From Pétrus & Dominus to Rudd: Ramey's 3x 94pt Claret & #27 Top 100 Chard, Both $44.99
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Originally sent to our list on October 26, 2026. Pricing and availability reflect that date — for current pricing and stock, see artisan.wine.
• In Stock · Ready For Thanksgiving
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A Personal Note
Dear Artisans,
The insiders never pay the restaurant price for a wine like this. They buy it quietly, by the case, while it still sits at retail. Today we have two of those wines from Ramey, both at $44.99 a bottle.
Fresh out of UC Davis in 1979, David Ramey worked the harvest at Château Pétrus for Christian Moueix. He went on to lead Matanzas Creek and Chalk Hill, became Moueix’s winemaker at Dominus in Napa, and later ran winemaking at Rudd. He and Carla founded Ramey in 1996. Wine Spectator calls him “Professor Chardonnay”, and their children, Claire and Alan, now run the winery as co-presidents.
Wine #1: A Killer-Value Claret
Jeb Dunnuck gave the 2019 Claret 94 points and called it “a killer value”. Wine Advocate went 94+, and James Suckling praised its “especially velvety texture.” It is David’s Bordeaux-model blend: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon with Syrah, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, drawn from eight sites across the North Coast, Mount Veeder and Oakville among them.
It rested eighteen months on its lees in barrel, only 20% of them new, stirred every month to coat the tannins, and went into bottle unfiltered. David says it is more approachable young than a varietal Cabernet, and it will still age for a decade or more.
Wine #2: The Chardonnay That Started A Streak
The 2021 Russian River Valley Chardonnay made #27 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 of 2023. The very next vintage, the 2022, climbed to #10 in the world for 2024, the only white wine in that year’s Top 10. Same bottling, two years running.
Wine Enthusiast gave the 2021 95 points, “both agile and relaxed,” with crisp apple, pastry crust and lemon curd on snappy acidity. The winery has moved on to the 2024 and no longer offers either vintage. We still have both, at $44.99, and the 2022 is in the list below.
Why It Drinks Like A Three-Figure Chardonnay
Ramey makes it the slow, old-world way that most big wineries skip:
Whole-cluster pressing. Whole bunches go straight into the press, with no crushing, for clear juice and delicate phenolics. David helped pioneer it for white grapes in California.
Native yeast, in barrel. Fermentation and the full malolactic run on the vineyard’s own wild yeasts, in barrel, with the lees stirred back through the wine. David came home from Bordeaux in 1989 set on wild-yeast fermentations, rare in California then. Slower and riskier than lab yeast, and the source of its layers.
Restrained oak. Twelve months in only 10% new French oak, then bottled without filtration. Richness, without the butter.
Why A Top 100 Wine Is A Collectible
Wine Spectator has published its Top 100 every year since 1988, picked from roughly 10,000 new releases reviewed blind each year and judged on quality, value, availability and an “X-factor.” Ramey has made it five times, twice in the Top 10. A regional Chardonnay landing two years in a row is the kind of pedigree that turns a bottle into a holding.
Fine wine has earned its place among collectibles, too: Knight Frank’s Luxury Investment Index had it up 146% over the ten years to the end of 2023, second only to rare whisky. Collectibles move in cycles, and the index cooled in 2024. A $44.99 Chardonnay is first of all a wine to enjoy.
For The Thanksgiving Table
Thanksgiving is a month out, and this pair covers the whole table. The Chardonnay’s citrus and pastry-crust richness are made for roast turkey, scallops in lemon butter and a triple-cream like Délice de Bourgogne. The Claret’s dark plum and soft tannins take the prime rib, the duck or the mushroom stuffing.
Is It A Butter Bomb?
No. There is real richness, lemon curd, pastry crust and ripe yellow apple, but the acid leads and the finish is bright and salty. And it lasts: Wine Spectator rates the 2021 to drink through 2030 and the 2022 through 2036. Open one of each now and lay the rest down.
James Tran
Artisan Wine & Spirits
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Why This Matters
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The Two Wines At A Glance
Every score, every price. More Ramey follows the two cards.
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Wine #1 · The 2019 Claret
2019 Ramey Claret. A Killer Value.
Jeb Dunnuck: “a killer value, with great lift and freshness throughout.”
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Ramey Claret 2019
North Coast · California · 750 mL
Six critics, from 90 to 94+. Every review:
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Wine #2 · #27 Top 100 Of 2023
2021 Russian River Chardonnay. The Streak Begins.
Wine Enthusiast 95: “Both agile and relaxed, this well balanced, vibrant and concentrated wine…”
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Ramey Chardonnay Russian River Valley 2021
Russian River Valley · Sonoma · 750 mL
Three critics, from 92 to 95. Every review:
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More Ramey In Stock
More From Ramey. On Our Shelf Now.
Eight more Ramey wines, with every score and price.
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The Bottom Line
A Claret and a Chardonnay from a Pétrus alum. Both $44.99.
The 2019 Claret, Wine Advocate 94+ and Jeb Dunnuck’s “killer value”, and the 2021 Russian River Chardonnay, #27 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100, both at $44.99 against $50.00 elsewhere.
Pick up one of each for Thanksgiving and a few more for the cellar. And if you want the full streak, the #10-ranked 2022 is in the list above at the same price.
Salud,
— James Tran
Artisan Wine & Spirits
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• In Stock · Ready For Thanksgiving
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Artisan Wine & Spirits · 2495 Old Middlefield Way, Mountain View, CA 94043
Questions? Chat Live · sales@artisan.wine · 650-917-8080 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Artisan VIP List
Prices so low… we can’t show!
Join our VIP list to receive private sale offers with prices too low to publish, along with rare allocations.
Join The VIP List →
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