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Raymond Smith Male Paso Robles, CA United States: Share on Facebook

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Tell us about your Black Owned Business? (no links please): Winemaker....Indigenè Cellars is a small Family owned winery nestled in the upper Carmel Valley. Producers of premium Varietals and elegant blends, we at Indigenè invite you to experience our unique translation of art, nature and tradition.

Indigené Cellars

Website link: [don't need to type http://]: http://www.indigenecellars.com

Facebook Page link: [don't need to type http://]: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000473548472

Twitter link: [don't need to type http://]: http://twitter.com/ambiante

How did you find The BFHS Network: friends

Hit the ground RUNNIN

So many people come to wine and Pinot Noir from very different career paths and walks of life. Raymond Smith was born and raised in Oakland, Calif., and worked as a grocery clerk and a ship joiner before moving in the late 1980s to Paso Robles in the Central Coast. He found the wine business there very attractive and soon had helped build and eventually owned a mobile wine bottling business. The leap from bottling to making his own wines was not huge and Indigene cellars was born, making mostly Bordeaux varieties. Raymond also makes Pinot Noir from the Santa Maria Valley and it's a complex, fruit driven wine.

Raymond Smith has been a bottler for 20 or more years. I don't care for the label artwork (a feeling that I and a couple others at the table shared with Raymond) but he's doing some interesting blends and trying for a very different kind of Syrah. I appreciate his efforts to do something new.

2007 Indigene Cellars Philanthropist- USA, California, Central Coast(8/24/2009)
High pitched berry nose; berry, blackberry palate; medium finish (co-fermented Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot) (90 pts.)
2004 Indigene Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley(8/24/2009)
Nice berry, cassis nose; cassis, berry palate; medium-plus finish 90+ pts. (90 pts.)
2006 Indigene Cellars Syrah Parenthesis- USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Maria Valley(8/24/2009)
Black fruit, berry, white pepper nose; different from your usual Cali Syrah, tart plum, berry palate, with depth, needs to settle out though; medium-plus finish (Estrella River clone) (89 pts.)
2008 Indigene Cellars Riesling I=MB- USA, California, Central Coast(8/24/2009)
Ripe peach, stone fruit nose; tasty, ripe stone fruit, mineral palate with good acidity; medium-plus finish (88 pts.)

Indigené Cellars & Santa Maria - Wonderful Fruit!

When we embarked on the WineMatch journey, we knew it would take us places and introduce us to people of which we were previously not "in the know". Raymond Smith of Indigené Cellars in Paso Robles is a perfect example. Indigené means 'native' and the goal here is to maximize the varietal potential by matching it to its most native climate. By any standard, he has succeeded.

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!

Raymond was greatly influenced by a couple of local industry icons. Christian Tietje of Four Vines in Paso Robles taught him the benefit of meticulous attention to detail. He did this not just by talk, but by actions as well. Raymond shared with me a time when he was talking to Christian for an hour and a half while Christian was assembling a well-crafted Caesar salad!

Another strong influence was Ken Brown, Pinot Noir master with his winery. Ken taught Raymond about the small lot Pinot specifics including the Martini clone, the fruit, the climate and how to really make the pinots shine brightly using the local fruit from Santa Maria and Sta. Rita Hills AVAs.

When we started profiling what Raymond Smith had submitted, the fruit blew us away, rating as high as our scale goes on the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine defines the word 'jammy' and the concentration is outstanding. The 2009 I=MB2 Riesling also stands strong with sweetness and acidity in perfect balance, allowing you the opportunity to truly enjoy the great fruit. Raymond sources his fruit from Carmel Valley and Santa Maria, where the colder climates yield greater concentration through slow maturation.

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.

The best way to sum up Raymond's method of winemaking is simply to state what he has made clear and obvious to me. "Isolated clones, handled gently and properly managed throughout the process, will yield extreme varietal characteristics".

