Winemaker Profile:

BRYAN DAVISON

by Millie Howie
Although Bryan Davison, director of winemaking at Martin Ray Winery in Santa Rosa was born in Juneau, his early, formative years were mainly spent in the warmer climes of California.
He spent his college years attending the University of California at Santa Barbara working toward a degree in chemistry, but without any idea that matriculating in that area of science would lead to a career in the wine industry. That he ended up in the heart of Sonoma County’s burgeoning wine scene was an accident of choice, when he decided to return to Northern California because he enjoyed the agricultural atmosphere. However, the route to the vines and grapes was not a straight shot and Bryan’s first career stop was a position in the solar division of Standard Oil in Richmond, California.
His first involvement with wine came when he joined Chateau St. Jean at their sparkling wine facility in Graton where he supervised production of custom crush wines for dozens of local wineries with no facilities of their own. In his present position as director of winemaking for Martin Ray and Angeline wines Bryan still has an opportunity to make wines from a wide range of grape varieties grown in some of the most outstanding vineyards in California’s most prestigious growing areas. An example of this is the line of Courtney Benham wines, named for the owner of the wineries who purchased the historic old Martini & Prati winery in 2000. The Sauvignon Blanc grapes destined to be released with the Courtney Benham label are sourced from Lake County. Courtney Benham Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are grown in the Napa Valley and the Zinfandel wines are made from Dry Creek Valley fruit.
Mountain vineyards, the source of grapes for Martin Ray and Angeline wines, are located in the prime growing regions of Santa Cruz, Napa Valley’s Diamond Mountain, Sonoma Mountain and the benchlands of the Russian River Valley. Since the soil composition at each of these sites is different, Bryan and his winemaking team: assistant winemakers Bill Batchelor and Rhonda Miles and cellar master Juan Avila embrace fundamental winemaking techniques that might be called “intuitive winemaking.”
“We have been working together for a really long time,” says Bryan, “so we know exactly what to do to get everything the grapes can give us. Then it is our job to know when to step in and when to let nature take its course.” To the talents of the winemaking team, Benham added the most technically advanced equipment, stainless steel tanks and new barrels giving Bryan all the elements for presenting consumers with fresh, full fruit flavored wines at affordable prices.
The wines are available for sampling at Martin Ray Winery, 2191 Laguna Road, Santa Rosa, daily from 11 a.m. till 5 p.m. and there is no tasting fee.

Related Information

• Martin Ray Winery