The Library tasting is outstanding and Jul took great care of us. We enjoyed a walk to the vineyard with descriptions of several blocks and a view on the ridge with more history and winemaking information. Then we moved to our private tasting room to taste and learn about the vineyards , wines, and an amazing variety of their Library wines (wines from past releases). My personal favorite was the 2010 Monte Bello Cab blend. The charcuterie board is perfect for drawing out additional flavors from the various varietals. What a terrific experience!
John Smith
Very grateful to be hosted for an amazing tasting before heading to the airport. And my bottle of wine made it home safely!
Jul jul
I'm here to give py point of view about the Geyserville 2016 vintage wine. I opened it tonight and i'm amazed by the fulfiness of this wine. I didn't taste a such open and still wine from america until now. I'm gladly and happily stunned by the finesse of this wine. I think the fact of the coolness of production area helps to reach to this finesse. Smoky bouquet of wilted leaves of tobacco and fresh red fruits. Perfect balance between ripeness and freshness. Minerality is not so pregnant but we don't really care because this wine is so good. I'm a french people and i want to give some credit and value to abroad wines. I think deeply about the fact to value abroad wines is really important. After ten years sleeping in the fresh cellar, this wine is totally ready to be opened nowadays. But i don't doubt in his lifespan which can go beyond the 20 years. The team of the Ridge Wineyards can be proud to be such smart people to keep an high line of quality and morality about their wines. Bravo a vous tous.
John dB
We had an amazing time and ended up buying several wines we liked. Very knowledgeable team. Special thanks to Tony and Nick for their explanation and service!
Peter Farejowicz
Ridge Vineyards in Cupertino is my favorite hidden secret for wine tasting in the Bay Area. The red wines here are some of the best in California, with incredible depth and balance. They’ve even won multiple awards for them and beaten international competition in Europe. The wait staff were incredibly friendly and attentive without ever rushing us or making us feel ignored, which really elevated the tasting. The drive up is a bit windy, so be prepared, but once you reach the top the views are absolutely fantastic and well worth it. It is a relaxed, scenic, and memorable place to enjoy great wine, and I will happily come back again. In the meantime, this is a great place to pick up some of their smaller batch bottle inventory and bring back home with you.
G T
Just wanted to give a shoutout to Wendy, who patiently and graciously guided me through the process of purchasing a gift! Thank you for your help! :)
Gene Fetisov
Great place to visit. Please make sure you book in advance as they are by appointment only.
Michael Quigley
We made a tasting reservation and were planning on picking up some bottles. Got turned away and had to cancel our reservation as soon as we showed up because of our sleeping baby. We were the only ones at the tasting room at that time (this was a weekday). I didn't think to check for a no kids policy since I've seen kids here years ago and have not had issues at other wineries.
Patrick Langtry
Had a great time. I never really drink wine but they had some great ones to taste and the host was very friendly and knowledgeable and made the experience great
Erin Drum
Nick and Cosmo were fantastic hosts to our tasting. Their wines were lovely and our only regret is living in a state that alcohol cannot be mailed to, otherwise we’d be members in a heartbeat. The property itself is stunning and made the visit even better. We’ll absolutely return again if we’re in the area!
Josh is awesome- very wise and knowledgeable about wine and passionate about history of this great place.
Hayley
We actually discovered Ridge while in Oslo, Norway - we had a glass of Pinot Noir at a wine bar there and it was phenomenal. Come to learn that the vineyard is an easy 35min drive from our home! So we booked a tasting (tastings are by reservation only) to *hopefully* also buy a bottle of this pinot noir that we fell in love with! We learned that their pinot noir is made in very small batches, and not a single one on the menu this time of year - sure, I'm disappointed, but we're also here to try their other wines. Our tasting menu included a chardonnay, a 100% zinfandel, their geyserville (~70% zin), and their estate cab. every single wine was fantastic! I would have purchased one of each if they weren't so expensive. Ridge Vineyards has fantastic wines and I highly recommend them.
