Ridge 2025 Lytton Springs Rosé Dry Creek Valley Sonoma 750ml

Ridge Vineyards needs no introduction in Sonoma — and in the Bay Area, it requires even less. The winery whose 1971 Monte Bello placed fifth at the 1976 Judgment of Paris, whose Lytton Springs has earned 95 points from Wine Spectator (#3 Wine of 2025) and 96 points from Decanter for the 2023 red, and whose philosophy of minimal-intervention, organically farmed estate production has remained unwavering for over six decades is not a story that requires embellishment. What the Lytton Estate Rosé offers is something slightly different from the celebrated Lytton Springs red: the same old Dry Creek Valley vineyard, the same organic farming, the same estate philosophy — but through the freshest, most immediate, and most seasonally alive lens available. A rosé that shows you the vineyard in spring.

The 2025 growing season delivered the third consecutive year of above-normal rainfall — 50 inches — followed by a long, cool summer and fall that pushed harvest later than usual, beginning August 22 with young Cinsault from Lytton East and concluding October 6 with ripe Mataro and Grenache from Lytton West. Six separate picks in order of ripeness. The extended cool season preserved the natural acidity that makes the 2025 rosé's freshness and mineral character so vivid. The result is a wine that both James Suckling and Owen Bargreen awarded 92 Points independently — Suckling praising its "exuberant" berry, peach, and melon flavors with "bright acidity underneath," Bargreen noting the "honeysuckle water" nose, "bright red raspberry and Yakima cherry," "superb texture," and "excellent flinty undertones."

This is California rosé for the educated palate — not a simple warm-weather quaffer but a genuinely complex, mineral-driven expression of a historic old-vine estate that happens to be pale coral in the glass.

Origins & Craftsmanship

Ridge Vineyards purchased the Lytton Springs vineyard in Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County in 1972 — a historic old-vine site that had been producing fruit since the 19th century. Today the vineyard is one of the most celebrated field blends in California: a patchwork of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane, Alicante Bouschet, Mataro, Grenache, Cinsault, and Counoise — many vines decades old — planted across two distinct sub-parcels, Lytton East and Lytton West, whose different exposures and soil compositions produce fruit of complementary character.

The Lytton Estate Rosé was first produced in 2016 — a newer addition to the Ridge range whose philosophy Ridge describes precisely: "Extemporaneously produced by taste, the makeup of the wine changes vintage-to-vintage. As such, each spring upon release, it offers a unique opportunity to experience an old vineyard from a fresh angle." Each year's blend reflects what the estate's individual varieties delivered in that specific growing season, assembled by taste and instinct rather than a fixed recipe.

For the 2025 vintage, the blend is 40% Grenache, 26% Zinfandel, 11% Cinsault, 11% Counoise, 10% Mataro, and 2% Carignane — all organically grown, all hand-harvested across six picks from August 22 through October 6. The vintage's 50 inches of above-normal rainfall replenished the vines following two prior wet years; the long cool summer and fall extended the ripening season and preserved the natural acidity that gives the 2025 rosé its defining freshness and mineral tension.

Vinification is entirely direct-to-press whole-cluster — the gentlest extraction method available, producing the wine's characteristically pale coral color and delicate fruit character without skin contact astringency. 100% natural fermentation in stainless steel using the juice's own wild yeasts, followed by a full malolactic fermentation on the naturally occurring malolactic bacteria — an unusual choice for rosé that adds a subtle textural creaminess and aromatic complexity while preserving the wine's essential freshness. Aging takes place entirely in 100% stainless steel for three months before bottling. Minimum effective sulfur throughout. The resulting wine has an average Brix of 21.0°, TA of 7.38 g/L, and pH of 3.26 — technical confirmation of the bright natural acidity that defines the 2025's character.

Critics Reviews

James Suckling — 92 Points (2025) "A super-light-colored rosé that looks like a white wine. Light-bodied but exuberant in fresh berry, peach and melon flavors, with bright acidity underneath. Made from Grenache, Zinfandel and Cinsault as well as other early-picked grape varieties on the Ridge Sonoma County property."

Owen Bargreen — 92 Points (March 2026) "Sourced from this single vineyard site in Sonoma, the 2025 Ridge Rosé is primarily Grenache (40%) and Zinfandel (26%). Pale in the glass, this offers honeysuckle water on the nose alongside bright red raspberry and Yakima cherry notes. The palate is fresh and clean with a superb texture and nice sense of weight. Showing excellent flinty undertones, enjoy now and over the next few years. Drink 2026–2032."

Tasting Profile

Nose Pale coral in the glass — almost white wine in its delicacy of color, the direct-to-press whole-cluster extraction preserving freshness and lightness in every dimension. The nose opens with honeysuckle water — a delicate, lightly floral quality that is immediately inviting and distinctly Grenache-derived — followed by white peach and rose petal that add aromatic lift and elegance. Bright red raspberry and Yakima cherry arrive alongside the florals — vivid, precise, and the fruit character that the 2025's cool growing season and old-vine estate concentration together produce. Fresh strawberry and a whisper of melon complete the fruit picture. Beneath all of it: a flinty, mineral undertone — cool, slightly stony — that is the old Dry Creek Valley volcanic and gravel soil's most direct aromatic contribution. The nose is simultaneously fresh and layered, light and expressive, genuinely complex for a rosé of this paleness and delicacy.

Palate Light to medium-bodied, exuberant, and beautifully textured — the full malolactic fermentation's contribution apparent in a subtle creamy roundness that lifts the wine's weight and adds a dimension most all-stainless rosés don't achieve. Fresh berry, white peach, and melon arrive with the brightness and vivacity that the cool 2025 growing season and the 7.38 g/L natural acidity produce — clean, focused, and mouth-watering throughout. The old-vine field blend's diversity is detectable in the mid-palate's complexity: the Grenache's floral fruit weight, the Zinfandel's characteristic berry brightness, the Cinsault's natural acidity from the first picks at Lytton East, and the Mataro and Counoise's slightly darker, more structured depth from the final October picks — all present in a harmonious, seamlessly integrated profile. The flinty mineral undertones that Owen Bargreen identified thread through the palate as a cool, slightly stony tension that keeps everything focused and linear. The mouthfeel is supple and well-textured with "a nice sense of weight" — more substantial than the pale color suggests.

Finish Clean, mineral, and refreshingly dry. The flinty undertones carry the close most persistently — cool stone and dried herb fading alongside a final echo of strawberry and white peach. The bright natural acidity (7.38 g/L TA) provides a clean, appetite-stimulating dryness at the very close that makes the next sip inevitable. Medium in length, entirely graceful, and perfectly resolved — a finish that is simply the expression of a great old vineyard in a cool vintage, told in rosé form.

Quick Overview

Serving & Occasion

Serve well-chilled at 45–50°F — the floral aromatics and flinty mineral character are most vivid cold, and the pale color and delicate structure make this the rosé that benefits most from serving temperature precision. No decanting required — open and pour. Outstanding with grilled salmon, oysters, sushi, grilled halibut, goat cheese salads, charcuterie, Provençal herb-dressed dishes, and any light summer table where the wine's freshness and minerality complement rather than compete. The old-vine complexity and full malolactic texture give it more weight and food-pairing versatility than its pale color would suggest — it is equally at home alongside a serious cheese board as it is by the glass on a warm afternoon. Drink through 2032 for full enjoyment — the mineral backbone and bright natural acidity ensure the wine will evolve gracefully well beyond the typical rosé drinking window.