{"id":863,"date":"2018-01-30T23:03:04","date_gmt":"2018-01-30T23:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=863"},"modified":"2018-01-30T23:25:18","modified_gmt":"2018-01-30T23:25:18","slug":"ridge-lytton-springs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=863","title":{"rendered":"Ridge Lytton Springs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ridge (https:\/\/www.ridgewine.com\/)<\/a> is best known, perhaps, for fine Zinfandels and Zin blends.\u00a0 Or maybe you know that Ridge Montebello, their premier Cabernet Sauvignon, was among the wines at the famous Judgment of Paris taste-off in 1976, and the winner when the wines were re-tasted in 2006.\u00a0 Ridge\u2019s Montebello winery is a bit off the beaten path in Cupertino, California.\u00a0 Wine tasters are more likely to be in Sonoma County, where Ridge\u2019s other winery is located, right on the border of the Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys.<\/p>\n

The vineyard itself has quite a history, with grapes planted there as early as 1901.\u00a0 Paul Draper, the illustrious (and only) winemaker at Ridge, first bought grapes from the previous owner in 1972 and then bought the property in 1991.\u00a0 For a long while, the tasting room was literally a plank between two barrels in the aging room of the winery.\u00a0 Today it is a sleek, wood-paneled bar nestled among the vines, where a significant selection of wine are available for tasting.\u00a0 On the opposite side of the bar is a glass window wall overlooking the old Zinfandel vines, a source of beauty in itself.<\/p>\n

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Ridge\u2019s tasting room at Lytton Springs<\/em><\/p>\n

There are several hallmarks to Ridge\u2019s wines:\u00a0 all but one are from single vineyards (their Three Valleys is the exception).\u00a0 Many are estate wines, especially the Lytton Springs from the property where you taste wines.\u00a0 Some have acquired quite a reputation, such as the Pagani Ranch or the Independence School and others are rather obscure small bottlings, like Boatman or Buchignani.\u00a0\u00a0 They make wine from many varietals, but are best known for Zinfandels and Cabernet Sauvignons.\u00a0 Many of the Zins are blended with other grapes such as Carignan and Petite Syrah, enough so that they fall below the 75% requirement to be sold as a single varietal.<\/p>\n

One of the beauties of a visit to this winery is the number of different wines you can try.\u00a0 Yes, there is a Chardonnay, but really a visit to Ridge is about red wines. There may be as many as seven or eight Zinfandels available, which by itself is a lesson in the variety of flavors that can be extracted from this grape, a specialty of California in general and Dry Creek in particular.<\/p>\n

The climax of a tasting at Ridge is their Cabernet Sauvignons.\u00a0 The Estate Cab is usually included in a tasting, but if you want to know what the Montebello tastes\u00a0 like, you\u2019ll have to pay an additional fee.\u00a0 It\u2019s worth it, if only for the bragging rights. Do not leave Ridge without tasting it.\u00a0 It certainly crowns a wine tasting experience.<\/p>\n

We have found the servers to be enthusiastic and knowledgeable, but unfortunately have to report that on a few occasions we were served by someone seemingly uninterested in serving and helping us.\u00a0 That experience underscores the importance of the server in the quality of your visit.<\/p>\n

A visit to Ridge in Lytton Springs can be the highlight of a day\u2019s tasting adventures, especially if you\u2019ve never had the chance to compare their wines, one with the others.\u00a0 Even if you have visited Ridge many times, as we have, there\u2019s always at least one wine to try that will impress you, and the Montebello to blow you away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ridge (https:\/\/www.ridgewine.com\/) is best known, perhaps, for fine Zinfandels and Zin blends.\u00a0 Or maybe you know that Ridge Montebello, their premier Cabernet Sauvignon, was among the wines at the famous Judgment of Paris taste-off in 1976, and the winner when the wines were re-tasted in 2006.\u00a0 Ridge\u2019s Montebello winery is a bit off the beaten … Continue reading Ridge Lytton Springs<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=863"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":874,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863\/revisions\/874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}