Ridge Vineyards

Ridge Vineyards is a wine producer whose history began in 1885, when Osea Perrone bought 180 acres near the top of Monte Bello Ridge. New owners Dave Bennion, Hew Crane, Charlie Rosen and Howard Ziedler, all Stanford Research Institute engineers, made a quarter-barrel of estate Cabernet. Ridge made its first Zinfandel in 1964 and its first Geyserville Zinfandel in 1966. Paul Draper joined the partnership in 1969.

Lytton Springs, in Sonoma County, became part of the Ridge estate in 1991. Ridge farms organically certified grapes in Sonoma County and the Santa Cruz Mountains Appellation. Cabernet and Zinfandel account for most production, alongside smaller quantities of Syrah, Grenache, Carignane, Petite Sirah and Chardonnay. The wines ferment with native vineyard yeasts, and major winemaking decisions are based on blind tasting. Its wines include the flagship Monte Bello.