About Ridge

• Monte Bello Winery
• Lytton Springs Winery
• Video Profile of Ridge

Monte Bello Winery

Ridge history begins in 1886 when Osea Perrone, a doctor from northern Italy, bought 180 acres near the top of Monte Bello Ridge, on the San Francisco peninsula. He planted grapes on top of the ridge, and on its steep southern slopes, at the same time constructing his Monte Bello winery. Limestone cellars built into the hillside on two levels became the foundation of a large redwood building, where Perrone produced the first Monte Bello wines in 1892. Today, Ridge uses the historic winery for production and aging. Almost half of the surrounding acreage, abandoned during Prohibition, has been replanted; this is our "upper" vineyard.

In the 1940s, a retired theologian who loved farming as much as he loved fine wine, bought the adjoining Torre winery and its former vineyard. William Short replanted eight of the forty-eight acres to cabernet sauvignon and a small amount of chardonnay. In 1959, this 2300' "middle" vineyard was purchased by the Ridge founders as a weekend retreat for their families. One of the group, Dave Bennion, appropriated a small amount of that year's fruit, and produced the first "Ridge" Monte Bello cabernet. The exceptional quality of that wine inspired the founding families; they reopened the Torre winery as Ridge Vineyards in time for the 1962 vintage. By 1968, they had purchased the Perrone property. Paul Draper joined the group as winemaker in 1969; in 1971, he moved production to the old Monte Bello winery.

During the seventies, Ridge worked with the Schwabacher family to replant the nineteenth-century cabernet vineyards on their land further down the mountain, and in 1978 these young plantings produced the first Jimsomare Cabernet. In 1996, Ridge took over the Jimsomare vines, integrating them with Monte Bello as the "lower" vineyard. We select grapes from the more than thirty separate parcels on the lower, middle, and upper to make our Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains, and Home Ranch wines.

These vines have now produced over forty vintages of Ridge Monte Bello, whose ability to develop complexity with age is unmatched in California, and recognized worldwide.

To visit the Monte Bello winery, click here for details.