Ridge Vineyards

Not just the wines but the entire building itself is organic here. The new barrel and tasting rooms that opened in 2003 were constructed using only sustainable materials, though it’s hard to tell.

The thick walls are made of rice-straw bales and a natural plaster, both chosen for their natural insulation properties. Recycled lumber was used for the framing, flooring, and siding, and even the facing on the tasting room bar is made of pieces of old oak fermentation tanks. To cap it all off, 400 solar panels on the roof provide most of the winery’s power.

Ridge started buying grapes from the surrounding vineyards in 1972, eventually buying the property in 1991 to add to many other vineyards it owns throughout Northern and Central California.

Ridge is the king of zin, some years making more than 13 different bottlings that account for the majority of its 85,000-case annual production. Two-thirds of the zinfandel vineyards are in northern Sonoma, which makes the Lytton Springs winery the company’s Zinfandel Central, though it also makes syrah, petite sirah, and grenache. Ridge has another winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains that is more famous for its outstanding cabernet (650 Lytton Springs Rd., Healdsburg, 707/433-7721, www.ridgewine.com, open 11 a.m.–4 p.m. daily).