The other Ridge winery facilities are at Lytton Springs in the Dry Creek Valley AVA of Sonoma County.

[1] Ridge Vineyard's 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon gained prominence for its fifth-place finish in the 1976 "Judgment of Paris" wine tasting.

Although Ridge Vineyards was founded in the early 1960s, wine production at the winery's Monte Bello location has a much longer history.

Grapevines were first planted on Monte Bello Ridge by Osea Perrone, a doctor and prominent member of the northern California Italian immigrant community, in 1885.

[1] Following Prohibition, the vineyard at Monte Bello passed through the hands of several amateur winemakers until it was purchased in 1959 by David Bennion, Charles Rosen, Hewitt Crane, and Howard Zeidler, all engineers at nearby Stanford Research Institute.

Beginning in 1966, the winery began sourcing some grapes for its Geyserville Zinfandel and other wines from vineyards in Sonoma County.

[1] The winery produces wine at both the Monte Bello and Lytton Springs locations, and operates tasting rooms open to the public at both.

Excited by the quality of the early wines, the partners decided to re-bond the winery in time for the 1962 vintage, calling their endeavor Ridge Vineyards.