{"id":1672,"date":"2020-10-30T18:21:53","date_gmt":"2020-10-30T18:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1672"},"modified":"2020-10-30T18:47:43","modified_gmt":"2020-10-30T18:47:43","slug":"pine-ridge-vineyards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1672","title":{"rendered":"Pine Ridge Vineyards"},"content":{"rendered":"

People who visit the Stags Leap district of Napa Valley often drive past Pine Ridge (www.pineridgevineyards.com<\/a>).\u00a0 Maybe they\u2019re looking for the eponymous vineyards<\/a> or maybe they\u2019re just hurrying back to Napa town, but they really ought to pull over and stop at Pine Ridge.\u00a0 We have been there many times and have had diverse experiences, all wonderful.<\/p>\n

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Another reason people may pass by Pine Ridge is that the building itself cannot compare with the Napa palaces up and down the Silverado Trail. \u00a0To us, that\u2019s a positive.\u00a0 The winery itself is a pleasing structure, in a sort of Spanish mission style.\u00a0 The tasting room is also attractive but low-key.\u00a0 It has a bar and some wine on the walls and that\u2019s about it.<\/p>\n

What makes a visit to Pine Ridge come alive is the wine.\u00a0 They are best known by far for their Cabernet Sauvignon.\u00a0 As you can see on their web site, they have Cab, better Cab (which they call Fortis) and Other Red Wine.\u00a0 Interestingly, Pine Ridge produces Cabernet Sauvignon from three AVAs other than Stags Leap (Howell Mountain, Rutherford, Oakville) as well as several blends from their properties.\u00a0 It is unusual for all of them to be offered for tasting but of those we have tried, each has distinctly different characteristics.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss some of those \u201cother\u201d reds.\u00a0 There\u2019s a very fine Merlot and although we\u2019re just getting used to California Malbec, theirs is pretty good.\u00a0 We\u2019re not as fond of white wine as red, but some of their white varietals are quite interesting.\u00a0 They have a Rh\u00f4ne blend of Chenin Blanc and Viognier that isn\u2019t quite like anything else we\u2019ve tried in Napa Valley.<\/p>\n

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These sad days, all the tastings at Pine Ridge are outdoors, but when the pandemic passes and you can taste inside once again, ask for a tour of their caves and their tasting lounge for wine club members.\u00a0 By itself, that lounge is enough to make us consider joining their club.<\/p>\n

We must tell a few stories about the service we have received at Pine Ridge.\u00a0 On our most recent, and most impressive, visit on a cold December afternoon, we had a true educator <\/a>who showed Pine Ridge\u2019s wines to their best advantage and then led us on the aforementioned tour.\u00a0 In all our tastings there, this was the best.<\/p>\n

But it was not the most memorable.\u00a0 We came there once near the end of a hot summer\u2019s day.\u00a0 It was pleasant to sit out on their terrace and have the server bring us wine from inside.\u00a0 The fellow knew absolutely nothing about wine (when questioned, he brought us the book he was supposed to have already read) but he sure wanted us to have a good time.\u00a0 He was a host<\/a> extraordinaire.\u00a0 There was a few other couples on the terrace at that time and we were treated to a real party.<\/p>\n

By the way, when you pull into the parking lot, look to your left.\u00a0 There\u2019s a hill with some rows of vines.\u00a0 At the ridge of the hill, there is a row of pine trees.\u00a0 Aha!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People who visit the Stags Leap district of Napa Valley often drive past Pine Ridge (www.pineridgevineyards.com).\u00a0 Maybe they\u2019re looking for the eponymous vineyards or maybe they\u2019re just hurrying back to Napa town, but they really ought to pull over and stop at Pine Ridge.\u00a0 We have been there many times and have had diverse experiences, … Continue reading Pine Ridge Vineyards<\/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":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1672"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1672"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1683,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1672\/revisions\/1683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}