Raymond Vineyards and the Boisset Spirit

I became familiar with Boisset and the Boisset Collections when I did a grand tasting at Raymond Vineyards six years ago. When I returned in 2014, not only had the interior been updated but the grounds in front of the winery had been converted into a grape growing museum. Each succeeding visit has only brought a deeper appreciation for Raymond and what the Boisset team has done to transform it into a wine and grape-growing exploratorium as well as a premier Napa winery.

Exploratoriums such as the one in San Francisco’s Marina District are interactive and designed to teach visitors via experiences with labs, machines and displays. Although they use the term Raymond Experiences, that in fact is what they have created. An outdoor set of experiences that come from displays and plantings of many aspects of grape growing technology, allow one to learn more about how grapes are grown in a modern vineyard.

Inside there is a room with a typographical display of the vineyards from which Raymond sources their fruit. Surrounding this are core samples of the soil of each vineyard so viewers can see what is below the earth that helps shape the characteristics of the grapes. Along another hallway are a number of fabrics, silk, velvet, etc. that can be touched to get a sense of how they contribute to the mouthfeel of the wines.

Note that we are using our sense of touch to replicate the feel a particular red wine exhibits, based on the type and strength of its tannins. It is our sense of touch and a roving tongue that decide if this wine is a grippy heavily tannic Cabernet Sauvignon or a silky-tannin Pinot Noir. Just beyond this sensory station are a series of bong-like enclosures that can dispense classic scents found in a wine’s nose; vanilla, lemon, etc. By focusing on individual aromas, one can isolate and identify these components in the bouquet of a wine. And all this was before we even tried the wines.

This trip I met Tasting Room Manager, Bill Farmer once again and he set up a wine tasting in the main tasting room and another in the Crystal Cellar, which has to be seen to be believed. In the main tasting room some of the whites and the Estate Collection red wines are offered. I bought a Raymond 2013 Estate Collection Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bordeaux blend that is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, but includes Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The blend has layers of exotic red-berry fruit, cedar and cigar box. I’d jump into a cigar box for this one anytime.

Next we went into the Crystal Cellar, which, for many visitors, is usually accompanied by a sharp intake of breath. The stories-high room contains a long curved counter, a hanging trapeze artist and Baccarat crystal along two sides of the back wall. Boisset and Baccarat formed a strategic alliance in 2011 and Baccarat decanters are used to illustrate the benefit of decanting and allowing a wine time to open up. The colors radiating from the crystal are dazzling to the eye and the wines are dazzling to the palate. I should probably mention; the trapeze figure hanging upside down is a manikin. Here we sampled some of the District Collection, which source their fruit from the various districts within Napa, which include valley and mountain locations.

The districts within Napa uniquely define its wines. An experienced Napa Cab lover can usually discern the different between a Howell Mtn. wine and one from Spring Mtn. And even in the broad valley of Napa that these mountains enclose there are definable differences between a Calistoga and Yountville Cabernet Sauvignon. I certainly noted the difference when I selected a 2013 District Collection Calistoga Cabernet Sauvignon that was 100% Cab with flavors of fresh-bake berry pie and subtle oak from 17 months in French barrique, 45% new oak. Yummy! This Cabernet Sauvignon sources 100% of its fruit from Calistoga. It’s not just mud baths and hot tubs we should be checking out in Calistoga. The warmer climate and volcanic soils of Calistoga also make it a great location for wines.

Boisset Collection:

Beginning in France, Boisset has accumulated an extraordinary group of wineries called the Boisset Collection.  Boisset has eleven wineries in France, ten in California, six sparkling wine houses and even a winery in both Canada and England. Many of the names below in this short list will be familiar to wine lovers who seek quality wines.

California: Raymond, Buena Vista, DeLoach, Wattle Creek and now Boisset

France: Bouchard Aine & Fils, Jean-Claude Boisset, French Rabbit, Moreau et Fils, and Mommessin

The sparkling wine houses include Louis Bouillot, whose Burgundy crémant wines (pronounced “cray-mont”) are some of my favorite sparklers outside of the Champagne region.

When I learned there was a new tasting room for the JCB (Jean-Charles Boisset) wines, we made that our next stop. We headed south from St. Helena on highway 29 to Yountville where the JCB Tasting Salon was located. You can click here to go to that article.