Ridge Vineyards futures & pre-shipment offer

The lodestar of the Californian wine scene

As California attracts more and more vanity winemaking projects, it is easy to lose sight of the classic producers such as Ridge. Under Paul Draper's inspired management Ridge is a constant, producing brilliant quality wines year in, year out. As ever, they have staggered their releases, so we have wines from 3 different vintages here. Geyserville and Lytton Springs are two of the great names in the Ridge canon; both single site wines, both majority blends of Zinfandel with around 25% complementary varietals. In contrast, the East Bench is 100% Zinfandel, but again from a single vineyard.

It is Monte Bello, of course, that is the jewel in Ridge's crown. 2014 was a fairly early harvest for Monte Bello; while they tracked 52 different parcels, there was actually very little difference in ripeness, so harvest was short and fast. The assemblage will not be finalised till the end of this month, but is already showing extraordinary elegance. Vintage conditions, tannins and ripeness all point towards this Monte Bello being very close to the outstanding 2001 vintage.

Finally, we are able to offer something you don't see very often, the Monte Bello Chardonnay. 2012 was such a good vintage for this wine that it is the perfect year for us to have increased our allocation. /NT

Offered subject to confirmation for shipment: Monte Bello autumn 2017; other wines autumn 2015