“You know, it's not the world that was my oppressor, because what the world does to you, if the world does it to you long enough and effectively enough, you begin to do to yourself.”
- James Baldwin
Award-Winning Indigenè Cellars to Pour at The Shrimp & Grits Taste-Off on February 17th!
Indigenè Cellars submitted 6 new wines in the 2010 San Francisco Chronicle Wine competition, the most prestigious and notable wine competition in America. All 6 wines were awarded medals and Raymond Smith (Winemaker) was the subject of many interviews where he talked about the noteworthy wines, co-fermentations, isolated clones, micro oxidation, and a host of other subjects.
Raised as one of eight siblings in Oakland, California, Raymond worked his way through life, from being a journalism major, grocery store manager, and also worked in the local shipyards. One of his earliest winery experiences was one of reaching out to help another. While spending the night at a friend’s winery, he was summoned along with others at 4AM. The goal was to help a neighboring winery with a low-lying vineyard avoid a fruit-destroying frost situation. He found it both heartwarming and humbling that they were helping the competition, but realized this is what neighboring wineries do - they help one another.
He started making wines for others at that time, and for 20 years he has been making wine, commercially for the last four of them. He experienced a crush gone bad at a custom crush facility and decide to take the reins to better control his destiny. Another of his strengths is to make difficult fruit shine, as we all know not every vintage blesses us with the best fruit!
“I find fruit sources and varietals that are as close to native as possible. I also select isolated clones, and produce wines of higher acidity and lower alcohol content,” says Raymond, creating wines that are knocking out competitors according to the awards Indigenè is receiving.
Indigené Cellars typically makes small batches using isolated clones, and Raymond closely monitors these barrels throughout the aging process to ensure the best result possible, given the fruit. Case counts are in the low hundreds, as hand punching and manual leaf and stem removal are part of this most tedious process. He is also a believer in cold fermentation and microoxygenation to maximize the fruit’s potential.
“With my wines you should take time and taste the nuance, don’t just drink the wine but taste the wine and enjoy the subtle notes that I prepared for your enjoyment.”
You’ll have the pleasure to taste these wines at The Shrimp & Grits Taste-Off on February 17th at the Museum of the African Diaspora.
Posted February 8th, 2011 by admin