When Harry Peterson-Nedry planted Ridgecrest vineyard in 1982 in what would later become the Ribbon Ridge AVA, he was alone in seeing the potential of the place. The consensus was that the site was too far West and too close to the cooling winds of the Pacific pouring through the Van Duzer Corridor. Now there are numerous sub-AVAs of the Willamette Valley farther to the West, and now even the Van Duzer Corridor is an AVA. Ridgecrest is a new brand within the Ribbon Ridge Estate Winery dedicated to experimentation and each label sports a line drawing by the man himself. The Gamay Noir (the grape used in Beaujolais) vines planted here were the first in the Willamette Valley back in 1985. Harry was joined by his UC Davis-trained daughter, Wynne, in 2009, and since 2012 she has been the head winemaker for Ribbon Ridge, Ridgecrest and Chehalem Winery, which the family sold in 2018 in order to focus on Ribbon Ridge and Ridgecrest. Ridgecrest Vineyard is LIVE Certified sustainably and dry farmed, with the ungrafted roots helping the vines withstand the more extreme weather. Made like a Cru Beaujolais with the grapes crushed for a traditional fermentation, the wine is less fruit driven, with more earthy, savory flavors and firmer tannins. The intensity of flavor and acidity is high enough to serve with heartier and heavier dishes such as cassoulet or pork chops.