As regular readers know, Joy and I often enjoy a lunch of cheese, meats, or ‘lunch bites’ at Accent on Wine in Summerville. The state of South Carolina allows wine shops (with the appropriate license) to sell wine by both the bottle and by the glass. And, we take advantage of that policy to try new wines and to reacquaint ourselves with old ‘friends’ in new vintages.
This past week, while visiting Accent on Wine, I spotted a bottle of Ridge 2016 Lytton Estate Petite Sirah. Produced with fruit sourced from the Dry Creek Valley of Sonoma, this 90+ point wine (according to Antonia Galloni and James Suckling ratings) was retailing in the mid-$30s. The combination of Ridge and Petite Sirah was irresistible.
This 2016 Petite Sirah (2000 cases produced) is sourced from vines that were planted between 1901 and 2008. The age range may seem enormous, but the older vines produce fewer, but intensely flavored grapes, while the newer vines produce larger crops with grapes that give the winemaker an opportunity to create a product that is both fresh and juicy. Ridge first bottled a version of this wine in 2002 and has decided to age the Lytton Estate in American Oak for 12 months (10% new oak and 45% of barrels that are up to two years old and 45% in barrels as old as four years). Many American winemakers (particularly those working with an intensely deep dark wine like Petite Sirah) have focused their barrel program on French Oak. The decision to age a big wine in American Oak is unique, but Ridge has long been noted for a unique approach to wine making.
The original Ridge winery is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains just south of San Francisco. That winery is located at 2,300 feet of elevation on Monte Bello Ridge. The drive to visit the Santa Cruz winery requires a trip along a road that is not ideal for those with any hint of acrophobia. Nevertheless, the trip up (and up and up) that road ultimately brings you to a beautiful winery and tasting area and tasting facility with extraordinary vistas.
In 1991 they purchased a second facility at Lytton Springs in the Dry Creek Valley area of Sonoma.
The ‘original’ Ridge vineyards were planted in 1885 by a “prominent member of the northern California Italian immigrant community”, and was largely operated as a hobby. It was shuttered during Prohibition. Following the passage of the 21st Amendment, the mountaintop vineyard was reestablished and managed by another group of amateur winemakers. In 1959 Stanford Research Institute engineers with commercial ambitions, led by David Bennion, purchased the vineyards and winery. The new ownership immediately bonded Ridge and by 1962 produced a Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon. The first Zinfandel, the grape for which Ridge may be best known, found its way to bottle in 1964.
Bennion was both the winemaker and the manager of Ridge until 1970. In 1970 Bennion made the winery defining decision to hire Paul Draper as winemaker.
Draper, who majored in philosophy while a student at Stanford, eventually strayed from seeking the meaning of life to improving the quality of life. He made wine in Chile, and then moved to Bordeaux (reviewing 19th century wine texts in their original French) and studied the process by which many of the world’s finest wines were vinified. As part of his self-education in winemaking, Draper had the opportunity to taste the 1962 and 1964 versions of Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet (both 90+ point rating vintages) “made in old oak barrels with native yeasts and natural malolactic fermentation”. He recognized the potential and he accepted Bennion’s job offer. For the next 47 vintages Draper guided Ridge first as winemaker and then as CEO and winemaker.
It should be mentioned that the 1971 Ridge Monte Bello was included in the famous 1976 Paris tasting that put California wines on par with the best of France (see Bottle Shock for the movie version of George Tabor’s fun read, Judgement in Paris). The Ridge entry finished a “respectable fifth” in this initial contest. However, a 30th Anniversary Tasting rated Ridge Monte Bello first. Stag’s Leap, whose Cabernet finished first in 1976, was ranked second. In fact, California Cabernet based wines finished 1-5 in the 30th Anniversary Tasting ahead of both Bordeaux classic’s Mouton-Rothschild and Haut-Brion. Clearly, Ridge DNA grape’s could create a great wine with the ability to age. Draper institutionalized that ‘greatness’.
But, back to Zinfandel. Draper loved the grape and ultimately worked with more than 100 Zinfandel vineyards. However, by 2016, the year of his retirement, Draper had cut the number to his 14 favorites. One of our favorites is the Ridge Pagani Ranch Zinfandel. Consistently rated over 90 points, this Sonoma Valley vineyard located near the town of Kenwood, features century old vines that produce consistently excellent wine…with a little help from the winemaker. Ridge has been bottling Pagani Ranch Zin since 1991. With more than 4500 cases of Pagani Ranch bottled you should be able to find this wine virtually everywhere.
Draper is a viticultural purest, but he is also a scientist. He dislikes the ‘homogenizing’ effect of university programs that focus on developing wines that will score over 90 points thus competing for consumer attention. He also dislikes high alcohol wines because he feels that higher ABV often serves to hide the imperfections in the wine. The Ridge 2012 Monte Bello Cabernet was universally rated north of 95 points and only offered 13.8% ABV. Despite this lower alcohol content, Decanter Magazine’s reviewers suggested would not be fully ready to drink until 2022. And, while the Ridge labs are considered one of the most sophisticated of any ‘smaller’ winery, Draper argues that the function of the lab is to “analyze, not tweak, the wine”. Ridge also strongly supports sustainable farming practices, and an organic approach to winemaking.
John Olney is the Ridge Winemaker in Lytton Springs, and a longtime friend and colleague of Paul Draper. His most telling comment regarding Draper is that “he is a relentless taster”. And, during his tenure Draper encouraged everyone associated with Ridge to taste continuously. He believed that the winemaker’s art was validated by those who consumed their wine.
So…whatever your budget can handle, be it a Pagani Ranch Zin, a Monte Bello Cab, or a Lytton Estate Petite Sirah…you should taste…as Paul Draper would urge…you will not be disappointed.