Ridge Vineyards

The weekend before I started at Merryvale, Marc and I headed down to Ridge in Cupertino. It was one of the last wineries in the Santa Cruz mountains area that I wanted to get to before I moved up to Napa. It was also the last of the 3 R's known for their Zinfandels, accompanying Rosenblum and Ravenswood.

The Santa Cruz mountains are beautiful, but the wineries up there feel like they take forever to get to due to all those steep hair-pin turns. It was a lazy day, so by the time we got down there, the tasting room was only open for another hour or so. The view was beautiful, but the tasting experience was lackluster. Either our pourer was not too knowledgeable about the wines or she was just anxious to get out of there. She was a lot less talkative than most tasting room employees I've encountered. However, she did waive the $5 tasting fee for us. I wasn't impressed with Ridge so much as to buy a whole bottle, and it didn't look like I was getting a discount, but we settled on a 375 ml bottle of 2004 Lytton Spring Zinfandel (79% with 18% Petite Syrah and 3% Carignane). It's still in the bottle, in my overflowing wine rack. A review will come whenever the cork gets popped.

Grapes on the vine

View of the South Bay


Marc enjoying the view


Picnic benches outside of the Ridge tasting room

Gene Simmons Wine Moment

So I'm watching Gene Simmons Family Jewels and he sends Shannon Tweed and her sister to a winery to represent him because they're going to make a wine for him. They're trying to brainstorm names for the wine and Shannon's sister suggests "Genie In A Bottle," but my favorite suggestion was by his son Nick: Gene Simmons Balls Wine. Classic.

No word as to when this wine will come out or what it will be called, but I will let you all know when I find out.

Speaking of musicians with their own wine labels, a little while back I ordered a bottle of Claypool Cellars (yes, that's Les Claypool of Primus fame) Purple Pachyderm, a 2007 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. It is now in my possession and I am waiting for the perfect opportunity to open it up. It's in the queue with about 8 other wines.


The very cute Purple Pachyderm logo


Les Claypool and his winemaker Jay Meyer

I am so behind!

So I just got my internet set up here in Napa, so I am behind on my posts. I still owe you Ridge and Rosenblum Open House entries.

In more recent news, we're currently bottling Merryvale's premium Profile. I've had many days of being able to taste this wine, and, without quite knowing exactly how to articulate it, this is a damn good wine. It will be stellar if you can hold onto it for a few years. The 2004 vintage is comprised of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Petit Verdot, 7% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. I think the 2007 make-up is slightly different, but not exactly sure how. You think I'd know these things, but I get all of my sample bottles without labels. Retail price: a cool $75.