On Top of the World: A Trip to Ridge Wine - Now with Certified Vineyards!

A beautiful view from the top of the world at Ridge

Saturday I finally had a chance to visit Ridge Wine, atop the hills above Cupertino...and what a glorious spot it is.

This grande dame of California Cabs and Zin rightly earned her place in the wine firmament in the famed Judgement of Paris in 1976 and then re-upped in the rematch 30 years later in 2006 in the top spot over some of the most famous red wines of France. (See photos below).

Display at Ridge tasting room showing the 1976 and 2006 Paris tastings 

Since that time the winery also bought superb vineyards in the Dry Creek region in Sonoma where it also makes righteously famous Zins - some from 100 year old vines.

The good news now is that after a long time of growing wine grapes organically Ridge has made the decision to become certified organic. About 40% of the vineyards have been certified; more are in transition. (It takes three years of being organic to be certified.)

I asked hospitality and retail sales manager Christopher Watkins, at Ridge's Montebello tasting room  why the winery decided to become certified and he said the winery's wholesalers recommended it. (This makes me curious to speak to someone higher up in the wine distribution chain to see what they are thinking, researching, and analyzing to bring them to this recommendation.)

Certification (Made with Organic Grapes) will begin to appear on the labels of the 2012 releases, Watkins said.

Enjoy these photos from my visit...

The old vines atop the ridge at "The Knob" by the picnic spot

Picnic area, looking up towards The Knob view point

Tasting room in the end of the day light

Tasting room display

Tasting menu - note: the more reasonably priced "Estate Cabernet" is out of stock in tasting room; but you can find some of it to buy online. The Ridge web site still has magnums for sale.

I searched online after visiting the winery and bought a case of the Estate online from elsewhere. 

My friend joined the Collectors wine club (the only way to get a good deal on Montebello) - their famous Cab (Bordeaux blend) - rated 98 points by Robert Parker (for those who count points).

Their Collectors Wine Club costs about $300 a year and for that you get two futures bottles of Montebello (list price $160 a bottle; for club members $90), and then you must also take a minimum of 3 additional bottles each year. 

Ridge is a true part of California's wine legacy. A trip to the tasting room doesn't involve a vineyard tour or many of the trappings one gets at many a Napa winery, but it gets to the point - great wine, consistently produced great wine over a long long span of time, and world class bragging rights - all right here in our own backyard.

And now - it's certified organic fruit! 

$5 Biodynamic Cab and Syrah! Shopping the Bargain Bins - 2007 Mendocino Farms Cab at Grocery Outlet

A rich friend who's good at stretching his funds told me the secrets of his wine cellar last night - Grocery Outlet's wine department. This super budget grocery chain has stores in both Berkeley and Oakland (and elsewhere), so today I was anxious to check it out, based on my friend's advice, and see if there could possibly be any organically grown wine for sale.

Boy oh boy - what a doozey. Right there - with a giant endcap display - was all the 2007 Mendocino Farms Cabernet you could imagine - for $5 a bottle. $5. This is at least a $25 bottle of wine...and it still sells on the internet for as much as $40 a bottle.

This wine, dear readers, was lovingly grown at several of Mendocino's most beautiful, precious, Biodynamic  vineyards - Heart Arrow Ranch and Fairbairn.

The famous Morry's wine store in Los Angeles, waxed enthusiastically about these wines, just a short while ago.

And they sell online at 1000corks.com for $488 a case.

But you can get it for $60 for 12 bottles at Grocery Outlet. Hurry!

The selection includes the 2005 and 2007 Cabernet and a 2007 Syrah. Unbelievable. I can't wait to open my three bottles to sample and then head back for more.

Grocery Outlet is open throughout California and a few nearby states. See the map here for store locations.

California Cabs - Wine Spectator's Top Organic Picks

Since I traveled in Italy, Sicily and Greece for most of the fall, I'm still catching up on my wine mags. It's a pleasure to flip through the pages all at once, and I almost feel like I'm tasting some great wines.

Wine Spectator's Nov. 15 issue features the 2009 vintage of California Cabernets. Many great Napa vineyards are featured and it's worth mentioning the organically grown ones on James Laube's recommendations.

Spottswoode's St. Helena Family Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon (96 pts, $145) makes the list for the best Cabs, in a very tight field where scores ranged from 96 to 97 among 13 wines. In fact, it almost seems like the "value" wine in the top 13 when you look at the prices for Schrader Cellars' Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard MM IX at $400 and Harlan Estate (96 pts) and Screaming Eagle (97 pts, both priced at $750 a bottle. Outta control, people.

Of the Spottswoode, Laube writes, "Beautifully crafted, showing a subtle mix of dried herbs, baking spices, and floral scents, with a light core of currant and blackberry flavors."

