Larkmead Vineyard / Photo by Bob McClenahan
Once upon a time, Americans struggled to pronounce words like “Cabernet Sauvignon” and “Petit Verdot.” Might we struggle soon with “Manseng Noir” or “Arinarnoa”?
For now, in Napa Valley, there’s no doubt that Cab remains king. In 2019, 64.6% of all red grapes harvested were Cabernet Sauvignon, with an average price of $7,941 per ton, the highest in history, per the 2019 Napa County Agricultural Crop Report.
In that same report, no other grape even comes close to its 22,504 producing acres. Not Chardonnay (5,950 acres), not Merlot (4,072), and certainly not Pinot Noir (2,680).
But Cab hasn’t always reigned supreme here. In 1966, the year Robert Mondavi built his Oakville winery, there were more acres of Carignan, Gamay, Zinfandel and Petite Sirah than Cabernet.
Posted on May 05, 2021
Napa, California; April 28, 2021: Colleen FitzGerald will now oversee the Chenin Blanc + Viognier (CB+V) program at Pine Ridge Vineyards. The aromatic and innovative CB+V white blend, pioneered by Pine Ridge Vineyards founder Gary Andrus in 1995, has become a favorite amongst those who discover it and is now one of America’s most popular white wines.
This is a natural transition for Colleen, who originally joined Pine Ridge Vineyards as enologist in 2015 and was promoted to Assistant Winemaker for CB+V in 2018. She has an unmatched knowledge of the care needed to properly grow and blend the two distinct grape varieties that make up the delicious Chenin Blanc and Viognier blend. Colleen’s past work prepared the winemaking team to make the best possible decisions for CB+V, including grape selection, picking decisions, monitoring fermentations, blending and bottling.
Posted on April 15, 2021
Napa, California; April 1, 2021: Josh Mendoza-Widaman joins Pine Ridge Vineyards’ intrepid winemaking program as Estate Winemaker. Josh brings over 20 years of experience producing 90+ point Napa Valley wines to an already seasoned and passionate Pine Ridge team. Josh will oversee the winery’s estate vineyards, most notably producing elegant and expressive Cabernet Sauvignon, in five premier Napa Valley appellations: Stags Leap District, Howell Mountain, Oakville, Rutherford, and Carneros.
Josh is well suited to continue the highly ambitious winemaking Pine Ridge Vineyards is known for. His experienced, luxury-minded palate has produced 90+ ratings on over 90% of all wines made in his career. Josh most recently spent nine vintages as Winemaker at Lewis Cellars where he led the team that crafted Wine Spectator’s #1 Wine of the Year in 2016. In addition, 70% of all red wines Josh has produced have scored in the top 15% worldwide while 50% of his C