a personMartin Ray
Bought Paul Masson's mountain winery in 1936, sold it during the war, and spent the rest of his life above Saratoga making pinot noir and chardonnay when California was planting neither.
The story Tradition
Tradition holds — Ray insisted on varietal bottlings with nothing blended in, at a time when 'burgundy' on a California label meant whatever was in the tank. The vineyard he planted is the source of the Mount Eden selection.
Facts
| role | owner |
|---|---|
| country | United States |
| region | Santa Cruz Mountains, California |
| confidence | low · needs verification · updated 2026-09-16 |
Its kin
cloneMount Eden selectionThe selection that came off his vines.and of this page it says: Whose vineyard the cuttings came from.regionSanta Cruz MountainsThe ridge he farmed.and of this page it says: Who kept pinot noir alive on this ridge through the 1940s and 1950s.personPaul MassonWhose winery he bought.and of this page it says: Who bought his mountain winery in 1936.
Sources
- North American Pinot Noir — John Winthrop Haeger, 2004
- Paul Masson · link
Where it came from: Cited a source we name · Harvested pulled from an open dataset · Tradition what the tradition says, hedged · Inference this project's reasoning · Field somebody stood there. This record as JSON.