I love Silicon Valley success stories, and Ridge Monte Bello is as good as they get. In the 1950s, four Stanford Research Park scientists decided to invest in a defunct vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains high above Silicon Valley. The purpose was a weekend retreat they would share. But the vines beckoned, with sun-kissed grapes ripened from an abundance of Northern California sun too hard to resist. They soon experimented with winemaking and had so much success they incorporated Ridge as a winery in 1962 and officially hired Paul Draper as a wine maker in 1969. Little did they know that Draper’s 1971 Cabernet would be highly commended by French judges in the famous 1976 blind tasting dubbed “The Judgement of Paris” which catapulted California onto the world wine scene. But if that was not enough, Ridge cemented its status as a premium California wine with the 30-year Paris Tasting reenactment of the same vintages, when Ridge scored nearly 20 points above its nearest competitor (Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars). What a gift to Silicon Valley – a world-class winery a little over 30 minutes from the Norman Y Mineta San Jose airport (which, BTW is soon to launch a DIRECT flight on BA from Heathrow). Book a private tasting (sans kids) or purchase a bottle and bring the family to enjoy a picnic on the grounds high above Silicon Valley. The views, and the wine, are spectacular.     What a Silicon Valley experience! The Estate Tasting at Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello includes a goats cheese gouda, house tapenade and their legendary 2012 Monte Bello. Ridge, founded by 4 Stanford research scientists, was one of the original California Paris Tasting wines that helped put the region on the world wine map. Why go to Napa when you have this on your doorstep?! #wine #winetasting #winewednesday #sanjose A photo posted by Susanna Scott ~ travel (@amodernmother) on Apr 5, 2016 at 8:36pm PDT IF YOU GO: Ridge Vineyards 17100 Montebello Rd, Cupertino, CA 95014 +1 (408) 867-3233 ridgewine.com