Is Ridge the best American producer? Maybe, the Montebello is a truly transcendent bottle of wine.

The Ridge Lytton Springs wine is the second step up in the storied producer’s Zinfandel offerings. Celebrating their 50th vintage from this old vine site (that already had 80 year old vines on the property) the wine is Zin dominant with a bit of Petite Sirah, Carignane, and a kiss of Alicante Bouschet. It has a complex nose of boysenberry, cigar box, anise and sage, and is full-bodied with mouth coating tannins and balanced acidity to round it out. Notes of plum, blackberry, mineral, pepper, and dark chocolate play on the tongue. Yum.