I took off 1 star because they seem to be all about exclusivity, in that they really push memberships. at every opportunity, they are mentioning all the things their members get that non-members don't get - from wine lists (an entire front and back menu of wines), to free tastings and exclusive events. Perhaps because of this, the vibe (from patrons and employees alike) feels... a bit uppity. I don't think you can purchase by the glass (although, to be fair, I didn't not ask - but there are no by the glass prices listed anywhere), which is part of the winery experience that I enjoy - have a tasting, then sit back with a glass and enjoy some more time.
Overall, we did enjoy our time at Ridge. The employees are very knowledgeable and informative, and very attentive. And *most importantly* the wine is fantastic!
M W
DONT USE THEIR RECOMMENDED TAXI SERVICE! I would have given them a five (or at least 4) stars, but the ending kinda screwed up our whole experience. As we had wine, we ordered a taxi service which was recommended by Ridge. The top one on their list - Bay Area Taxi Service turned out to be a HUGE SCAM. The driver didn’t tell us the price upfront, pretending it was a normal taxi rate. We took a short ride from the top of the mountain down to the bottom in Cupertino (max 15 mins ride), and when we were getting off the driver (who’d been really rude during the whole process btw) turned to us and went: $180 dollars pls. We were shocked but also regretted that we didn’t ask beforehand, so handed over our credit card, but the next day I saw my card was charged for $212!! What a scammer.. I’m going to report them, but as a tip to ridge - please stop recommending this illegal company to your customers anymore (otherwise it reflects really bad on you…)
UPDATE (one week after Ridge’s response): as of now I still haven’t heard anything from the Bay Area Cab company. I really don’t think they’re trustworthy people, and recommend Ridge to delist them from the cab recommendations.
RJ K
The best wine in California. We came to one of the private events and had an awesome experience. The wines are fantastic, and the people pouring the wines are full of knowledge and give a lot of information about the vineyard and its wines.
The Library tasting is outstanding and Jul took great care of us. We enjoyed a walk to the vineyard with descriptions of several blocks and a view on the ridge with more history and winemaking information. Then we moved to our private tasting room to taste and learn about the vineyards , wines, and an amazing variety of their Library wines (wines from past releases). My personal favorite was the 2010 Monte Bello Cab blend. The charcuterie board is perfect for drawing out additional flavors from the various varietals. What a terrific experience!
Very grateful to be hosted for an amazing tasting before heading to the airport. And my bottle of wine made it home safely!
I'm here to give py point of view about the Geyserville 2016 vintage wine. I opened it tonight and i'm amazed by the fulfiness of this wine.
I didn't taste a such open and still wine from america until now.
I'm gladly and happily stunned by the finesse of this wine. I think the fact of the coolness of production area helps to reach to this finesse. Smoky bouquet of wilted leaves of tobacco and fresh red fruits. Perfect balance between ripeness and freshness. Minerality is not so pregnant but we don't really care because this wine is so good. I'm a french people and i want to give some credit and value to abroad wines. I think deeply about the fact to value abroad wines is really important.
After ten years sleeping in the fresh cellar, this wine is totally ready to be opened nowadays. But i don't doubt in his lifespan which can go beyond the 20 years.
The team of the Ridge Wineyards can be proud to be such smart people to keep an high line of quality and morality about their wines.
Bravo a vous tous.
We had an amazing time and ended up buying several wines we liked.
Very knowledgeable team.
Special thanks to Tony and Nick for their explanation and service!
Ridge Vineyards in Cupertino is my favorite hidden secret for wine tasting in the Bay Area. The red wines here are some of the best in California, with incredible depth and balance. They’ve even won multiple awards for them and beaten international competition in Europe. The wait staff were incredibly friendly and attentive without ever rushing us or making us feel ignored, which really elevated the tasting. The drive up is a bit windy, so be prepared, but once you reach the top the views are absolutely fantastic and well worth it. It is a relaxed, scenic, and memorable place to enjoy great wine, and I will happily come back again. In the meantime, this is a great place to pick up some of their smaller batch bottle inventory and bring back home with you.
