The Historical Martin Ray Winery!

Dear Friend,

With seemingly everything going up in price this year, it is getting harder and harder to find wines that “overdeliver.” One winery from California that I can always depend on is the Martin Ray Winery. Whether it is their Vintners Select tier or their Angeline line, I always feel that Martin Ray serves up great wine at an honest price for the varietal and region. Over the summer, we featured Martin Ray Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and it was one of our most successful emails of the season! Today, we are pleased to offer California’s most loved varietal, Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from top vineyards in both Napa and Sonoma counties.

The Martin Ray Winery has a long history in California wine making. Martin Ray was born in 1904 just south of San Francisco near the Santa Cruz mountains. Growing up he was mentored by Paul Masson, who now is synonymous with jug wine but back in the day he was the proprietor of Paul Masson Champagne Cellars, which tried to produce sparkling wine in California like the ones made back home in France. When prohibition ended, Americans had a fondness for things strong and sweet as it was hard to find quality products. Because of this, most of the wineries in California were making sweet wines like Muscat or they fortified their wines with brandy. Martin Ray learned that Masson was selling his winery and vineyards in 1936 but Masson suggested he purchase the neighboring mountain top estate instead, even though it was not planted with vineyards and had no roads. Ray ended up purchasing both properties within a few years, selling Paul Masson and purchasing the 250 mountain top acres in 1943.

At the new property, he planted Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon with the goal of producing single varietal wines rather than the generic blends labeled "Chablis" or "Burgundy." In his time, he made many great wines, and some poor ones trying new techniques, but was always know as a revolutionary in the business. In the 50's his wines sold for about $60 a case, which was a lot of money for California wine then. He eventually had to sell the winery as he got pushed out by investors. Today, that winey is called Mount Eden Vineyards and they produce some of my favorite Chardonnay's in California along with an outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon.

Fast forward to the early 1990's when Courtney Benham found about 1500 cases of old Martin Ray wines and his winemaking notes in a warehouse in San Jose. Benham has a history of building successful wine brands. Ray’s historical significance and philosophy to push for higher quality wine made a big impression with Benham and along with his brother they asked the family about purchasing the name "Martin Ray." Later, in 2003, they bought the Martini & Prati winery in the Russian River Valley as the new home for Martin Ray Winery.

If you are interested in today's featured wine, please reply to this email, call your nearest location or click the Shop Now Button to order. Curbside pickup or delivery is available. This is in stock at all of our locations. This wine is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, 56% of it coming from Sonoma, and 44% from Napa. They chose to source from diverse locations with different soils, elevations and climate conditions to add a variety of complex flavors to this wine. It also spends 12 months in French oak barrels. The is a very balanced wine with cassis and vanilla flavors, typical of quality North Coast Cabs. It is a wine I like plenty on its own, but it is even better with a grilled NY Strip Steak and perfect with a simple burger. Try this one now while it is on sale for under $20!

Sincerely,

Alek Leontie

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