A Dinner for Ridge

Blog Post

November 2022

In celebration of Ridge’s 60^th Anniversary, Paul Draper revisits one of several great Chez Panisse dinners. As Ridge’s winemaker and board member, Paul suggested to the founders that they start a tradition of going to the admired Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley for an annual directors’ dinner. The following words were written by Paul Draper, Chairman of the Board.

“In the mid-seventies, Maureen and I had met Alice Waters and Chez Panisse soon became one of our favorite restaurants. Alice had the 1968 Geyserville on her earliest wine list. As winemaker and a member of the board from the time I joined, I suggested to the founders that we should start a tradition of taking ourselves to Chez Panisse for an annual directors dinner. They had never treated themselves to any such outing before. Alice later published a book of her favorite menus. This was one of several menus printed of Ridge directors dinners. It was inspired by Fredy Giraudet’s three star Michelin restaurant in Switzerland, that was considered by 3 star chefs, Bocuse and Troisgros, as the greatest of all the three star restaurants.”

The Wines

• I provided the ’67 Hanzell Chardonnay, which I had served several years ago to Elaine Brown, and we found it to still be in near perfect condition after fifty years. Astounding!
• The 1974 Monte Bello Chardonnay was opened for a Ridge dinner I attended at Café Boulud in New York five years ago. In the opinion of Sommelier Edouard Bourgeois and all present, it was incredibly complex with no sign of fading at forty years of age.
• The 1959 Léoville-Barton, one of the finest of a great vintage, from my cellar, the last vintage with the original boar’s head label. The wine showed beautifully as it does today.
• The Ridge 1967 Monte Bello was tasted a few months ago by a select group organized by Karen McNeil and was voted number one over the 1976 Chappellet, Stag’s Leap, and Clos du Val, among others.
• The 1968 Longeri Cabernet Sauvignon I had made at Fundo San Jose in the Itata coastal region of Chile. Fritz Maytag and I had reopened this old adobe winery several years earlier. I made the ‘68 the year before I joined Ridge. To my surprise, everyone thought it tasted like the Monte Bellos I was making at Ridge.

“This dinner provided an early look at wines that would prove years later how fine wines can and should age.”

-Paul Draper, Chairman of the Board

Monte Bello, September 2022