Ridge Monte Bello — still my favorite New World winery
Last Monday we went up to Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello, and it was one of those visits that reminds you why you fell in love with wine in the first place. Bright sun above a sea of clouds, cool mountain air, and a view that stretches forever. On a clear day you can even spot the Apple “spaceship” far below in the valley. It feels remote, calm, and completely removed from Napa’s rhythm. That’s also an important point that many people miss: Monte Bello is not Napa. Ridge’s flagship wines come from the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA , a very different place. Higher elevation, cooler temperatures, rugged terrain, and thin, rocky soils. The wines reflect that—more structure, more acidity, more restraint, and a sense of place that’s unmistakable once you tune into it. A bit of history The Monte Bello Ridge existed long before Ridge the winery. The site itself was planted to vines in the late 19th century, with the first vineyards established in the 1880s by Osea Perrone, one of the early pione...