Hooray for
color!
Historic Downtown 124 S. Phillips Ave (605) 334-5795
Clothes • Jewelry • Gifts
How Sweet It Is Personal Chef Service
Let Chef Karen help you with your New Years Resolution You choose the diet that best suits your needs: • South Beach • The Zone • Weight Watchers
• Gluten-Free • Sugar- Free
• Meals can be prepared in your home or delivered •
Karen Sherman
Executive Chef, USPCA Member
(605) 376-5804 ChefSweet@sio.midco.net www.mychefsite.com/howsweetitis 32 out and about |
concierge
in San Jose when he chanced upon a forgotten treasure — some 1,500 cases of library wines, dating back more than forty years, made by California wine pioneer Martin Ray. Courtney explored further and found several old wooden crates filled with letters, press clippings, winery brochures and price lists from Ray’s four decades as a winemaker. It was clear that Martin Ray had quite a history, so Courtney contacted the Ray family and acquired the wine library and rights to the Martin Ray label. He decided to take up the Martin Ray brand with the goal of creating wines whose quality would make Martin Ray himself proud. This was no small task, for Ray was an iconoclast who rejected mediocrity and an innovator who was one of the first to use grapes from the Santa Cruz Mountains to create premium wines. According to Vineyards in the Sky, a history of Ray’s life written by Ray’s wife and daughter, Ray was first drawn to winemaking by observing the legendary winemaker Paul Masson. He eventually bought Masson’s mountain winery, located in the hills above the town of Saratoga, and made wine there from 1936 to 1943. In 1943, he established his own winery and began to develop vineyards on nearby Mt. Eden, where he produced wines under the Martin Ray name from 1946 until 1972. He died in 1976, and the brand disappeared from the marketplace — until Courtney Benham rediscovered it fourteen years later. Now, Martin Ray wines are known for their quality due to the grape selection process. Mountain fruit are the source of Martin Ray wines, including vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Napa Valley’s Diamond Mountain, Sonoma Mountain, and the hillsides of the Russian River Valley. The last “Ray” wine is from John G. Ray. Ray’s Station Merlot is one of my favorites because of the composition of this wine: 92% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Syrah, 1% Cabernet Franc. The Cab, Syrah, and Cab Franc lend a lot of structure to this well-balanced yet quite complex Merlot with layers of plums, black cherries, and pomegranate. It is truly a “rugged” Merlot for those wine drinkers that like some backbone in their Merlots. Each of these amazing wineries has something in common with Ray, besides their name. They all created a legacy. Raymond wines is in its 5th generation of winemaking, Martin Ray’s legacy of grape sourcing was literally unearthed a decade-and-a-half after his death, and Ray’s Station continues the rugged 1800s tradition of John G. Ray. And Ray Revier created a legacy of integrity that continues on in his daughter and me as we raise our children with these same enduring values. He is the one who taught me to make people feel important, whether it was greeting a cashier by name or buying the post carrier a summer sausage for Christmas, his legacy lives on. Enjoy some “Ray” wines this New Year and enjoy their legacies. Carpe Vino! To contact Riccardo, e-mail him at riccardot@westwardhocountryclub.com