Just wanted to give a shoutout to Wendy, who patiently and graciously guided me through the process of purchasing a gift! Thank you for your help! :)
Great place to visit. Please make sure you book in advance as they are by appointment only.
We made a tasting reservation and were planning on picking up some bottles.
Got turned away and had to cancel our reservation as soon as we showed up because of our sleeping baby. We were the only ones at the tasting room at that time (this was a weekday).
I didn't think to check for a no kids policy since I've seen kids here years ago and have not had issues at other wineries.
Had a great time. I never really drink wine but they had some great ones to taste and the host was very friendly and knowledgeable and made the experience great
Nick and Cosmo were fantastic hosts to our tasting. Their wines were lovely and our only regret is living in a state that alcohol cannot be mailed to, otherwise we’d be members in a heartbeat. The property itself is stunning and made the visit even better. We’ll absolutely return again if we’re in the area!
Restaurantji Recommends
Great wine, great views!
Josh is awesome- very wise and knowledgeable about wine and passionate about history of this great place.
We actually discovered Ridge while in Oslo, Norway - we had a glass of Pinot Noir at a wine bar there and it was phenomenal. Come to learn that the vineyard is an easy 35min drive from our home!
So we booked a tasting (tastings are by reservation only) to *hopefully* also buy a bottle of this pinot noir that we fell in love with! We learned that their pinot noir is made in very small batches, and not a single one on the menu this time of year - sure, I'm disappointed, but we're also here to try their other wines.
Our tasting menu included a chardonnay, a 100% zinfandel, their geyserville (~70% zin), and their estate cab. every single wine was fantastic! I would have purchased one of each if they weren't so expensive.
Ridge Vineyards has fantastic wines and I highly recommend them.
I took off 1 star because they seem to be all about exclusivity, in that they really push memberships. at every opportunity, they are mentioning all the things their members get that non-members don't get - from wine lists (an entire front and back menu of wines), to free tastings and exclusive events.
Perhaps because of this, the vibe (from patrons and employees alike) feels... a bit uppity. I don't think you can purchase by the glass (although, to be fair, I didn't not ask - but there are no by the glass prices listed anywhere), which is part of the winery experience that I enjoy - have a tasting, then sit back with a glass and enjoy some more time.
Overall, we did enjoy our time at Ridge. The employees are very knowledgeable and informative, and very attentive. And *most importantly* the wine is fantastic!
DONT USE THEIR RECOMMENDED TAXI SERVICE! I would have given them a five (or at least 4) stars, but the ending kinda screwed up our whole experience. As we had wine, we ordered a taxi service which was recommended by Ridge. The top one on their list - Bay Area Taxi Service turned out to be a HUGE SCAM. The driver didn’t tell us the price upfront, pretending it was a normal taxi rate. We took a short ride from the top of the mountain down to the bottom in Cupertino (max 15 mins ride), and when we were getting off the driver (who’d been really rude during the whole process btw) turned to us and went: $180 dollars pls. We were shocked but also regretted that we didn’t ask beforehand, so handed over our credit card, but the next day I saw my card was charged for $212!! What a scammer.. I’m going to report them, but as a tip to ridge - please stop recommending this illegal company to your customers anymore (otherwise it reflects really bad on you…)
UPDATE (one week after Ridge’s response): as of now I still haven’t heard anything from the Bay Area Cab company. I really don’t think they’re trustworthy people, and recommend Ridge to delist them from the cab recommendations.
The best wine in California. We came to one of the private events and had an awesome experience. The wines are fantastic, and the people pouring the wines are full of knowledge and give a lot of information about the vineyard and its wines.
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