Ridge Vineyards Review

Excellent Santa Cruz mountain winery minutes from Cupertino.

Great wines, super nice and knowledgeable staff. You can also picnic there - don't forget to buy a bottle before

One of my favorite wineries and an excellent place to bring a picnic for an afternoon of wine tasting. Amazing views of the valley. Their midweek reservation only seated tasting is a great experience and a good alternative to going on crowded weekends.

The Ridge Vineyards that helped establish California as a world class wine making area. Fantastic wines with a rich history. Worth the roughly 20-30 minute trip from the heart of Silicon Valley. Great views too.

Beautiful place with a really nice staff. Must try.

Wine is good and scene is beautiful. Would be perfect if food is provided to stay there longer.

Great reds, stunning views and recent additions to seating makes for an enjoyable day.

Pretentious and for what? LOL

They have rattle snakes here, wine is ok but overpriced; the tasting room looks like an old bar/barn. Expected a more relaxed farming operation but we found quite the opposite! What does this winery have to make it stand out? Absolutely nothing! It s the views that are breathtaking and they even failed to capitalize on the vistas too!
Staff is fake and often misinformed. We had 2 tiny dogs (frenchies) and wanted to sit outside and they said they don t want this place become a dog park. Ha!
Heading to the Mountain Winery and Piccheti - they have the art of wine making and stellar customer service down! Perhaps Ridge Winery should take note!
Seen wineries from Southern France, Italy, Spain, Napa and Sonoma. Ridge Winery? NO, THANKS!
Reality doesn t meet expectation!

Loved the wine and the scenery. The tour of the winery was pretty interesting.

Fabulous wine, great customer service and gorgeous views. I'll be back!

This was our first time at Ridge and we were really happy with our private tasting hosted by Rosalee. The property itself was gorgeous but her attention to detail in its history and operation was truly impressive. Will certainly be visiting this vineyard in the future.

Exceptional wines. The Estate Cab is a steal and the Montebello is exceptional.

Wonderful staff, service, and views, but most important, amazing wine!

If you can survive the windy road up, Ridge is a friendly spot with a great view.

Amazing wine, knowledgable staff and great views. Pinic areas give you a chance to nibble and drink wine outside. Love it.

Great place and wine. Got an extra sample when mentioned that came from Chile :)

Great views and beautiful place, but the wines were just okay, in my opinion. Hype has built this place up for sure.

Visited with the staff great place use nice Mets different people from different places En England French met with the winemaker, people been working there for 30 years long time met with the Sun big family up there this enjoyed it had a real nice dinner visit again

Wonderful staff amazing scenery and of course good vino. What else can we ask for?

A great little vineyard with a tasting room at the peak of a hill, which boasts vines established in the 1940s and counts Chez Panisse and French Laundry among the restaurants which serve their wines. Lovely landscaping and shaded picnicking areas make it ideal for spending an entire afternoon. Favors red wine drinkers, as Chardonnay is the only white offered.

Fabulous wine paired with great views of Silicon Valley

An old colleague recommended this winery to me years ago. Now its my go to wine. Next time I visit this place, I'll be joining the club.

Incredible Wines, Friendly and Knowledgeable Staff, Beautiful Ridge Top View of Santa Clara Valley and Silicon Valley!

Wonderful wine, amazing staff and a memorable view. I always like coming up here for a picnic before heading in to pick up a bottle or two. If you're a member, don't forget to take advantage of the occasional private tour and tasting.

A historic vineyard. Some of the best Californian wine

Great wines and vistas. Winding drive and no long limos, major hairpin turns.

One of the nicest place at to taste wine while still near the peninsula. Incredible views and even better zins

Iconic Santa Cruz winery. Gorgeous spot, and an awesome place for a summer picnic. The wines are top notch. Ridge zins, in particular, are legendary. And the tasting staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. I have visited several times and I am sure I will be back!

