2023 Martin Ray Chardonnay Sonoma Coast

Baseball superstition holds that it’s bad luck to talk about a pitcher when he’s in the middle of throwing a no-hitter. So we’ll say the next part very quietly: Martin Ray is setting a bar for value winemaking in California right now that’s practically unprecedented. 

This 93-point Chardonnay cements Martin Ray as the Nolan Ryan of bang-for-your-buck bottlers. From premium sites across Sonoma that are shrouded in secrecy, the Martin Ray team—which includes 100-point winemaking wonder Keith Emerson—have delivered a bottle packed with citrus zest, green apples, and wet stone flavors. It’s one of the best wines for the price we’ve ever seen from them, which is saying a lot.

The seeming effortlessness of balance in the glass is also the result of intensive labor in the vineyards. That was the spirit in which Martin Ray—a pioneer of California viticulture alongside legends like Donn Chappellet and Robert Mondavi—founded his winery in the 1940s, and it continues in his name today. 

Ray wanted to craft Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to rival the best of Europe when most would have found that notion laughable. He cut yields and refused to irrigate in the vineyard, and he was even stricter in the cellar, sometimes holding wines back a decade until he felt they were ready to go to market. That dedication to quality landed Martin Ray wines in the White House under both the Johnson and Nixon administrations, and started a legacy that continues with 93-point gems like this one.

All harmony and elegance, this Sonoma Coast Chardonnay floored us at the tasting table, and it’ll thrill you, too. 

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Sweetness
• Acidity

• ABV 13.60%
• 15 mins
• Now – 2033
• % Chardonnay
• Serving temperature – 40°
• Screw cap