History
Felice Pagani bought the property in the late 1880s and planting ran in two phases between 1896 and 1922. The family has never left: Felice to his son Louis, then to his granddaughter Norma Pagani Amantite, and now to her son Dino Amantite, who grows the fruit today. Ridge Vineyards has bottled a Pagani Ranch designate every year since 1991, Robert Biale runs its own Pagani programme, and Bedrock Wine Co. bottled it as a Heritage Wine through at least the 2021 vintage.
The Site
Sonoma Valley ground at Dunbar Road and Highway 12, near Kenwood, on gravelly clay loam. Ridge's own tech sheets put the site at 100 to 150 feet, which is markedly lower than the 300 to 400 feet often quoted for it. The vineyard is certified historic by the Historic Vineyard Society.
Vines and Blocks
Thirty acres date from the 1896 to 1922 plantings, head-trained and dry-farmed in the old manner, Zinfandel-led with Alicante Bouschet and other mixed blacks through the rows. Six acres were replanted to Zinfandel and Petite Sirah in 2013, which keeps the ranch working rather than frozen.
The Wines
Ridge's Pagani Ranch Zinfandel is the long-running benchmark: dark, brambly and structured, with the sweet-spice lift the old interplanted blacks give it. Biale bottles the site as well.