Raymond Vineyards
849 Zinfandel Lane, Saint Helena, CA 94574
Website: http://www.raymondvineyards.com/
Raymond Vineyards is the 100th winery that I visited throughout Napa and Sonoma. I consider this to be a small milestone since I hope to visit a lot more wineries in my lifetime. As it turns out, just a couple months after I visited Raymond it was voted 2012 American Winery of the Year by Wine Enthusiast magazine. This place is not merely a tasting room. It is truly an adventure in wine from the outdoor Theater of Nature where visitors can walk through a biodynamic farming exhibit to the multiple tasting room experiences inside. There is even a tasting room on the property exclusively for dogs, named Frenchie Winery after the owner’s French Bulldog. The dog friendly tasting bar dispenses water for its four-legged guests and each wine served in the tasting room includes a comical portrait of Frenchie the dog as a historical icon. You really have to see this place to believe it!
Raymond Vineyards was not always the adventure land that it has turned into today. The winery was started by Roy Raymond, Sr. who began his career at Beringer in 1933. He went on to marry Martha Jane Beringer in 1936, grand-daughter of the original founder Jacob Beringer, and worked at the winery for more than 35 years. Upon his retirement in 1970, Roy Sr. along with his sons Walter and Roy Jr., purchased 90 acres in Napa Valley and formed Raymond Vineyards. The family built acclaim for their wines and maintained the winery until 1989 when it was purchased by Japanese Beer Company Kirin. Jean-Charles Boisset of Boisset Family Estate purchased the winery from Kirin in August 2009. Jean-Charles grew up in a wine growing family in Burgundy, France and started working in the family business as a teenager. The Boisset Family also owns Buena Vista, DeLoach and Lyeth wineries in Sonoma Valley. At the time the winery was purchased, the Raymond family was still involved in many of the operations of the winery.
Raymond Vineyards Theater of Nature
Fast forward to the present, Jean-Charles has imposed his French culture into the winery to create a wine experience unlike any other in Napa Valley. I counted eight different tasting rooms during my visit, all with very unique experiences, and I’m probably missing a few. Everything seemed typical as we drove up to the winery and saw the stone sign at the entryway surrounded by flowers and green plants. Then as we drove in the first thing we saw was the large piece of artwork just outside the Theater of Nature that looks like a bunch of picture frames strung together that represent “a view” into biodynamic farming.
Theater of Nature at Raymond Vineyards
As we walked along the walkway to the tasting room, we came upon the entrance to the Theater of Nature that has a large wooden frame with curtains draped down on each side to look like curtains opening upon a stage. On the other side of those curtains is a two acre exhibit on biodynamic farming that includes vines and an herb garden. Visitors are welcome to stroll through the exhibit at their leisure and review the educational placards throughout.
The main tasting room at Raymond Vineyards
After touring around the outside, my husband, sister, and I headed into the tasting room. Here’s where it gets interesting. The lobby looked rather modest with a small table set up on one side and pictures of both the Raymond and Boisset families. A hostess greeted us to ask if we had a reservation and quickly told us about the tasting experiences that were available at the time. To our left was the main tasting room. It looked like a lot of the other tasting rooms I have been to with various wine items for sale at one end and the tasting bar at the other. To the right of the lobby was a hallway covered in stainless steel with wine bottles hanging down the side of one wall. This hallway leads to the Crystal Cellar and Barrel room. Straight ahead from the main entrance in the lobby is a room separated by a big red curtain that leads to the Corridor of Senses. This is a small, closed-in area open to the public that has several sculptured hands along the wall holding bulbs that are filled with specific aromas. Guests are encouraged to gently squeeze the bulb and try to figure out what they smell. I had a lot of fun in this room.
Crystal Cellar at Raymond Vineyards
When we arrived the main tasting room looked a little busy, plus I was in the mood to experience something more exciting since it was my 100th winery. So, we decided to try the Crystal Cellar. I had read online prior to my visit that this room is filled with Baccarat crystal, a Baccarat chandelier, and a mirrored bar. The walls are made of stainless steel. When I think of a room filled with crystal I think that it will be elegant, but that is not quite the impression that I got. The website made no mention of the scantily clad mannequins on the stairway above the tasting bar and hanging from a swing from the ceiling. Our server had explained to us that these mannequins were part of a party that was recently held in the cellar and the staff liked them so much that they kept them there. Sampling wine in that room was a bizarre experience for me and I had a hard time concentrating on the fact that I was sipping some of Raymond’s award winning Cabernet Sauvignon while I was standing in a dark room that felt like a Las Vegas night club. However, I can say this was truly a unique and intriguing experience! I was so bemused with the room that I almost forgot to pay for my tasting on the way out.
After sampling some wine we roamed around exploring some of the other rooms. Right off of the Crystal Cellar is a Barrel Room. The room is separated from the Crystal Cellar by a red curtain. Behind the curtain is a table in the center of the room surrounded by wine barrels from floor to ceiling. There are candles all around the room that create a nice, relaxing atmosphere. Guests can make a reservation for an intimate tasting in this room and sample wine straight from the barrels.
The Rutherford Room at Raymond Vineyards
The next room we viewed was the Library Room located off of the main tasting room. It is a small room with a circular table in the center of it. The impressive part was the rows of wine bottles lined up from ceiling to floor along each wall dating back to the 1970s when the winery began. This is an additional place where guests can set up a private tasting by reservation. On our way out we encountered another hallway with a few more private rooms. One of them was the Rutherford Room. Educational seminars are provided in this room. There are maps on the walls of each American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Napa Valley and jars filled with soil from each area. At the end of the hallway with the private tasting rooms is the Red Room.
The Red Room at Raymond Vineyards
At the end of the hallway with the private tasting rooms is the Red Room. This room is designated for wine club members and is closed off like a secret club. In order to get into the room guests need to ring a bell. We were fortunate to run into the wine club director who offered to show us the room. Almost everything in the room is covered in red velvet, hence the name “Red Room”. Upon entering, there was a game room with arcades and a pool table to our right and a bar to the left. Beyond the game room and bar were an up-right piano and a sleek black table where wine club members can sit down for a tasting and snacks. Further into the room were poker tables and big comfy couches with chandeliers overhead. This is a definitely a wine club member perk that I haven’t seen any place else.
Looking back on my experience I have mixed feelings about this winery. I’m definitely glad I visited because this place is like no other I have been to. On top of that, they have won awards over and over again for their wines. There was so much to see and do here that it was almost a sensory overload. My more traditional side likes the simpler, laid back tasting rooms where I can talk with the staff and learn all about the winery. Yet, I applaud Jean-Charles Boisset for creating a truly unique experience in Napa Valley and would recommend this to anyone looking for something out of the ordinary.