Shakeup at Ridge

My apologies if this has already been posted, but a quick search didn’t turn anything up.

Any thoughts on the implications of this? Does Monte Bello change with Baugher’s departure?

Appreciate everyone’s thoughts on this!

News to me. I think that’s a huge change. Baugher had been at Monte Bello so long, working next to Paul, he absorbed so many different vintage years of experience from the master. Maybe Olney had also come down to participate in blending trials and such, but this seems like a significant change, and loss of institutional knowledge.

Curious about this…anyone know any details?

“Eric Baugher is pursuing his dream of leading a new, high-quality, winemaking venture in the Napa Valley”

Wow. I think Ridge is in good hands with John and sad to see Eric go.

Can’t wait to get on whatever list Eric starts.

this

Wow. I wonder how much of this was internal politics. Ridge was unique having essentially two, high profile winemakers sitting on the same level, with EB having maybe a slight advantage given he worked on the prestigious wines at Monte Bello.

If it’s not internal politics/friction, then this new opportunity must be a hell of a draw to get EB to leave Ridge MB…

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Two very tough acts to follow.

That’s my guess. Maybe he wanted out of Silicon Valley, not have to deal with driving up and down Monte Bello road every day, move to a more leisurely living area, and probably a big raise from some wealthy client.

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Iirc he lives/d out Santa Cruz way. Anyway, this has been in the works for years for him to go off in his own direction. Don’t know anything beyond that, but it makes sense to me. He was there a very long time, so even with all the things they were doing, there’s a certain amount of sameness. I’m sure he’s got ideas that just didn’t fit. The job too demanding that there wasn’t time for side projects.

As far as Ridge goes, they have a lot of people involved, a whole winemaking team who are long-time employees. John has always been part of the Monte Bello assemblage tastings they do at each stage of blending.

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Not that I would have any opinion on matters Ridge-related!! [snort.gif]
This change pretty much blind-sided me, didn’t know it was in the works.
Eric & his family live down in Capitola, so already has a fair commute to MB.
Just from observing the two (actually three, if you count Paul) of them together, they all have a very collegial relationship. So I very much doubt
there as any internal politics involved. When they put together the final blends, MB and all the other wines, John comes down from Healdsburg
to participate in the decisions. So the two are pretty much equals, both in terms of positions, but also in terms of competence. With this change,
I’m guessing John will be moving down to be nearer to MB. That Healdsburg/Cupertino is a brutal commute. But their winemaking philosophys are,
along w/ Paul’s, pretty much in sync. So this change is going to occur w/o a hiccup in the style & quality of Ridge wines. Guaranteed.
It puzzles me a bit why Eric would leave Ridge, the Site of one of the World’s truly great Cabernet sites, for the NapaVlly. At Ridge, he was a big
fish in a big pond. In the NapaVlly, he will be a somewhat lesser fish in still a big pond. I can’t imagine what winemaking opportunity he would have
in the…pffft (in my best Bill The Cat accent)…NapaVlly that would be commensurate with his position at Ridge. It would have to be somebody w/ awfully
deep pockets to make the move worth Eric’s $$$'s. We’ll just have to see where he lands. But it would mean a move for his Family to the NapaVlly,
which would be much more $$'s then his home at Capitola.
Tom

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Describing this as a shakeup seems a bit much.

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I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to have a negative connotation. Due to the internal nature of the transition, perhaps calling it a reshuffling would’ve been more appropriate.

Is it possible that he did not leave voluntarily? Hard to see why one would leave Ridge voluntarily unless he gets an equity stake in his new venture. If he really wanted to make Napa Cab, why not get get Ridge to buy Napa grapes.

This took me by surprise. But … with the processes they have in place, the vineyards they control and Dave Gates tending the vines - Ridge will continue to be Ridge.

I suppose it’ll be interesting to see the price point. Part of Ridge’s appeal for me is the value proposition.

Well, Howard… I would guess the parting was a decision on Eric’s part. And the only thing I can think of is the $$$'s would be the driver.
Paul & Mark run a pretty collegial operation there at Ridge & give both Eric & John a lot of latitude in doing what they want winemaking-wise.
If Eric wanted to make NapaVlly Cab at Ridge, I’m certain he could make it happen. He already makes easily the best Cab in Calif
(based on the TomHill criteria…it’s the only one I buy!!), so not sure why he’d have the hots to make NapaCab. And I think all of the folks
at Ridge get paid pretty well…better than they could do elsewhere.
Eric has a couple of kids about ready for college, so I’d guess it’s the $$'s. I’m sure he already has something lined up for him.
Who knows…maybe the prestigious winemaking position at Rombauer?? [snort.gif]
But there may be a back story that I don’t know.
Tom

I hope that you are correct. The only way it would seem to make sense for him to leave Ridge IMHO would be if he becomes in whole or in part the owner of a winery - to have his own place where he can do really well if the project does really well. For the reasons you state, it does not make sense for him to leave Ridge because he wants to make Napa Cabernet. I hope that he does well. I have met him at local stores a couple of times and he seemed quite knowledgeable (well duh) and a pretty good guy.

If he left Ridge for Rombauer, he probably has early stage dementia and needs to be put somewhere safe. Highly doubtful.

Excited to see some of that Ridge knowledge up in the Napa Valley

No. He was planning to move on a few years ago and it was actually surprising that didn’t happen. Speculation was the playing around with stuff like Grenache Blanc, Falanghina and Charbono was to keep him on board or delay his departure.

The Napa move is a huge surprise. He certainly could’ve stayed in the Santa Cruz area (losing the long commute) and tapped into world-class fruit there and/or nearby. Moving to Napa seems to indicate the focus will be on Cab, not more interesting grapes and techniques that would be easier done elsewhere. One also doesn’t need to locate in Napa to access great Napa fruit. So, I think the best guess is he got recruited by someone bigger than Ridge.

Just look at the number of wines Ridge makes, the shear scale, the number of fruit sources, the number of employees and so forth, and the quality they achieve. If you had limitless funds and wanted to hire a top winemaker, you’d want someone with all these myriad skills. Someone well connected and well respected.

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