Beverage of the Week (B.O.W)

One of the greatest things about being a wine lover is the never-ending opportunity for discovery. There are thousands of wine-growing districts, dozens of grape varieties, and an endlessly expanding list of producers. At BevX we love to see wines from wineries that are new or simply new to us. Recently we made such a discovery with Bray Vineyards.

Bray is located in the California Shenandoah Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area) that lies in portions of Amador and El Dorado counties in California. This is an old gold prospecting area that is now home to just 2,000 vines and less than 20 wineries. Zinfandel is king here but an eclectic selection of varietals (mostly red) is planted here.

Bray Vineyards grows and produces Zinfandel but they also offer a great range of Italian and Portuguese varieties. Additionally, Bray grows six varieties of olives and produce their own olive oil.

Oliver and Robin Bray founded Vineyards in 1996. The 50-acre estate they purchased was raw by any standard being void of roads or utilities. In the early years the Brays would spend their weekends clearing rocks and sculpting terraced vineyards on the rolling hills that reach 1,300 feet in elevation.

Zinfandel and Sangiovese were the first varieties to be planted and by 2001 they were selling their fruit to some well-known neighboring wineries. The quality of the fruit and the success of the wines created with the fruit furthered their desire to themselves become winemakers.

They spent the next few years learning the art and science of winemaking. In 2004 they hired John Hoddy as their winemaker and opened the Bray Vineyards in April of that year. Today Bray Vineyards grows 18 varieties of grapes on their estate and produces more than a dozen different wines.

The first Bray Vineyards wine we saw was their wonderful and expressive Rosato made from the Northern Italian varietal, Barbera. We were immediately taken in by the wine’s obvious charm and the purity of the fruit. We have since sampled more of the Bray portfolio and we have been equally impressed. We believe that you too will fall in love with the wines from Bray Vineyards.