These “centenarian” vines were planted in 1886 – and while they use most of the fruit to make their delicious Vin Gris Rosé, since 2012 they’ve also been making a red. At 12.5 percent alcohol, this wine has incredible restraint but with an intensity that holds its own. There are notes of violet, pomegranate, wild flowers and cranberries, followed by a savoury, chalky tannin profile.
Fiona Hayes, Wine Buyer

This extraordinary vineyard lies next to an oil field (called the Jurassic Park Oil Centre – from which the vineyard takes its name). The soils have a layer of deep sand (meaning the vines are able to survive ungrafted), but beneath – and as the nearby pump jacks suggest – there is complex geology. Birichino works with three precious rows of the 40-year-old vines to produce this golden wine. It offers beeswax and orange blossom aromatics, with a citrus-fruit vibrancy on the palate. The linear core has hints of dried apricot that add breadth to the mouth-feel.
Fiona Hayes, Wine Buyer

Named after two Georges – Jr and the late Sr – with whom Birichino have worked for over 20 years, this Pinot Noir is made with fruit from various sites. The site owned and farmed by George Jr today (and originally planted for Josh Jensen at Calera) adds a botanical spicy element, while grapes from southern Monterey add a fleshy, juicy note. A touch of fruit from their Lilo site adds – in winemaker John’s words – “class”, and some Antel fruit “for a bit of guts”. Together they make a delicious Pinot – an “honest” wine, as John describes it. With a bright, red-berry fruit profile, the wine has classic New World Pinot perfume. It’s floral and spicy, but with a restraint that is typical of Volnay.
Fiona Hayes, Wine Buyer

This is – as one might expect from the non-conformist duo behind Birichino – atypical Zinfandel with balance and floral notes, rather than high alcohol and overripe aromas. Dried cranberries are layered with sweet spice, redcurrants, sour cherries and black tea notes. Pale ruby in colour, it is vibrant, with refreshing acidity and a silky texture.
Fiona Hayes, Wine Buyer

This is Birichino’s first bottled vintage from the Antle Vineyard. The grapes have – to now – been picked much earlier than the other sites winemakers Alex and John work with. Compared to their entry-level Pinot, Saint Georges, or their other single-vineyard Pinot, Lilo, this is a more muscular style, offering a rockier, grippier palate.
Fiona Hayes, Wine Buyer

100% Merlot. Rich, bright red fruits dominate this cuvee, with a density on the core of cherry and licorice. Tannins are rich and round with the sweetness form the American oak evident. Long length and concentrated.
Fiona Hayes, Wine Buyer

A blend of 75 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 14 percent Merlot, six percent Petit Verdot and five percent Cabernet Franc, the grapes for this wine come from Ridge’s iconic Monte Bello vineyard in the Santa Cruz mountains. The complex terroir and the elevation of the Monte Bello property, combined with meticulous attention to detail in the vineyards and winery enable the Ridge wines to age remarkably, while also offering accessibility in youth. This 2014 has a generous profile with a mix of red and black fruits. Sweet and savoury spice aromas combine with cloves, while a herbal top-note adds complexity and depth to this Bordeaux blend. It has a velvety texture with ripe but broad tannins and refreshing acidity. Drink now or keep for a further six to eight years (2024-26).
Fiona Hayes, Wine Buyer

Ridge Vineyards makes wines that compete in terms of quality and desirability with Bordeaux First Growths and Grand Cru white Burgundies. Founder Paul Draper has practised and engendered a practical, hands-off approach to winemaking at Ridge, one that has resulted in an exceptional and highly sought-after range of wines.

A dry, mild winter left the vines short of water. Fortunately summer fog cooled the nights, reducing stress. The grapes from each parcel where whole-cluster pressed and barrel fermented as separate lots. During malolactic, lees stirring added complexity. Fresh and wonderfully aromatic, this fine Chardonnay shows the elegance of the vintage. 

Ridge Vineyards makes wines that compete in terms of quality and desirability with Bordeaux First Growths and Grand Cru white Burgundies. Founder Paul Draper has practised and engendered a practical, hands-off approach to winemaking at Ridge, one that has resulted in an exceptional and highly sought-after range of wines.

A dry, warm winter prompted unusually early bud break; the small crop alleviated some water stress on the vines. Destemmed, the grapes fermented as whole berries, and were pressed on the seventh day. After barrel malolactics and fourmonths on their gross lees, the six lots were racked, combined, and returned to barrel; rich texture and intense mountain fruit supported a high percentage of new oak in aging. Enjoyable now, this superb vintage will develop further complexity to 2023.

In the words of Antonio Galloni of Vinous.com – “I don't think there is a finer California Cabernet Sauvignon today at this price, but if there is, I would like to taste it!”. Ridge vineyards has scored highly again at a London re-run of the Judgement of Paris, 40 years on from the original tasting. The 2005 Ridge Monte Bello came 3rd out of 11 wines beating the likes of Chx. Montrose, Mouton-Rothschild & Léoville las Cases.

The superbly crafted Estate Cabernet Sauvignon joined the range in 1979 to offer a softer, earlier drinking companion to the famed Monte Bello, produced from vines deemed to be too young for the Monte Bello proprietary red. 

