Berridge Wine Company

The balance between the site, plantings and people is the key to growing and making great wine. Richard Berridge believes that invariably the best caretakers of the land, particularly when it comes to vineyards, are all characters. Though they may tend toward eccentricity, their barefaced love of the land and vines is tangible. This sort of passion and charisma adds an unmistakable, yet ephemeral, component to the finished wine. There is an understated star quality in each of the vineyards we choose, and the growers often mirror this characteristic themselves.

Richard Berridge - Manchester Ridge

Grape Source: Manchester Ridge Vineyards in Mendocino County. The vineyards are on the first ridgeline from the coast, a mere three miles from the Pacific Ocean. The cool, maritime climate induces slow growth and even slower ripening. Consistently one of the last vineyards harvested, the wine captures its cool climate upbringing with delicate floral and forest floor aromas.

Richard Berridge - van der Kamp

Grape Source: van der Kamp Vineyards on Sonoma Mountain. The underlying volcanic soils provide the framework for concentrated and powerful Pinot Noirs. Beautifully farmed and with a whole spice rack of clones and selections, it has all the elements of terroir: site, soil, climate, and viticulture knit together seamlessly.

Drystone Wines

Drystone was established from the beginning to be a cool-climate Pinot Noir producer, working with the best Central Otago vineyards from the sub-appellations of Gibbston Valley, Lowburn, and Parkburn. Drystone also showcases the Central Otago terroir with two aromatic white varietals, Pinot Gris and Riesling.

Central Otago, New Zealand

The Central Otago wine region lies at the 45th parallel south, and is the most southerly wine region in the world. It is cooled by virtue of its elevation—it is situated at an elevation of 300+ meters—as well as by being surrounded by high mountains (up to 2000 meters).

It is the only truly continental climate in New Zealand—more similar to the climate of Northern Europe than either California or Oregon. While the summers are warm and dry; the winters are cold, with substantial snowfall. Harvest in Central Otago comes late— typically beginning in mid to late April.

Proprietor, Richard Berridge

San Francisco Bay Area landscape architect Richard Berridge is stirred by land in the way top chefs are inspired by exotic raw ingredients or a sculptor by a block of clay. Berridge Wines strive to honor the land itself as a genuine representation of the ground in which the vines are grown.