Ridge Three Valleys, Sonoma County 2023

Ridge is one of California’s most iconic estates, renowned for its single-vineyard wines that are coveted across the world. The Monte Bello site of Ridge Vineyards lies 2600 feet above sea level in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is a winding tortuous drive up a road more reminiscent of an alpine pass than of America, where keen cyclists grunt and weave their way to the look out at the top enjoy the uninterrupted views over Silicon Valley. The altitude here ensures a slow ripening process and the results are more European than most would expect.

Ridge Vineyards began in 1885 when San Francisco doctor Osea Perrone terraced the slopes, planted vines and built the original Monte Bello winery. Current Chairman of the Board Paul Draper has been the driving force since joining in 1969 and is often described as a professor or philosopher as well as a winemaker. In 2006 in a re-enactment of the 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting that shook the wine world, it was Ridge’s 1971 Monte Bello that won by a landslide.

Ridge now has around 19 specific sites, the three most significant are: Monte Bello on the Santa Cruz Mountains predominantly Cabernet based wines; Geyserville (pronounced Guyzervil not Geezervil!) in the Alexander Valley, Sonoma County, where Zinfandel is predominantly produced; and Lytton Springs south of Geyserville in Dry Creek on the edge of Alexander Valley again mostly Zinfandel with Petite Sirah, Grenache and Syrah. Winemaking responsibilities are divided across the sites between Head winemaker John Olney and Shauna Rosenblum.