Day Six in California

Day six took us to the iconic Ridge Estate in the Santa Cruz mountains where we were met with Paul Draper.

Before we even arrived at the winery the drive up to the vineyard was memorable in itself. If you haven’t got a head for heights it may not be a drive you want to take, however the view is stunning, seeing all the way to San Francisco bay, as well as looking over silicone valley.

Paul took us around the winery and cellar where we were able to taste a 2013 barrel sample, the acidity was lovely and fresh, which is due to the high altitude and the fruit was rich.

The lunch was accompanied by a flight of theses iconic wines, the 2000 Geyserville I felt was the hit of the wines, although the 1988 Santa Cruz Monte Bello showed how well this wines can age. It was great to taste the more recent vintages but you can see they come in to their own with age.

The final visit of the week was spent at Hahn family run estate in the Monterey region, Central Coast. we were met by Andy the viticulture manger who gave us a vineyard safari, up through the vineyard until we reached the highest look out point in the vineyard. The experience and view was stunning. Waiting for us at the top was the SLH Pinot Noir matched with homemade duck tacos.

We had dinner on the patio, while we watched the sun go down behind the mountains. This really was a perfect end to such a wonderful week.