Ridge Vineyards Celebrates Judgment of Paris

Ridge Vineyards will mark the 50th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris on May 24, 2026, with a one-day tasting built around the winery’s Monte Bello cabernets. The event is scheduled at Ridge’s Monte Bello tasting room in Cupertino, its Lytton Springs site in Healdsburg and its Paso Robles tasting room, according to the winery’s events listings. The 90-minute seated tasting will pour four wines: 2023 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon, 2023 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, 2022 Monte Bello and 2019 Monte Bello. Ridge says the tasting is complimentary for wine club members and costs $40 for non-members. ### Why is Ridge tying this tasting to May 24? May 24 is the anniversary of the 1976 Paris Wine Tasting known as the Judgment of Paris. Ridge says its Monte Bello was one of the California wines entered in that blind tasting, which helped establish the standing of California wine internationally. Ridge’s historical page on the event lists its 1971 Monte Bello among the red wines judged in Paris on May 24, 1976. The winery says the 2026 program is being staged “at the site where it all began” at Monte Bello in Cupertino, linking the anniversary directly to the estate associated with that wine. ### What exactly will people taste? The featured lineup centers on four cabernets spanning recent and library vintages. Ridge’s event pages for Monte Bello, Lytton Springs and Paso Robles each list the same flight: 2023 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon, 2023 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, 2022 Monte Bello and 2019 Monte Bello. The winery describes the program as a 90-minute seated tasting offered “for this day only.” The inclusion of both the 2022 and 2019 Monte Bello bottlings gives visitors a chance to compare a current release with an older vintage within the same flagship label. ### Where is the event being held? Cupertino is one of three California stops on Ridge’s May 24 schedule. The winery’s events calendar lists the Judgment of Paris 50th Anniversary Tasting at Monte Bello in Cupertino, Lytton Springs in Healdsburg and the Ridge Paso Robles Tasting Room on the same day. Ridge’s main site identifies Monte Bello and Lytton Springs as its tasting-room destinations and separately lists the Paso Robles location in its estates information. The Monte Bello event page specifically places the anniversary tasting in Cupertino, while the other two pages show parallel programs in Healdsburg and Paso Robles. ### Who gets in free, and do reservations matter? Ridge says wine club members can attend without charge. The Tock booking page for the Lytton Springs event says the tasting is complimentary for Ridge wine club members and available to non-members for $40 per guest. The same booking page says seating is limited. Ridge’s event listings direct visitors to reserve in advance, and the winery’s broader events calendar links the May 24 tastings through its reservations system. ### Is Ridge doing anything else around the anniversary? May 21 and May 28 are also on Ridge’s anniversary calendar. The winery lists a Judgment of Paris event at CIA at Copia in Napa on May 17, a Bordeaux wine cruise on May 21 and a “Judgment of Paris 50th Anniversary Wine Dinner” at Seascape Beach Resort in Aptos on May 28. Ridge has also created a dedicated “Judgment of Paris 50th Anniversary” page for the 2026 campaign. That page includes historical material on the 1976 tasting and a video with head winemaker and chief executive John Olney discussing the event’s place in Ridge history. May 24 reservations are available through Ridge’s event pages and booking links for Cupertino, Healdsburg and Paso Robles, while the Aptos anniversary dinner is scheduled for May 28.