Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/31323
COVER STORY A Napa Valley In February of 2009, after two and a half years of negotiation, Jean-Charles Boisset, the colorful President of Boisset Family Estates, was able to add Raymond Vineyards to his international portfolio, already bulging with recent purchases of DeLoach Vineyards in Russian River Valley, Lyeth Estate in Alexander Valley and Les Clos Jordanne in Canada’s Niagara appellation (in partnership with Canadian giant Vincor). Boisset’s North American acquisitions added to long-standing family holdings in Burgundy, Beaujolais, the Rhône Valley and the South of France. Although ascots and silk squares spilling from velvet coats may be part of Boisset’s working attire, the evidence that this man is clearly no dilettante are everywhere: in sumptuous, unimpeachable Pinot Noir qualities found in bottlings by DeLoach or Domaine de la Vougeraie and, as we recently found, in barrel tastings of Raymond 2009 Cabernet Sauvignons, where he has already left his mark. Evidence that this is no longer the winery of Roy Raymond Sr. or his sons, Walter and Roy Jr.—famously unassuming salts- of-the-earth who could trace their Napa Valley lineage to the late 1800s, along with familial mingling with the Beringers since 1933—was immediately gleaned upon our entrance to Raymond estate from Zinfandel Lane this past winter. First, there were over 30 acres of prime Rutherford AVA real estate fronting the winery, lying bare except for giant piles of recently torn-out vines awaiting shredders for composting—mostly Merlot and some Chardonnay, making way for Cabernet Sauvignon. Second, while approaching the winery doors, an avant-garde sight: an ornate ten-by-eight-foot frame stripped of its canvas, leading to cookie-dough white chairs of fantastical shapes and trellised lines of more empty frames—through each, pristine glimpses of the Napa Valley floor rising up to the Mayacamas along its western flanks. After years of ownership by an interna- tional conglomerate—Kirin Brewing—the Raymonds, for their part, are elated that their namesake winery is again family-owned, by a family company that is entirely and solely invested in the wine business. “This view from our front door—is it not surreal?” Boisset suggests, as he walks up to greet you. “Welcome to our Theater of Nature!” he exclaims sweepingly. “As you can see, we are remaking everything. Before they even enter the winery, we invite Boisset has already transformed a work- ing winery room to the right of Raymond’s entrance into another kind of visitor center: nightclub-dark, lit by pink lights and more than a hundred glistening candles, pulsating contemporary music, Baccarat decanters, crystal counters, a mirrored table seating 80 and mannequins posed in approximations of performance art against a backdrop of steel fermenters, oak barrels and—lest that be forgotten—an energetic tasting room staff. may 201 1 / the tasting panel / 59 Classic JEAN-CHARLES BOISSET IS BULLISH ABOUT THE FUTURE OF RAYMOND VINEYARDS by Randy Caparoso PHOTO: RANDY CAPAROSO PHOTO: RANDY CAPAROSO