Seventy-eight years later, in 1969, Paul Draper joined the winemaking team at Ridge. Draper, a Stanford graduate with a major in philosophy had spent part of the mid-sixties in Chile where he had set up a small winery along the coastal range. Draper was not a formal enologist but a practical winemaker who learned from trial and error in the vineyard and not the classroom. Draper introduced a very straightforward approach to making wine; by sourcing intense, flavorful grapes backed by minimal intervention in the vineyards he would gently draw the fruit and terroir’s distinctive character from the vines and highlight those key components in the wine. Ridge has been recognized by the House of Representatives and the California State Legislature for its excellence in water quality improvement and environmental stewardship and their Lytton Springs Winery has won numerous environmental awards for its green design. This “hands off” approach in the vineyards and winery at Ridge was in good measure responsible for sparking the high-end California winemaking revolution that began in earnest in the seventies.

Eighteen-years ago the Lytton Springs vineyards, located in the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County, became part of the Ridge estate. Today the winemaker at Lytton Springs is John Olney; he is none other than the nephew of world-renowned food and wine writer Richard Olney. As a boy John would summer with his uncle in the south of France where his love of food and fine wine was born and nurtured. Unlike Paul Draper, John Olney enrolled at the Lycée Viticole in Burgundy where he learned the craft of winemaking. In ’96, John joined the winemaking team at Ridge, and three years later he was put in charge of making wine at Lytton Springs.

The rich and deeply structured ’06 Lytton Springs is a blend of 80% Zinfandel, 16% Petite Syrah and 4% Carignan. On the nose the terroir of Lytton Springs announces itself immediately. Plum and mountain berry fruit aromas are joined by hints of fresh coffee, asphalt and undertones of spice. In the mouth the wine is dense, expansive and layered with fruit. Red cherry and black plum flavors stand toe to toe with notes of garrigue, baking spices, and fresh turned earth, over which touches of field flowers and road toar hover and follow through onto the long finish. This dynamic effort from Ridge is drinking beautifully right now and it will be a perfect wine to pair with your Thanksgiving feast as it will work wonders with the bird and all of the traditional trappings.

—Donald