New RIDGE Wines Featured in Vinography Unboxed
Vinography
April 2026
Wine Writer Alder Yarrow’s regular column, “Vinography Unboxed,” highlights some of the best newly-released wines to cross his path, and the latest edition features five RIDGE wines! From Chenin Blanc to classic Zinfandels and field blends to Monte Bello Estate wines, he offers his insight on some of our most-anticipated new releases.
“I was very excited to get my first taste of Ridge Vineyard‘s Chenin Blanc this week, which was excellent and distinctive, along with a number of other new releases from the venerable brand. The Pagani Ranch and East Bench Zinfandels offer ripe, boisterous fruit, and the Geyserville and Lytton Springs field blends are predictably stupendous. I truly believe these two wines offer some of the best quality-to-price ratios anywhere in California wine, especially because they can age and improve for decades.”
New Wines & Zinfandels
2025 Heringer Chenin Blanc
Clarksburg, California
“Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of salty grapefruit, crushed nuts, and resinous herbs. In the mouth, pear and grapefruit flavors are shot through with rosemary and other herbal notes as lemon oil and white flowers linger in the finish. Slightly softer acidity than I would like, but a very compelling, complex flavor profile that is quite distinctive.” Score: ~9
The Geyserville and Lytton Springs fields blends are predictably stupendous. I truly believe these two wines offer some of the best quality-to-price ratios anywhere in California wine…
—Alder Yarrow
2024 Geyserville Vineyard
Alexander Valley
“Dark garnet in the glass with purple highlights, this wine smells of blackberries, licorice, blueberries, and chocolate. In the mouth, sweet oak flavors and coconut notes mix with blackberry, blueberry, dark chocolate, licorice, and dried herbs. Fantastic acidity and brightness, as well as supple, fleecy tannins, make for a complex and shimmering mouthful of flavors. Delicious.” Score: 9 – 9.5.
2024 Lytton Springs
Dry Creek Valley (Fall 2026 Release)
“Very dark garnet in the glass with purple highlights, this wine smells of black cherries, blackberries, and black plums. In the mouth, wonderfully juicy flavors of blackberries, black cherries, chopped cooking herbs, mint, and a touch of bourbon barrel have a fleecy mouth-coating tannic texture. The tannins gain weight and stiffness as the wine moves across the palate, and the finish at the moment has a distinct oaky sweetness that is more charming than distracting. Gorgeous acidity and wonderful depth and complexity without much weight. As usual, a tour de force.” Score: ~9.5.
2024 Paso Robles Zinfandel
Paso Robles
“Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherries, blackberries, and a hint of mocha. In the mouth, blackberries, black cherries, mocha, and dark chocolate notes have a lovely dusty tannic texture and a beautiful stony earthiness that balances the fruit beautifully. Excellent acidity and nicely integrated oak make this a sophisticated and almost regal expression of Zinfandel. Outstanding.” Score: 9-9.5.
2024 Three Valleys
Sonoma County (Fall 2026 Release)
“Dark garnet in the glass with purple highlights, this wine smells of blackberries, blueberries, and a hint of licorice. In the mouth, blackberry, blueberry, chocolate, and licorice flavors have a faint vanilla scent and a light suede-like tannic texture. Rich and ripe but with plenty of excellent acidity, which keeps the overall package bouncy and exhuberant. There’s a light sweetness to the finish.” Score: ~9.
2024 Pagani Ranch Zinfandel
Sonoma Valley (Fall 2026 Release)
“Very dark garnet in the glass with purple highlights, this wine smells of black licorice candy, blueberries, and chocolate. In the mouth, rich blueberry and blackberry flavors mix with dark chocolate, licorice, and a hint of minty herbs, and the coconut note of American oak. Light, suede-like tannins coat the mouth as excellent acidity keeps the ripe fruit bouncy and juicy. A little ripe for my tastes, but the flavors are hard to dislike.” Score: 8.5 – 9.
2024 East Bench Zinfandel
Dry Creek Valley
“An intense dark purple in color, this wine smells of blueberries, blackberries, and a hint of oak. In the mouth, blackberry, blueberries, black tea, and dried herbs are wrapped in fleecy tannins as sweet whiskey barrel notes of American oak linger in the finish. Very good acidity.” Score: 8.5 – 9.
Estate Wines
The 2023 Monte Bello, however, is a tour de force of a wine and represents one of my favorite vintages in many years…It’s a wine I already dream of drinking in 15 years.
—Alder Yarrow
2023 Monte Bello
Santa Cruz Mountains (August 2026 Release)
“Very dark garnet in the glass, this wine smells of violets, black cherries, blackcurrants, and sweet oak. In the mouth, supple, velvety tannins wrap around a core of black cherry and blackcurrant shot through with freshly chopped herbs and the sweet coconut note of American oak. Beautifully energetic and seamless, with great lift thanks to fantastic acidity, this is a wine with the sleek lines of a racecar, built for the long haul. The finish soars on for a long time. Give this 10 years and watch out.” Score: 9.5-10.
2023 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Santa Cruz Mountains
“Dark garnet in the glass with purple highlights, this wine smells of black cherries, oak, sour cherries, and a touch of blackberry. In the mouth, racy acidity makes tart red blackberry, black cherry, and sour cherry flavors mouthwatering and bright, as sweet American oak brings a coconut note and smooth fine-grained tannins to bear. Notes of black cherry, ink, and dried flowers linger in the finish. Young yet, in need of a couple of years’ bottle aging to really express itself fully, this will be a lovely wine in short order.” Score: 9-9.5.
2024 Estate Chardonnay
Santa Cruz Mountains
“Palest gold in the glass, this wine smells of flinty lemon oil, lemon curd, and wet chalkboard with a hint of oak. In the mouth, saline flavors of gunpowder, lemon peel, lemon pith, and lemon tart have a nice bright acidity and a faint chalky grip to them. Somehow both lean and rich at the same time, and very expressive, with good energy.” Score: 9.
2023 Lytton Estate Petite Sirah
Dry Creek Valley (Fall 2026 Release)
“Intense, inky purple in the glass, this wine smells of blueberries, wet chalkboard, ink, and wet earth. In the mouth, blueberry, iodine, wet earth, and notes of flowers mix with hints of sweet oak. Decent acidity keeps things fresh as monumental tannins coat the mouth and settle like a weight on the palate. Intense and dark, like a shadow you can’t see into fully.” Score: ~8.5.
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