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Ridge Vineyards, Lytton Springs 2016

RedUnited States2016

By Daniel Min · Tasted 2019-12-31 · Published 2026-09-16 · Updated 2026-09-16

In one paragraphRidge Vineyards Lytton Springs 2016 is a field blend from an old-vine site in California's Dry Creek Valley, co-harvested and co-fermented as 69% Zinfandel, 23% Petite Sirah, 6% Carignane and 2% Mataro, at 14.4% ABV. The vineyard was already 80 years old when Paul Draper discovered it in 1972; Ridge bottled its first Lytton Springs that same year and acquired the entire vineyard outright in 1991 — the same Draper whose 1971 Monte Bello placed 5th (the top-ranked American wine) ahead of top Bordeaux houses at the 1976 Judgment of Paris. The 2016 vintage has 2,388 Vivino ratings averaging 4.2 (21,698 across all vintages, also 4.2), with two listed critic scores of 92+ and 91. The nose leads decisively with vanilla and oak (2,089 mentions), followed by black fruit — blackberry, plum (1,881). Structure: intensity 4.8/5, very high, with a comparatively gentler tannin of 3.0 and acidity of 2.7. The recommended drinking window is 2021–2031. I rated it 4.5 stars on 31 December 2019; the world average price is US$65 per 750ml ex-tax (Wine-Searcher, Sept 2026).

At a glance

Two Vivino-listed critic scores — 92+ (logged May 2018), 91 (logged Oct 2018).

Market note: The blend is 69% Zinfandel, 23% Petite Sirah, 6% Carignane and 2% Mataro; harvested 29 Aug–15 Sept, native-yeast fermentation, aged 14 months in oak (15% new) — per Ridge's official product page.

What this wine is

When Paul Draper joined Ridge Vineyards as head winemaker in 1969, his job was to turn a rundown house dating to 1886 into something "respectable." He built Ridge's reputation on Cabernet Sauvignon from the cool Santa Cruz Mountains and helped establish, in America, the idea of a "vineyard-designated" wine — one that puts the vineyard's own name on the label, the way Monte Bello does. That reputation crested on 24 May 1976, when English merchant Steven Spurrier staged a blind tasting in Paris now known as the Judgment of Paris. French judges, to the world's astonishment, rated California wines above French ones — and Draper's 1971 Monte Bello placed 5th among the reds, the highest-ranked American wine there. In a 2006 rematch, it placed first overall, proof that the wine simply needed time to show what it was.

Lytton Springs was a separate discovery Draper made outside Monte Bello altogether. When he first found this Dry Creek Valley site in 1972, the vineyard was already 80 years old — an old-style "field blend" where Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane and Mataro grew intermingled in the same rows. Ridge bottled its first Lytton Springs that same year from purchased fruit, and exactly twenty years later, in 1991 — timed to the first vintage's 20th anniversary — bought the entire vineyard and winery outright. The wine still follows that old California practice today: several varieties, harvested and fermented together from one vineyard.

What the world says

The 2016 vintage has 2,388 Vivino ratings averaging 4.2 — exactly matching the 21,698-rating average for the Lytton Springs label across all vintages. Two critic scores are on file: 92+ (May 2018) and 91 (October 2018).

The flavor keywords lead heavily with vanilla and oak (2,089 mentions), followed by black fruit — blackberry, plum (1,881) — and red fruit — cherry, raspberry (939). Structure: intensity at 4.8/5, the highest of any Zinfandel-based wine this magazine has covered, yet tannin sits at a gentler 3.0 and acidity at 2.7 — powerful without being rough.

"Love the nose. Oak and berries. Palate is juicy and not too tannic. Wonderful with food or just enjoying a bottle with friends." — Vivino review, Dec 2019, 4.5 stars

"Short note: Dense, intense, strong, full bodied, ripe... WOW! And could taste at least as good over the next years, if you still find a bottle." — Vivino review, Nov 2021, 4.5 stars

With a recommended drinking window of 2021–2031, I drank mine in December 2019 — about a year before that window even opens.

How I drank it

31 December 2019, the last night of the year, 4.5 stars. "Blackberries, vanilla, oak, chocolate, licorice, coffee. Medium body, smooth and sweet. Perfect balance blended. Overall medium-bodied, smooth, and sweet. Tastes like someone I love." Where most of my notes stop at listing structure or aroma, this one shifts into an entirely different register in its last line.

Ridge's own structure data puts this wine's intensity at a very high 4.8/5, yet my note calls it "medium-bodied and smooth" — a gap between the number and the impression. That's probably down to acidity (2.7) and tannin (3.0) reading lower than the intensity would suggest: powerful but not rough, with a round, enveloping texture. I suspect that's what led to "tastes like someone I love." Choosing this wine for the year's last glass was probably chance, but the sentence I wrote down about it wasn't — it's the most personal line in any note in this magazine. My score, 0.3 above the community average of 4.2, clearly carries something the numbers alone don't explain.

Where this wine shows up

Artwork and stills are not reproduced for copyright reasons; scenes are summarised.

Vivino community data

2016 vintage rating distribution (2388 ratings, average 4.2)

Most-mentioned aromas

Structure: Acidity 2.7/5 · Intensity 4.8/5 · Tannin 3.0/5 · Sweetness 2.2/5

Average by vintage (all vintages: 21698 ratings, average 4.2)

My original note (Vivino, 2019-12-31)

Frequently asked questions

Links & sources

View on Vivino · Prices on Wine-Searcher

• Vivino — wine page and community data
• Ridge Vineyards official — The Judgment of Paris
• Ridge Vineyards official — The Legacy of Lytton Springs
• Wikipedia — Paul Draper (winemaker)
• Ridge Vineyards official — 2016 Lytton Springs product page