2017 Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs Blend Dry Creek Valley 750 ml

There might be controversy over whether Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel is truly California’s marquee grape, but there’s no disputing which winery stands as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, producer of both: Ridge Vineyards. 

Ridge has been named North America’s #1 Most Admired wine brand (and #3 in the world) by Drinks International. It has been a Wine & Spirits magazine Top 100 winery 20 times. It placed fifth at the 1976 Judgement of Paris (and took the crown thirty years later) and produces the #1 most sought-after Zinfandel in the world, according to Wine Searcher. 

Today we’re honored to bring you Ridge’s iconic Lytton Springs. It’s a vibrant, intense, and age-worthy Zinfandel blend from the California winery that collectors and winemakers worldwide hold in the highest esteem. Don’t miss out on our first offer of Ridge’s iconic red at just $40 per bottle.

Grown on their historic Dry Creek Valley estate, the 2017 shows a saturated purple hue, and is bursting with aromas of plum, blackberry, and licorice, seasoned with hints of mint, sage and sweet spices. Rich, layered, and persistent, with the kind of vertical intensity you would find in a well-crafted Bordeaux blend. 

This is a red that will deliver immediate pleasure, but also thrive in the cellar: Vinous recommended that “readers lucky enough to own” the 94-point bottle should age it a few years. Christie’s auction house said Ridge’s Zins are “equally impressive in terms of structure, length, and age-ability” as their Bordeaux-style wines, and hailed the Lytton Springs site as “an exceptional piece of ground” that “consistently produce(s) wines that are cellar-worthy yet understated and sophisticated.” 

Ridge was founded in 1959, when four scientists from the Stanford Research Institute ascended Montebello Road in the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco and made a quarter-barrel of Cabernet. They immediately recognized its quality, and after two years, one of the founders, David Bennion, left his post at Stanford to oversee winemaking duties. In 1969, the group made the pivotal move of hiring Stanford graduate (in philosophy) Paul Draper as winemaker. The Cabernet he made two years later placed fifth at the 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting, and made Ridge a worldwide icon. 

Ridge had made their first Zinfandel in 1964, from the Pichetti Ranch located lower on Montebello Road, and a few years later headed north to the Zinfandel mecca of Sonoma County. In 1972, they made their first wine from the (then) 80-year-old Lytton Springs site, and it has been one of their most recognizable wines ever since. They purchased the property in 1991, and it’s now home to Ridge’s winery—“an above-ground cave” made of clay, sand, and straw—where all of their Sonoma County wines are produced. John Olney, who first joined Ridge as a cellar worker in 1991, has been Ridge’s VP of Winemaking at Lytton Springs since 2001.

The Lytton vineyards are located on the benchlands between Dry Creek and Alexander Valley, where foggy mornings burn off into warm and sunny afternoons, before the breezes pick up in the late evening. They’re planted with 100-plus year-old Zinfandel, as well as Petite Sirah, Carignane, Mataro (Mourvèdre), and Grenache, which are fermented separately using natural yeasts. 

Ridge is the largest grower of organically certified grapes in Sonoma County, and in the cellar they rely on what they call “pre-industrial” winemaking techniques: They eschew commercial enzymes and nutrients in the cellar, and allow the wine to undergo natural malolactic fermentation while aging in American oak. They’re also one of the only wineries in the world to voluntarily label their wines with a comprehensive list of ingredients. 

The result is gorgeous purity, with the vibrant fruit of century-old vines dominating in youth, and the firm acid making for a brightly balanced Zinfandel blend that can age a decade or more. No winery is more iconic, respected, and consistent than Ridge Vineyards, and no collection should be without a few bottles of Lytton Springs.