Martin Ray estate spotlight
The official MartinRay Winery channel walks the historic Laguna Ridge winery, the Russian River home of Courtney Benham's Martin Ray house behind this Rutherford Cabernet powered by Beckstoffer Melrose Vineyard.
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2022 Martin Ray Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $69.99 and the average is $75.28. Our slash is $75.00.
2022 Martin Ray Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Rutherford benchland Cabernet from Martin Ray, dusty spice and 94-point savory tannin, a 2022 Beckstoffer-vineyard driven Cabernet you can open.
The 2022 is 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from volcanic Rutherford benchland: blackberry, cherry, pine, and terra cotta after 18 months in 70 percent new French oak, now $75.
Rutherford dust you can actually pour on a Tuesday
Rutherford is the Napa bench that tastes like dust, currant, and savory herb when the cellar stays honest. Martin Ray's 2022 is 100 percent Cabernet from gravel, loam, and volcanic deposits east of the Mayacamas, not a named trophy parcel speech. James Suckling 94 found terra cotta, pine needles, and chewy, spicy tannin. Eighteen months in 70 percent new French oak is the frame. This is the bottle that argues for Rutherford character without a cult waiting list.
The house
Courtney Benham revived the Martin Ray name in 1990 and moved the cellar to Laguna Ridge in 2003. Leslie Renaud leads the wines of place from that Russian River home.
The wine
100% Cabernet Sauvignon. Four-day cold soak, two weeks of hand punch-downs in open tops, 18 months in 70% new French oak. 14.1% ABV.
The scores
James Suckling 94 on this exact 2022: terra cotta, pine, blackcurrant, chewy tannin, drink or hold.
The drinker
Blackberry and dusty spice first. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Short ribs or mushroom Wellington.
Dark fruit, then the dusty, savory turn
Martin Ray's sheet opens on ripe blackberry, mulberry, cherry, and plum, then dusty cinnamon, clove, dried herbs, and black pepper. James Suckling found terra cotta, pine needles, and a resinous, spicy close on chewy tannin. Cedar and toast from the new oak sit on the fruit instead of burying the bench.
Budbreak arrived in early March. A cool, wet late spring and premature summer warmth pushed a record-early harvest and low yields. The wines came in lively and fruit-forward, with tannin still in outline.
Blackberry, mulberry, cherry, plum, terra cotta, pine, dusty cinnamon, clove, dried herbs.
Medium-bodied, 14.1% ABV, grippy yet elegant tannin, 18 months in 70% new French oak.
Cedar, toast, a long plush close. Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F.
Open tops, then 18 months of French oak as architecture
On the Martin Ray 2022 sheet, this is small-lot Cabernet: a four-day cold soak, two weeks of hand punch-downs in open-top fermenters, then 18 months in 70 percent new French oak. That is how Rutherford stays dusty and savory instead of turning into a single toast note.
Leslie Renaud's cellar keeps extraction gradual so color and grip arrive without forcing the tannin. Harvest chemistry sat at 23.9 Brix, 3.65 pH, and 5.9 g/L total acidity.
Serve near 62 F. Air is for pine, cedar, and the savory close, not a rescue.
A Santa Cruz Mountains name, a Russian River home, a Napa bench
Martin Ray began as a 1943 argument that California wine should taste like a place. Courtney Benham rebuilt that idea from a Russian River cellar.
Martin Ray made single-varietal, region-specific wines in the Santa Cruz Mountains from 1943, mentored by Paul Masson, before the name faded.
In 1990 Courtney Benham found 1,500 forgotten cases in a San Jose warehouse and bought the brand. In 2003 he moved the winery to the old Martini and Prati site on Laguna Ridge.
The Rutherford Cabernet is the Napa chapter of that wines-of-place brief: volcanic benchland fruit, serious oak, a bottle built to taste like dust and currant.
Bring the tannin to something savory
Rich beef or an earthy pastry gives this Cabernet's dark fruit, herbs, and cedar a place to land.
Two plates. One pot of short ribs. One mushroom Wellington. Both can take Rutherford tannin.
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve 60 to 64 F. Use large stems. Air is for pine and the savory close.
Red-Wine-Braised Short Ribs with Mashed Potatoes
A slow braise, glossy sauce, and mashed potatoes. Rutherford Cabernet's classic landing.
Why it works: Beef richness meets grippy tannin, while thyme and reduced wine echo dark fruit, herbs, and cedar.
View Recipe for red-wine-braised short ribs with mashed potatoes (opens in a new tab)
Mushroom and Stilton Wellingtons
Golden pastry, mushroom, spinach, and Stilton. A meat-free plate with enough richness to stand beside Cabernet.
Why it works: Pastry and Stilton soften the structure, while mushroom and thyme connect to earth, cedar, and dried herbs.
View Recipe for mushroom and Stilton Wellingtons (opens in a new tab)Put this Rutherford Cabernet in the cart
James Suckling 94. Eighteen months in 70 percent new French oak. Seventy-five dollars against a $95 typical retail.
Put it in the cart. This is the Martin Ray bottle for a table that wants Rutherford dust, not a slogan.