Phenomenal views of the San Jose valley. Great outdoor picnic area space to bring some snacks and enjoy a nice tasting or bottle of wine, highly recommend! No dogs allowed due to rattlesnakes.

Scenic winery on top of the mountains with good wines and staff. We biked up there and it was quite a climb. Nice patio and picnic areas. The wine flight at $15 is a reasonably priced and offers good wines. The rose, chardonnay and the cab are good, particularly the 2015 cab is big; it needs a few years aging to become further refined.

Very cool..and scenic winery. We have been here twice. First time a few years ago, 5 stars. This time around, staff was a bit too stuffy and arrogant. On the fence if we would return.

Amazing zins, fantastic and knowledgeable service and one of the best views from a winery. Great place to take a picnic or just relax with some wine.

I have to say that the wine is good but I am not sure it is worth the trouble.

When there before and enjoyed an afternoon with friends tasting the wine and based on that I joined the club. Wine is of course reasonably higher priced and to pick up the order you may end up waiting a year.

But..
When trying to find out if I had a pick up, I had to call back 3 times because each time they hung up the phone on me. The final time I was able to reach someone, the person didn't know if I had wine to pick up (guess they could not check) and said that the manager would try to call me back.

So.. wine is good but... dealing with waiting and then the customer service... in my mind maybe not worth it.

Very good wine, professional and very friendly staff.......and a fantastic view!!

Beautiful winery that sits above the fog line on top of Montebello. It is quite hairy getting up there with some crazy hairpin turns, and you'll have to watch for cyclists too. Once you get up there, you are rewarded with wonderful views and excellent wine. Picnic tables are available. Signs point to rattlesnakes and mountain lions in the surrounding area. If you plan a visit, make it a leisurely one, as you'd want to linger and enjoy the scenery.

One of the best wineries in the Bay Area - great view of the valley, excellent Syrah

It sure is hard to get to, but once you arrive at Ridge Vineyards, you will find that the reward is worthwhile.

bF and I came on a Sunday afternoon with our picnic in-tow. We arrived at just about 2:30pm and saw that most of the shaded picnic tables were taken. We went inside the tasting room to do our tsting first and when we came back out, most of the lunch crowd had left - resulting in plenty of shady tables with fantastic views.

Ridge only makes 1 white wine -- the estate chardonney. I found it to be light and crisp, perfect for a hot day. This was what we ultimately ended up having with our picnic lunch.

But anyone who knows Ridge will tell you that the real gem is their Monte Bello cab which typically improves over 15-20 years We joined the club without much hesitation and now... its simply a test of patience.

Came in for a tasting with some friends and came out with a couple bottles :) Our som, Leslie was wonderfully helpful and knowledgeable. Definitely keeping this place in mind to come back and have a picnic.

If you only have time to visit one winery in the Santa Cruz mountains, visit Ridge.

A lovely mountain top location with a commanding view of Silicon Valley. Ample space inside and out for wine tasting. Friendly and very knowledgeable staff. Of all the wineries I ve been to over the years, this is the first one where I enjoyed every wine that I sampled. And their flagship cab was to die for.

Boutique winery. You can't go wrong if you like robust California style red wines. Their zins are absolutely delicious and the Montebello cabernet Sauvignon is stuff off legend.

Sooo Disappointed
I am a HUGE fan of the ridge zinfandels. In fact, they can almost do no wrong in my eyes.
However, I was left hugely disappointed by my trip to the vineyards today.
I am from London and out of the 10 zinfandels that the ridge produce, only 2 are commonly available in the he UK.
As these are my two favourite wines, I travelled from the UK to visit the vineyard to try the other eight.
This turned out to be a huge assumption on my part. Despite making 10 zinfandels, only 3 were available for tasting in the tasting rooms.
I explained how far I had travelled.
I explained I'd like to buy a case of two.
There was no movement.
The staff were charming but 'their hands were tied', apparently.
If you can't taste a vineyards wines at the tasting rooms, where the hell can you?
I won't be back.

