Not only are the wines of Ridge long-standing favourites of those who have been ‘in-the-know’ in terms of California wines, they are much-loved by the wine trade, and BI is no exception. They are quite simply incredible value, true wines of origin. However given their relatively small production and far-and-wide distribution they aren’t the easiest wines to get hold of – so wherever you can it is worth buying on release. Wines have been made from vineyards now worked by Ridge since the 1880s, but the vineyards fell into disrepair during Prohibition. They were resurrected and replanted in the 1940s before the modern story of Ridge began in 1959, when a group of Stanford Research Institute scientists decided to take over the Monte Bello vineyards as a hobby, with incredible results from ‘hands-off’ winemaking showing exactly how good the terroir here was. As dedicated champions of local, old-vine varietals, the Zinfandel-based wines of Geyserville and Lytton Springs followed in 1966 and 1972; in between which the founders hired the future winemaking legend, Paul Draper, in 1969. Over the next five decades he helped Ridge become recognised as one of the greatest wines in America, and truly deserving of the “Californian 1st Growth” tag.