In 1885, Osea Perrone, a medical doctor and prominent member of San Francisco's Italian community, purchased 180 acres near the top of Monte Bello Ridge--and thus began the history of Ridge Vineyards. Dr. Perrone terraced the slopes and planted vineyards. The Monte Bello Winery was built using native limestone, and produced the first vintage under that name in 1892. Today, this unique cellar, built into the mountainside on three levels, is Ridge's production facility and, at 2600 feet, is surrounded by the "Upper Vineyard".
William Short, a theologian, bought the abandoned winery and vineyard just below the Perrone property in the 1940s, and replanted several parcels to Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1959, from these "Lower Vineyard" vines the new owners made 10 gallons of "estate" Cabernet. Dave Bennion and his three partners (all Stanford Research Institute Engineers) were convinced that the Monte Bello Cabernet produced from these vines in 1959, 60 and '61 were among California's finest wines from that era. They rebonded the winery in time for the 1962 vintage. In 1964, the first Ridge Zinfandel was made from a small nineteenth-century vineyard on the neighboring Pichetti ranch and this was followed in 1966 by the first Geyserville Zinfandel. The founding families, as the core of the labor force, reclaimed the Monte Bello terraces, increasing vineyard size from fifteen to forty-five acres.
Dave Bennion left SRI in 1967 to become president of the winery, incorporating Ridge Vineyards in 1967. While new shareholders made it possible to acquire Perrone's old winery, production increased to just under three thousand cases a year.
Paul Draper, winemaker and chief executive officer, joined Ridge Vineyards in 1969. He had grown up on an 80-acre farm in the Chicago suburb of Barrington, Illinois and, after receiving a degree in philosophy from Stanford University, lived for a time in northern Italy. After a year at the Sorbonne, he traveled extensively in France, gaining practical experience in traditional winemaking. He set up a small winery in Chile in the mid-sixties, producing several vintages of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Draper is a true advocate of single-vineyard winemaking and has been instrumental in seeking out those sites where the wines "make themselves" in terms of style and balance. Paul Draper believes that "a vintner's role is that of guiding a natural process, not 'making' the wine in an industrial process. Wild indigenous wine yeast are present on enough of the grapes in any parcel to carry out an ideal primary fermentation without the addition of commercial yeasts or nutrients. Likewise the naturally occurring bacteria carry out the secondary fermentation The vintner decides when to pick by tasting for full ripeness and when to press by tasting for tannin extraction. The best parcels are selected for the vineyard wine by tasting as is the proportion of each varietal to be included."
For thirty years, Ridge has aged its wines in air-dried American oak instead of French oak, based on preference. Racking off the lees as well as when to bottle are both determined by tasting, not by recipe or production schedule.
At Monte Bello, the 1959 vintage convinced the founding partners that here was an astounding match of climate, soil, and varietal. In the wine producing world, these ideal sites represent only a few percent of the land planted to vineyard. Once a producer has identified a great vineyard site, it is very important, if at all possible, to gain full, long-term control of it-by purchase or otherwise- in order to maintain quality and consistency. Ridge now owns or leases all its Bordeaux-varietal vineyards on Monte Bello Ridge.
Likewise, in Sonoma, over thirty consecutive vintages from Geyserville's old-vine Zinfandel, Carignan, and Petite Sirah attest to yet another ideal combination of location and varietals. Ridge holds a thirty-year lease on a major part of that vineyard. In the early 1990s, after more than two decades of experience at Lytton Springs, Ridge purchased the major vineyards that make up this wine. The Pagani Ranch n Sonoma, the Dusi Ranch in Paso Robles, York Creek in Napa, and Bridgehead in Contra Costa are other vineyards that have met Ridge's criteria for distinctive sites.
In 1986, Ridge was purchased by the head of a Japanese pharmaceutical company, Mr. Akihiko Otsuka. His expressed wish that operations continue as before has been honored. As a result of this puristic dedication to winemaking and the vineyards, Ridge has garnered an international reputation for the production of world class wines.
On February 5th, 6th and 7th, 1999 a group of wine enthusiasts from all over the world gathered in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica to take part in an astonishing retrospective of Ridge wines covering four decades. In total there were 93 attendees for one or more of the three events.
The event was arranged by Dr. Bipin Desai a noted Southern California wine enthusiast who over the years has put together similar retrospective tastings of American and French wines in California, New York and Paris. Dr. Desai worked closely with the chefs at Spago and Valentino to create meals that would compliment the extraordinary range of thirty wines to be tasted at each of the three events from the first vintage of 1962 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon to the most recent Ridge wines released from the 1996 vintage. Paul Draper was on hand to comment on the wines and answer questions. Ridge Vineyards supplied most of the wines for the retrospective but no longer had any 1962 Monte Bello in their cellars. Rumor has it that Dr. Desai paid approximately $1,000 each for the two bottles he obtained for the tasting. These wines were released at $3.50 per bottle.
The first retrospective was held February 5th at Spago in Beverly Hills and featured five flights of wines designated Diverse and Esoteric, proving that Ridge has more to offer than Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. Chardonnay, Merlot, Barbera, Mataro, Grenache, Syrah, Petite Syrah and Zinfandel were poured along with a selection of Late Harvest wines. These wines enhanced the flavors of a fine menu devised by Wolfgang Puck and Lee Hefter which included among the many dishes were seared Maine Lobster with Ginger Black Bean Sauce, Jasmine Rice and Emerald Leaves as well as Tea-Smoked Breast of Squab with Minced Squab in Lettuce Cup with Salted Cashews.
Saturday's tasting was held at Valentino in Santa Monica and showcased primarily Geyersville Zinfandel from 1970 to 1996, with some Lytton Springs Zinfandel. According to Paul Draper, "Ridge has among its audience collectors who buy the Monte Bello Cabernets and a wider group who buy the winery's more readily drnkable Cabernet Santa Cruz Mountains, and its even better know Zinfandels, especially Geyserville and Lytton Springs."
"There was very little Cabernet to be had in the early 60's," Mr. Draper said, "but there were small holding of these wonderful old Zinfandel vines everywhere. So while Monte Bello was being expanded, Ridge moved into making Zinfandel. Over the years we've had between 30 and 40 different labels, most of them from old-vine Zinfandels."
The menu created by Valentino's chef Angelo Auriana included such delicacies as Ligurian Cuttlefish with Carmelized beets and Bottarga and Snails and Funghi Lasagna with Fontina.
Sunday luncheon found participants back at Spago for an exceptional once in a liftime tasting of Monte Bello Cabernets, which is Ridge's most prized wine--avidly purchased by collectors at $100 per bottle on release.
The 1983 was the only non-Monte Bello tasted at this event. According to Paul Draper "We sent the wine to our mail-order customers as Monte Bello, then decided it didn't live up to the standard we set for that wine. So we gave the rest of the vintage the name of our appelation wine, Santa Cruz Mountains. Then we wrote to the mail-order customers and told them that if they'd send back the wine labeled Monte Bello, we'd send them two cases of the same wine labeled Santa Cruz Mountains. Most did, but a few figured that the bottles labeled Monte Bello would be worth something one day, so they hung on to them. The '83 you have today is Santa Cruz Mountain, formerly Monte Bello.
Wild Scottish Wood Cock with Cabernet "Mole", Young Leeks and Prune Gratin added to the delights of this tasting along with Seared Maine Diver Scallops with Celery Root-Apple Puree and Black Truffle Nage.
At the end of the marathon tasting, the consensus was that Ridge Vineyard's consistent history of excellence has established a tradition and certainly proves that California wines can stand the test of time along with the great European wines.