Should the whole world be so deliberately exacting it would be a much better place!

Congratulations to Indigene Cellars!!!

Talk about taking risks. In your first year of publicly released wines, you take the bold step of entering wines into the San Francisco Chronicle's Wine Competition. For those unaware, this is one of the major wine judging events held each year. The main purpose is to get critical feedback on your wines. A good showing will mean strong sales. A poor showing could be devastating in the marketplace.

Oakland native, fellow Castlemont High School alumni, and owner/winemaker of Indigené Cellars, Raymond Smith took this bold step, entering five wines for judging. He was rewarded with medals for all five wines. That is an incredible accomplishment, and pretty much unheard of for a first year and first time entrant.

The medal winning wines are: the I=mb2 (2008 Riesling), 2006 Parenthesis Syrah, 2007 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, 2004 Fourth Quarter Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2007 Pinot Noir. I had the good fortune to meet Raymond and taste these wines at the Family Winemakers tasting event last year. All 5 wines are excellent. I was especially impressed by the 2004 Cabernet.

The good news is, all the wines are available to order from the website at www.indigenecellars.com. The bad news is, you had better move fast. A little thing like a medal from a major wine judging event makes a wine fly of the shelves of wine shops.

Congratulations Raymond! This is defininitely the start of great things to come.

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Indigene Cellars - CBS interview

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At 7:03pm on July 23, 2012, Ryan ~CEO of the BFHS Network said…: A couple quick ways to grow your business on BFHS fast!!!

At 12:12am on June 23, 2011, Ryan ~CEO of the BFHS Network said…: Your profile ranks #3 on google for raymond smith wine owmer. ca

At 12:43am on June 8, 2011, Ryan ~CEO of the BFHS Network said…: Your profile ranks #6 on google for indigene cellars raymond smith

At 2:46pm on April 14, 2011, Ryan ~CEO of the BFHS Network said…: Welcome to the BFHS Network (the fastest growing social networking site for Black Urban Professionals)- where "Our Business is YOU". We will do more for you and your business than any site on the internet- that is our promise- if we ain't doing enough, hit me up and tell me what else you need, if we can't do it- chances are, someone on the Network can!
9 Things to do on BFHS...to create VALUE for YOUR business!
1. Upload a profile image and invite all of your professional friends
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and lastly, again have fun networking with others like you!

When you invite at least 5 ppl to join The BFHS Network, I, the CEO, will introduce you to all of my friends!
Here is the invite link to invite others... this is how we grow!
Let me know when it's done and you'll get ONE FREE eBlast when you sign up for the list and you business will be presented to one of the biggest lists in the black community http://eepurl.com/xBmH! Thanks again for joining The BFHS Network!

At 6:45pm on January 30, 2011, Ryan ~CEO of the BFHS Network said…: make sure you click your links in your profile to see if they work- they don't work for me- so I can't get to your website, twitter or facebook.

At 6:44pm on January 30, 2011, Ryan ~CEO of the BFHS Network said…: cool, the reason why I asked is because maybe we can put together a few wine tastings here is chicago and at some other places- what you think about that?

At 2:56pm on January 29, 2011, Ryan ~CEO of the BFHS Network said…: You website, twitter and fb links are screwed up... go into your profile setting and make the corrections- thanks!

At 2:55pm on January 29, 2011, Ryan ~CEO of the BFHS Network said…: Thanks new friend:) Please use the invite tool to invite all of your Urban Professional friends and associates in your address book- thanks (Here is the link)
http://blackfolkhotspots.ning.com/main/invitation/new?xg_source=tab

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At 11:57pm on November 14, 2010, Editha Brown said…: Happy birthday Raymond!

At 11:48pm on November 14, 2010, Ryan ~CEO of the BFHS Network said…: A Scorpio can do just about anything they want to do. If they really want it, it's most definitely no longer a dream. Happy Birthday from http://facebook.com/BlackFolkHotSpots

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