Ridge CEO & President Mark Vernon to Retire

November 2025 | Cupertino, CA

Ridge Vineyards announced today that long-time executive Mark Vernon is retiring at the end of the year. “It has been a wonderful 27 years working at Ridge,” stated Mr. Vernon. “When Paul Draper hired me in 1998 to help Ridge modernize its business operations, while preserving its strong employee culture, I did not foresee how attached to Ridge I would become and how long I would end up working here.”

Mr. Vernon grew up in Palo Alto and enjoyed drinking Ridge wine long before he started working at Ridge. He was the CEO & President of two software companies prior to making the switch to the wine business and joining Ridge in 1998. “At Ridge, I was fortunate to find a group of highly skilled and motivated people with a shared passion for producing and selling some of the finest wine in the world,” said Mr. Vernon.

Mr. Vernon will continue as a member of the Ridge Board of Directors where he will become Chairman. Current Board Chairman Paul Draper will be stepping down from the Board but will continue to advise Ridge as Winemaker Emeritus. “With my 90^th birthday approaching, I felt the time was right to end my service on the Board. However, I will continue to actively assist the team at Ridge with what I love most – being involved with the making of some of the world’s finest wines,” explained Mr. Draper.

Head Winemaker John Olney to Assume CEO Position

John Olney, a 29-year Ridge veteran, will take on the role of CEO while continuing his duties as Head Winemaker. “Ridge was founded on the belief that great wine is first and foremost a product of special vineyard sites and the natural process rather than on the person – the winemaker. This belief is at the root of the high-quality bar that Ridge set for itself decades ago. My focus has always been and will continue to be to uphold the quality and authenticity of Ridge wines for many years to come,” said Mr. Olney.

In 1994, Mr. Olney enrolled in enological studies at the Lycée Viticole de Beaune in Burgundy to learn the craft of winemaking. Before coming to Ridge, Mr. Olney worked at Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant as well as with several European winemakers including Gérard Chave in the Rhône, Lucien Peyraud at Domaine Tempier and Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Mr. Olney perfected his winemaking skills at Ridge under the guidance of Mr. Draper and is now passing along “the Ridge way” to the next generation of winemakers at Ridge, including Lytton Springs Winemaker Shauna Rosenblum, Lytton Springs Assistant Winemaker Michael Bairdsmith, and Monte Bello Assistant Winemaker Lauren Lyall.

Ridge also announced the promotion of Michael Torino, Senior Vice President of Global Sales, to President; Ryan Moore, Senior Vice President of Consumer Sales, to Chief Operating Officer; and Charles Marin, Senior Vice President of Finance, to Chief Financial Officer.

“I am confident that this long tenured and very capable management team will successfully lead Ridge into the future by maintaining the company’s clear focus on producing and selling wines of the highest quality,” concluded Mr. Vernon.

Portraits & Bios