2005 Syrah Rodgers Creek Vineyard

It's hard to know where to start with this lineup, as David Ramey does so many things so well. The 2012 Chardonnays are beautiful, expressive and ready to go. This year sees the addition of a new Chardonnay, from Woolsey Road, a site farmed by Martinelli that replaces the Hudson in the lineup. Ramey also seems to have gotten the best of the 2012 and 2013 vintages with his Cabernet Sauvignons and Cabernet-based reds. The 2012s will drink well early, yet have the stuffing to age, while the 2013 are prototypical vins de garde, with all of the dark fruit and structure of this great vintage. Both the Chardonnays and Cabernets reflect a very Francophile sensibility. The Syrahs are a bit different, as they are quite explosive and intense, much like the Cabernets. It's pretty hard to go wrong with anything in this superb range. Best of all, it looks like Ramey's children will soon be joining the family business, which means the future is in good hands.

David Ramey emphasized that he makes his wines "completely hands-off, with no tricks. We couldn't mess with them even if we wanted to," he told me. "Hell, we don't even own a filter." But he does co-own a fancy new bottling line, which he recently bought with Chateau Montelena and which was hooked up and in action when I visited in March. While many of Ramey's wines see ample oak, he doesn't view barrels as flavoring agents, saying that "elevage shouldn't simply be an oak-aging period" and that he wants any oak influence to work in concert with the fruit. He describes 2005 as "more elegant than 2004, which is notable for its ripeness, but with plenty of maturity itself."