Thanks for the update on RoyBrady, Dan. Your comparison of me to Roy is very flattering…but not very accurate. Roy was a great writer. I’m just a ![[stirthepothal.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f40faec63ca1018898a40805efbf9f0066a3d205.gif "[stirthepothal.gif]"){kind=small}
He’s a guy I always forget when thinking about the great/truly great wine writers of that era when I was Hoovering up everything on wine I could find.
Nice interview w/ Roy here:
http://heritage.sonomalibrary.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15763coll14/id/39
Tom
Thanks for the comments on Roy Brady. Roy was a terrific writer, and The Brady Book is a terrific walk through time. As usual, Darrel Corti picked a winner when he published that book. Highly recommended if you can find a copy.
While I enjoyed the book, Eleanor presented an extraordinarily one-sided look at Ray, tending to ignore or pass-over much of what made him such a fascinating character. Moreover, while her love for him radiates from each page, its a blinding sort of love, and her writing tends to deify Ray in a manner that, at least for me, grew tiring.
Good comment on that book - I was trying to find a way to write pretty much the exact same thing yesterday but you hit the nail on the head with your comment. Still a must-read for those interested in Martin Ray, but it obviously doesn’t come close to telling the whole story as that was not the intent of the book.
Interesting article from the Underground Wineletter written by John Tilson in 2011 about a K&L Dinner presenting various pioneering Santa Cruz (and other) wines. Great pics of old bottles and tasting notes!
I feared that question because of my ignorance. At those Winebid prices I really recommend buying one bottle of each of several bottlings and then go long on your favorites. I think it’s a matter of preference and Martin Rays really trigger my Ridge palate (imagination knowing there is a Santa Cruz Mountain connection?) and the ones that taste like Ridge fruit I like the most so my advice is worthless on flavors. I refuse to pay $80 for any of them, so I haven’t tried those either, but the provenance is spectacular, I wonder where they are from. If I knew anyone who has ever heard of Martin Ray – if I drank with Wes Barton more often e.g. – I’d buy six more assorted bottles. Unless he already has them.
Santa Cruz Mountains today:
Possibly best pinot maker in the country: Rhys.
Possibly best cabernet-blend maker in the country in that style: Ridge Monte Bello.*
Best zinfandel maker in the country, especially for aging: Ridge.*
Possibly best chardonnay maker in the country: Mount Eden.*
So, not bad.
Now to get more local since I live in the S Cruz Mts: :
For me the most iconic name in Santa Cruz Mountain winemaking but his wine NEVER show up for sale: Ken Burnap. Hits my visceral wheelhouse perfectly. Burt Williams plus John Thomas plus Dominique Laurent (STFU) plus balls to the wall.
Who I want to party with but I would try to stay silent and just listen: Paul Draper.
Thanks. I have also bought a few but they have been held for the cool weather. I have long loved Santa Cruz mountain fruit, and want to do a fairly comprehensive tasting in the Fall.
I would add a couple of other Santa Cruz wineries who were making great wines in the past.
Santa Cruz mountain winery and of course Gemello.
Yup, George…you got that one right.
Back in the early '90’s, we would go to the Aspen Food&Wine Festival, rent a condo, and have winemakers over for our own
winemaker dinners. One night we had both PaulDraper and DarrellCorti over. Two of the most intelligent/knowledgeable
people in the wine biz. We sat around the table after dinner, going thru too many wines, and just sat there spellbound
as those two talked/lectured on an amazing range of subjects, not all wine-related, until past midnight. An unforgetable evening.
Tom
One item of speculation is incorrect there. I think it was in Vineyard in the Sky that it said Martin bought the stock of various vintages of La Questa Cab from Halsey Rixford. Charles Sullivan repeated this story. But, in fact, Charles Sullivan found out later when doing his “Wines and Winemakers of the Santa Cruz Mountains - An Oral History” interviews with Mario Gemello, it turns out that Gemello bought all those barrels, and he then sold the 1944 barrels (only) to Ray. So, the Martin Ray NV Woodside Cabernet is all 1944.
I opened the NV “Champagne” at a party. The cork had shrunk and the wine was flat. But, it was still a complete and compelling mature wine. It was a real “You gotta try this” wine, and not just a curiosity. I’m sure the acidity helped hold it together. Very enjoyable “former sparkler”.
Mel & I just got to taste the Arnot-Roberts 2014 PMR PN, pressed juice a few hours old! Delicious and not even particularly sweet now with fermentation just commencing.
Hoping for more than a handful of bottles.
Bob Travers of Mayacamas told me a story about MR years ago: they both had worked for the same brokerage firm in San Jose and that s what got Bob interested in wine. After he resurrected Mayacamas he invited Martin and spouse over for the day. Martin brought a case and Bob was thinking, Wow, there will be a few bottles left over.
Wrongo…the ladies drank two or three bottles, Bob two or three bottles and Martin drank everything else.
Merry Edwards and Doug Fletcher (Chimney Rock) are the two people for great stories about Martin.
Love the long excerpt from Roy Brady. There’s something about the hustler/salesmen/larger than life stories that are so entertaining in retrospect, although I’m sure the real life people around them may not have thought so at the time.
I stopped by the Martin Ray winery a couple of weeks ago and the quality was superb across the varieties offered. I especially enjoyed the 2014 SCM cab while my wife beat me at cornhole in her very first game ever played. Quite a nice setup outside to enjoy a lazy afternoon, although my pourer mentioned they’ve had trouble getting people to make it out to the winery.
I have read this book as well. I was not as enchanted. It seemed as if the author(s) (PMR’s wife & a writer) were trying too hard to paint a very positive image of Mr Ray.
My opinion:
The book spent a good number of pages letting the reader know that Paul Masson taught Mr Ray a lot about the winemaking process and the area; later, the same book tries to convince one that Martin Ray was “the original” in almost all things “SCM, Cali wine”.
I had previously read that this book was written in defense of contemporary negative statements made against Martin Ray. Perhaps the oozing reminiscing was just the sentiment of a loving widow. 
And don’t forget Duane Cronin. His Chardonnays were superb, especially his ‘Paragon’ bottling -
FWIW:
Popped, decanted and poured in 10 minutes. Cork came out clean in great shape with a Durand and it was about 50% infused with wine.
I was afraid to give it a long period to aerate,but in retrospect, it improved with an hour or two of air. The nose was beautifully perfumed with violets, other flowers, and even some non-floral perfume components. The palate was dark red fruit with dark cherries and a bit of blackberry. Whatever oak flavors there might have been are gone and there is no chocolate, coffee etc. from the barrels, although there is a bit of cedar undercurrent that I have tasted before in well aged wine, the source of which I do not know. This wine is in a very good place right now. All tannin is fully resolved, mouth feel is very smooth and easy to drink with complex flavors and a great nose. Long finish.
There is some light leathery earthiness as part of the overall taste profile, but it is light. I guess this wine would have been fine for another decade or two. (94 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
Had 1981 Martin Ray Cab from Steltzner Vineyard, awesome wine!
The only problem with that is that Ridge’s zin comes from everywhere but the Santa Cruz Mountains, and the Lytton Springs and Geyserville are made up at their Lytton Springs winery, I believe.