the winter months), and open daily the rest of the year. It’s obvious they are enjoying themselves, pouring complimentary tastes of the wines produced under the Martin Ray and Angeline labels, describing the evolution of the new Angeline label, or suggesting membership in the Legacy Wine Club. One of the best-received perks of belonging to the Legacy Club is the End-of-Summer Barrel Tasting Barbecue. Introduced last year, as a thank you to their loyal fans, the winery presents a sizzling Spanish-style Barbecue Dinner and tasting, with a sizzling wine sale, including new release wines in small and large bottle formats, a prize drawing and salsa dance instructions.
One of the most whimsical – and decidedly delicious wine offerings is “Red,” a hearty, full-flavored blend of Tempranillo, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and minute portions of several other Bordeaux-style grapes. The package, with the single word “Red” in bold script on a sleek 1-liter jug may be purchased by the bottle or in a brilliant scarlet nine pack. For the true Red fan, there are tee shirts in black or white with the logo blazoned across the chest. Another tempting and old-fashioned offering at Martin Ray Winery is the Fountain Grove three-liter jug of red wine. A remarkable bargain at $13, when the consumer has purchased a dozen bottles at the regular price, the 13th jug costs just $1.
Courtney Benham, who purchased the historic winery in 2003, continues to be dedicated to the creation of fine, individually styled wines to be offered to the consuming public at affordable prices. To give winemaker Bryan Davison the tools he needs to craft the wines, Benham made many improvements to modernize the winery. He purchased new state-of-the-art presses, open-top punch down fermenters, stainless steel tanks, new barrels and pumps. He made structural upgrades on the cellars and repainted the peak-roofed buildings and landmark 140-foot water tower and beautified the grounds with seasonal plantings.
For the superior fruit that winemaker Bryan Davison needs for the wines, Benham searched for, and formed firm relationships with some of the most respected growers in California’s prime grape-growing areas.
Martin Ray, whose name graces the winery and the wines, spent forty years building a reputation as an innovator. He was among the first winemakers to produce 100% varietal wines in California, and he is well known for pioneering mountainside vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains region. That his name lives on in the rebirth of a century-old winery came about quite accidentally when Benham, almost literally, tripped over 1500 crates of old wines, letters, press clippings and winery brochures in an old warehouse in San Jose. Recognizing that he had stumbled across a historical treasure chronicling the half-century career of Martin Ray, Benham contacted the family and bought the rights to the trademark and the wines. In 2003 when he purchased Martini and Prati he knew wedding the century-old winery to the achievements of Martin Ray offered an ideal way to ensure that Ray’s legacy would live on.
Total production at Martin Ray Winery at the present time is 200,000 cases annually. Of that 140,000 cases are the wines of the popularly priced Angeline line. “Red” accounts for 12,000 cases. All the wines, except Courtney Benham wines, are available for tasting and the only fee is a minimal charge for sampling the Reserves. The fee may, however, be applied to any wine purchase.
Martin Ray Winery is located at 2191 Laguna Road, Santa Rosa and is easy to locate once a driver has spotted the long-legged water tower. For information, call
(707) 823-2404 or the website: www.martinraywinery.com.
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