Ridge Vineyards
California, USA
Founded on the slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Ridge Vineyards traces its roots to 1885 when Dr. Osea Perrone purchased 180 acres atop Monte Bello Ridge, terraced the slopes and built a stone winery, producing the first vintage in 1892. In 1959, a group of Stanford Research Institute engineers purchased the then-abandoned property, re-bonded it as Ridge in 1962, and in 1969 brought in winemaker Paul Draper whose stewardship helped establish Ridge's reputation for site-driven, low-intervention "pre-industrial" winemaking. Ridge's commitment to singular vineyards, organic farming, minimal additives and transparency has made it a benchmark in California wine most famously when its 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet placed in the famed 1976 "Judgement of Paris".
Critic scores: JD 93-94, JS 93, WA 91-92, WS 90, D 94, WE 91