Ridge Vineyards

It was a doctor called Osea Perrone who first planted a vineyard at Monte Bello, near the top of a ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He purchased 180 acres here in 1885, building terraces and planting vines on the steep slopes, and constructing the original winery (that is still in use today), dug out of the mountainside and reaching down three floors. The first wine made under the Monte Bello name was produced in 1892. 

The vineyard was abandoned during prohibition, but in the 1940s a theologian called William Short bought the winery and vineyard below Perrone’s – replanting several parcels to Cabernet Sauvignon. Four Stanford scientists (Dave Bennion, Hew Crane, Charlie Rosen and Howard Ziedler) bought the estate in the 1960s and started producing Cabernet Sauvignon that showed great promise. The first vintage of its flagship Monte Bello Cabernet was made in 1962. They started making Zinfandel in 1964, and reclaimed the original Monte Bello site with its terraced vineyards. They hired Paul Draper as winemaker in 1969, then a philosophy grad who had worked briefly in Chile. 

Draper established Ridge’s modern reputation, finessing the property’s low-intervention winemaking, restoring the original winery, leasing and buying top vineyards – creating consistently impressive wines that rapidly earned an international reputation. The pivotal Judgement of Paris in 1976, pitching California’s top wines against Bordeaux and Burgundy, rocketed Ridge to fame – with the 1971 Monte Bello earning second place in the blind tasting. 

Today Ridge makes a huge range of wines, largely single-vineyard expressions from various sites – the most famous of which are Monte Bello (Santa Cruz Mountains), Lytton Springs and Geyserville (both Sonoma County). Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel dominate the range, with small amounts of Syrah, Grenache, Carignan, Petite Sirah and Chardonnay. 

Farming has long been organic – with the estate a quiet pioneer of sustainability across the board. Today a host of regenerative practices are in use, with a focus on old vines, hedgerows and biodiversity, low/no till farming, water conservation, cover crops and composting. They describe their winemaking as “pre-industrial” – focusing on techniques used to make the best wines in the 19th century. While they use indigenous yeast and no enzymes or nutrients, high-tech analysis is key to their production – allowing them to make informed decisions and reduce risks, with quality never sacrificed. They are renowned for their use of American oak – unusual in the modern era, which they have found consistently works better with their terroir. They also list all ingredients on their labels in a bid for transparency. 

A Japanese pharmaceutical company, Otsuka, bought the company in 1987. Paul Draper retired in 2016, handing over to longtime winemaker Eric Baugher. Baugher left in 2021 and handed over to John Olney, who has worked at Ridge since 1996.  

The wines remain some of California’s finest, with the iconic Monte Bello leading the way, but its Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Geyserville and Lytton Springs Zinfandels are all stunning wines that age beautifully. While very little white wine is produced, the Chardonnays are consistently impressive.