2009 Lytton Springs

Winemaker Eric Baugher showed me an extensive range of new and upcoming releases during my most recent visit, including a handful of older Monte Bellos that I wrote about in my article Seven Classics from Ridge and forthcoming library releases of the Geyserville and Lytton Springs that are reviewed here. Despite the effects of drought, two thousand fourteen turned out to be an outstanding vintage for Bordeaux varieties, not just in terms of quality but also in production. Ridge bottled all of their small lot Merlots and Cabernets, which means that readers with an interest in exploring the nuances of the various ranches that make up the present-day estate will have many different choices with which to do that. All varieties ripened within a fairly compact time range, which meant most of harvest took place within just three weeks or so.

I tasted a breathtaking array of wines during my recent visit with Paul Draper at Ridge. Draper is a true American icon, so it's great to see him doing well after a bout with illness. I also tasted a number of older wines, including several Monte Bellos going back to the 1970s. Heretical as it may sound, I think the wines Draper is making today will prove to be far superior to the wines of decades past, many of which are rightly considered legendary. For ease of reference I have also included notes on all of the Ridge wines made outside the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Chardonnays are fermented with native yeasts and go into barrel with their gross lees, which are stirred once a week. The malos usually start the following spring. The wines are assembled just before the following harvest and go back into neutral oak. Aging is about 15 months for the Estate and 17 months for the Chardonnay Monte Bello, with a maximum of 25% new barrels. The reds are fermented with ambient yeasts, undergo malolactic fermentation in tank (except for the Monte Bello which is mostly done in barrel) and stay on their gross lees until the following spring.