Paul Draper, winemaker and CEO of Ridge Vineyards in northern California's Santa Cruz Mountains, believes fervently in single-vineyard winemaking. To that end, he sought out vineyard sites where the wines "make themselves" in terms of balance and distinctive quality.
For Mr. Draper, the vintner's role is that of guiding a natural process, not "making" wine as in an industrial process. Wine yeast is present on enough of the grapes in any parcel to carry out an ideal primary fermentation without the addition of commercial yeast or nutrients. Similarly, the naturally occurring malolactic bacteria carry out the secondary fermentation. It is the vintner who decides when to pick by tasting for full ripeness and when to press by tasting for tannin extraction. The best parcels of all varietals are selected for the single-vineyard wines through blind tasting.
For 30 years, Ridge Vineyards has aged its wines in air-dried American oak barrels, instead of French, based on taste preference. During barrel aging, decisions on racking to achieve natural clarity as well as when to bottle are determined not by recipe or production schedule, but by tasting.
Ridge Vineyards has made the Monte Bello since 1962, the Geyserville since 1966, and the Lytton Springs since 1972.
Awards:
Decanter Magazine: Man of the Year 2000
Food & Wine Magazine: Man of the Year
Society of Wine Educators: The Grand Award
Ridge Vineyards
17100 Monte Bello Road
Cupertino, CA 95014
www.ridgewine.com
Tel: 408-867-3233
Fax: 408-868-1350
e-mail: retail@ridgewine.com
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