The bonus with this wine is that it may be from declassified “Grand vin” grapes whereby affording the drinking a taste in the form of a “Baby Monte Bello” but at a 1/3 of the price. The wines of Ridge confirm that they can compete with the best in the world. 

A second year of drought led to a mild winter, and February budbreak. The unusually early start, small crop, and warm summer, moved the harvest from October to September for the first time in fifty years. Tannins extracted quickly, and we pressed at five days to maintain balance. We selected and combined seventeen lots which were then aged in new and one-year-old american oak for twenty months.

This fine vintage has intensity, firm acid, and a complex mineral element. Enjoyable now, it will develop fully over the next decade to 2026.
75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc

A great vintage for a perennially high class ‘Californian Cabernet’ has produced a wine of intense colour with ripe, dark fruit, well balanced tannins and a lovely seductive sweetness at the finish. Jancis Robinson goes so far as to describe it as “almost Lafite like in its raciness”.

A retaste of the flagship wine, the 2007 Monte Bello (a blend from this famous estate of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc) reveals a dense ruby/purple wine with a floral, blueberry, and earthy cassis nose and elegant mid-weight flavors with impressive purity and classicism. There is good acidity, firm tannin, and modest alcohol (13.1%). This is not the most concentrated or powerful Monte Bello, but one built on finesse and elegance. According to the back label, only 41% of the production made it into this wine from the 103-acre estate vineyard. Give this wine another good 5-7 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 20-25 years.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate # 193 - Feb 2011

Yields of just over a ton per acre have resulted in one of our most concentrated vintages ever. Intense black fruit, a pronounced mineral component, and subtle floral notes, combined with rich tannins, give the 2005 potential for greatness. Though it is difficult to identify another vintage of similar characteristics this early on, the exceptional 1996 might come closest.
Paul Draper - Winemaker - Ridge Vineyards

A wine of great balance, finesse and grace. Well-focused, the ripe, tart, rich blackberry and currant fruit is intense yet elegant, picking up earth, mineral and sage notes, and finishing with fine, well-integrated tannins
(Wine Spectator, June 00)

The great Ridge estate in California is justly renowned primarily for the sublime quality of its Monte Bello Cabernet, one of the world’s great wines. Less well-known, but equally worthy of note, are the Chardonnays produced from the estate’s vineyards grown high in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In exceptional vintages a Monte Bello Chardonnay is produced, but from the 2009 the main Chardonnay bottled here will be known as Ridge Estate Chardonnay. The cool climate and fractured limestone subsoil is highly evocative of Burgundy, and the Chardonnay from this location has a great resemblance to the great wines produced in that region. The bouquet exhibits a complex array of fruit aromas, including the tropical hints of pineapple and honeysuckle mingling with more temperate notes such as apple, pear and honeydew melon. On the palate there is a dash of butterscotch supporting the leesy, hazelnut-and-white peach flavour, with a touch of butterscotch from the oak. Five ages of barrel are used, with only 10% new to avoid imparting too strong a wood flavour, and the balance is 93% American oak and 7% French. Natural yeasts are used and the wine undergoes full malolactic fermentation, spending 15 months in barrel before bottling. One of the finest Californian Chardonnays on the market, brimming with lovely maturity and yet shot through with finesse.

The just-bottled 2010 Monte Bello combines pure structure and power in a rich, full-bodied style for this wine. Waves of dark red fruit, crushed rocks, flowers, mint and grilled herbs wrap around the long, insistent finish. Today, the 2010 is slightly more reticent than it was last year, but the wine comes to life the more it sits in the glass. Always classy, the 2010 Monte Bello impresses for its impeccable balance. Count me among those who will be thrilled to own this magnificent California classic. The 2010 is a decidedly virile, powerful Monte Bello, qualities winemaker Eric Baugher attributes to a year with a very cold summer and periods of heat that arrived only towards the tail end of the growing season. In 2010, the blend is 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Anticipated maturity: 2020-2040.
Antonio Galloni - Wine Advocate - Aug-2012

The 2011 Monte Bello (87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc) emerges from the glass with tobacco, grilled herbs, smoke, incense and plums melding together in this soft, beautifully textured Monte Bello. The 2011 is a wine of exceptional textural finesse. The 100% new oak is totally integrated. In 2011, Ridge used a total of 18 of a possible 24 lots for the final blend. The presence of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon is the highest since the 1980s. I expect the 2011 to be a relatively early drinking Monte Bello, but time will be the judge.
Antonio Galloni - Wine Advocate - Issue#202 Aug 2012

Ridge Vineyards makes wines that compete in terms of quality and desirability with Bordeaux First Growths and Grand Cru white Burgundies. Founder Paul Draper has practised and engendered a practical, hands-off approach to winemaking at Ridge, one that has resulted in an exceptional and highly sought-after range of wines.

This impressive 2013 is a Cabernet Sauvignon blend with less Merlot than usual, after the drought of 2013. This is an extremely concentrated wine, with powerful, seamless aromas of cassis and violet. A big wine, for sure, but drinking nicely from 2019 and onwards.