Great wines. Views of Silicon Valley as good. Go with a member and reserve a picnic.

The wine is good. Atmosphere is great. The view is awesome!

Incredible wine, affordable tastings, great views, and friendly service. Really difficult to beat this place if you like good wine.

A fun place to go wine tasting or have a picnic. The outdoor area with picnic tables has sweeping views of the South Bay and is covered for shade on warmer days. The drive up here is a bit long on a single lane road, but worth it if you love big reds. The wine list is (obviously) dominated by Ridge's famous Zinfandels, but they also have a single estate Merlot and a Cabernet that are excellent as well. This is Ridge's original vineyards and the tasting room is in a rustic building with a beautiful wood interior. The people pouring the wine are super friendly and at $5-10 for a 4 tasting flight it's decent value. Much nicer/less hectic atmosphere than their tasting room outside Healdsburg, and so much closer if you live in the South Bay.

We liked their higher end reds but not enough to justify the price and the drive required to get there. We did not try the zin's however and we may be missing something there.

The best wines, great customer service and a breathtaking setting.

Great winery! Quick stop for a tasting. Great customer service and great wine.

A very nice place in the Cupertino and Saratoga Hills. it's quite secluded from the normal scenery given the long winding road to the top of the hill. Check out their award-winning Montebello as well as the cab and Chardonnay which are excellent choices. Bring a hat as it can be hot and sunny outside but their outdoor area is great for picnics.

Amazing wines (Zins!), with commanding views of Silicon Valley and Santa Cruz Mountains.

Wonderful grounds. Not sure about the wine... winery closed early at 2pm today. Google search stated 5pm. There is an annual private party and the coordinator neglected to update the Google search listing the times the winery is open to the public.

Wines are good but not my favorite. The picnic area and views are what make this place special!

What a beautiful venue. Plenty of areas to sit and enjoy the amazing views and picnic. Great wine, great staff and a nice drive up the mountain.

A HUGE fan of Ridge Vineyards. I have loved Ridge wines for over 30 years. Absolutely one of my favorites. The winery and tasting room are beautiful. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly. Take a picnic and spend the afternoon.

It's a winery with great view and great wine and it's very close to south bay! However a staff there seems impatient. I'm not sure what happened but other than that it was a nice afternoon out with friends.

We had a friendly and informative employee assisting us with our visit and the tastings were very affordable. Needless to say the wine was excellent as well.

Ridge is an amazing winery. Beautiful views, gracious staff and wonderful wines. Highly recommend a visit!

Legendary winery enhanced by legendary views! I've always wanted to come here and they did not dissappoint. Wine tastings were reasonably priced and the waiters were very knowledgeable. They were more than willing to pour extras of unlisted wines and anything you like. Glad I had a chance to taste their Monte Bello blend in a tasting. Will be back!

Best wine tasting I've had in NorCal. Amazing wines, great views, and very friendly staff. Israel was very knowledgeable and welcoming.

The wines at Ridge are first rate and everyone is very friendly. Compared to 7 years ago, they've really enhanced the environment outside the tasting room. There is no food onsite or nearby so bring a sandwich before you leave the valley.

Tour was nice, guide was knowledgeable, wine was good. Much better, yet cheaper, than other wineries we visited. Estate Cab is great.

Good wines obviously. But the Sonoma property is much better in my opinion. Although we had a newer tour guide here and a veteran at Lytton, which could be the difference maker.

Although this isn't my favorite California wine region, Ridge Vineyards produces some very good wines. And the views from the tasting room are spectacular.

Ridge is a great vineyard easily accessible from South Bay. The wines are good, the staff is friendly, and the location had a great view of the valley. In pre-Coronavirus times, it was great to go for a tasting, then drink a bottle of wine and have a picnic. In Coronavirus times, they've recently reopened by appointment only and have a very thorough and safe setup for tastings (no picnicking though).