In the Top Values category, you'll find Chappellet, of Pritchard Hill, on the list with its Mountain Cuvee Napa Valley (89 pts) at $32 a bottle. They make more about 15,000 cases of this annually. This wine, alas, is not sourced wholely from their own organically certified vineyards, but it's worth noting here that their more expensive Cabernets will be, starting with the 2012 vintage. Note that it takes three years of organic viticulture to become organically certified, so any of the estate grown vintages since 2010 would also be organically grown.

There's also a short feature on the Pritchard Hill area in the mag, featuring several photos of Chappellet which is nice to see. I look forward to finally getting up there and doing some tasting when the weather gets a little nicer.

Other Cabernets that are grown organically that are listed in the A-Z section of the 2009 Cabs feature include:

94 points
• Dana Howell Mountain Hershey Vineyard ($325)

93 points
• Dana Napa Valley Lotus Vineyard ($325)

92 points
• Araujo Eisele Vineyard ($305)
• Dana Rutherford Helms Vineyard ($325)
• Staglin Family Cabernet Rutherford ($185)

91 points
• Ehlers Estate St. Helena 1886 ($95)

90 points
• Chappellet (in transition) Pritchard Hill ($135)

88 points
• Longmeadow Ranch (($45 - Napa Valley - but is this estate grown?)

86 points
• Grgich Hills ($60)
ª Inglenook, Rutherford Cask ($75)

85 points
• Volker Eisele ($45) (2008)

Having listed them in point order, I should say I don't believe in the point system, but am just aggregating information on WS's rankings.

Volker Eisele's Terzetto ($75) Outranks Joseph Phelps Insignia ($225) in Wine & Spirits Year's Best Cabernet Blends List

Wine & Spirits Magazine just announced its Year's Best Cabernets and Blends list.

While a number of the usual outstanding organic Napa cabs made the list, a standout achievement from my point of view was the long overdue and appropriate recognition for Volker Eisele's Terzetto.

When I first got interested in organically grown wine, Volker was the first person I met who embodied the ideals I imagined a grower and a winery should have. He's been organic since the 1970s. He fought to preserve the valley from development - in fact, he was one of the two main champions of the fight to save Napa from pro-growth forces (which included many famous wineries who have profited mightily from the restricted growth. Read James Conaway's wonderful book Napa for the whole story).

Joseph Phelps is a great winery and world famous for its Insignia blends. It is like a Ferrari, while Volker's outfit is home grown and family run, yet very sophisticated when it comes to growing great grapes and making wine.

If you haven't been to visit the winery, located up in beautiful Chiles Valley, in a remote and gorgeous setting, this might be a good reason to go. (Just give them a call up there).

The winery makes only 3 wines - a Cabernet Sauvignon, a white Bordeaux blend called Gemini (Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc). and the Terzetto (equal parts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot all co-fermented together).

This wine rated 93 points from the judging panel (which blind tasted the wines) consisting of Josiah Baldivino of Michael Mina, Ian Becker of Arlequin and Absinthe, Rebecca Banks of Balthazar in NY, and others.

Organics On Wine & Spirits List of Year's Best Cabernets and Cab Blends

Frog's Leap's 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (92 points)
Wine & Spirits Best Cabernets of the Year
Ahead of Staglin Family (91 pts.,/$185) and Ridge
At $45 ($40 online) a W&S BEST BUY

Is this the Olympics of California wine?


Each year, we wait to see who will get the best cabernet ratings in various competitions. In this case, it's the Wine & Spirits year's best rankings.


The overall ratings game is not quite as exciting since Parker stopped tasting California wines himself for the Wine Advocate, but it's still a tiny thrill to see where the organically grown wineries wind up on this and other year's best lists. 


Here are the organically grown ones from the Wine & Spirits list.


CABERNETS

94 Points


• Spottswoode
2007 St. Helena Napa Valley, $136

92 Points

• Frog's Leap
2008 Napa Valley Cabernet, $45
Best Buy
(Not 100% certified grapes as Williams buys grapes from "practicing organic" growers)

91 Points

• Rubicon Estate
2007 Rutherford Napa Valley Cask Cabernet Sauvignon, $75

• Staglin Family
2008 Rutherford Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, $185

90 Points

• Chappellet
2008 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, $135
(midway in the 3-year transition to certified organic)

• Peju
2007 Rutherford Napa Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, $105

CABERNET BLENDS

For comparison's sake, the top wine was Ridge Montebello (95 pts./$146) while Rothschild-owned Dominus 2008 Napa Valley ($149) came in at 93 pts.

93 Points

• Benziger
2008 Sonoma Mountain Tribute, $80
100% biodynamic
79% Cabernet Sauvignon with Cab Franc, Petit Verdot, and Merlot

• Rubicon Estate
2008 Rutherford Napa Valley Rubicon, $200

• Volker Eisele
2007 Napa Valley Terzetto, $75

91 Points

• Joseph Phelps
2007 Napa Valley Insignia, $225
100% biodynamic grapes (even though they don't like to advertise this, they are)

90 Points

• Rubicon Estate
2007 Rutherford Napa Valley Rubicon, $145