Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs

Ridge Vineyards is one of California's most respected wineries, and the Lytton Springs estate in Dry Creek Valley is its showcase for old-vine Zinfandel. Ridge has been farming the Lytton Springs vineyard since 1972, and the head-trained vines date back over a century. The result is a Zinfandel with the depth, complexity, and structure usually associated with old-world wines — not the fruit-forward, high-alcohol style that has come to dominate California Zin.

Ridge's philosophy is radical in its simplicity: estate-grown grapes, native-yeast fermentation, American oak, and minimal intervention. Every label lists every ingredient — a transparency level almost no other US winery matches. The Lytton Springs and Geyserville bottlings are the flagships, but the East Bench Zinfandel and the small-production single-vineyard wines are equally compelling for serious tasters.