Kinkead Ridge Vineyard and Estate Winery RIPLEY, OHIO

EST. 2002       EXCLUSIVELY VINIFERA          OHIO RIVER VALLEY

The mission of Kinkead Ridge is to produce ultra-premium estate-bottled wine in Southern Ohio (Ohio River Valley appellation), exclusively vinifera, with great attention and care paid to cultural practices and classic winemaking techniques.  Our primary grape varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Viognier,  and Riesling. Smaller quantities of Petit Verdot, Roussanne and Sauvignon Blanc fill out the mix.  Kinkead Ridge award-winning wines are available by phone or web order with home delivery to selected locations and in fine wine stores and restaurants throughout the state. Please contact us to ask about shipping alternatives to other states.

April Update 2008 Calendar Our Wines The Winery The Vineyard Our Blog About Us Contact Us or Join Our Mailing List Press Coverage FAQ Videos (YouTube and PBS) and Photos Viticulture/Enology Technical Information Archives For the Trade and Press Links Tourist Activities Ohio River Valley's Wine Resurgence Legislative Alert: Due to Ohio's New Wine Shipping Laws Ohio Wine Lovers Cut-off October 1 "The real magic and mystery of wine lies in this: that though wine be grown in innumerable areas, great wines can only be produced in special places and in minute quantities." --British author, Alec Waugh

Matt Kramer, Wine Spectator:

"The truth is that some of wine's most thrilling acts -- the ones you want to shout about from the rooftops -- are small scale. They're barely even commercial. But not to hear of them isn't merely to miss out on a buying opportunity. Indeed, it would mean missing out on something more important yet, because simply knowing that these efforts are being made in today's hyper-commercialized world is an inspiration. 

It's all about finding good wines to try. Expensive wine is easy to buy. Technically good (if  boring) wine is easy to buy. But really good wine is trickier. Despite the fact that there's more really good, even great wine today than ever before, it's paradoxically now more challenging to land on, like finding a good TV show even though you've got 400 channels. 

Even Wine Spectator, whose readers can be relied upon to have more than a passing interest in the subject, regularly receives complaints after recommending one wine or another whose total number of cases made wouldn't suffice to build a small igloo."

Note: Kinkead Ridge. Case production ranges from less than 100 cases to our largest run ever, the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon: 377 cases. Miniscule.

Kinkead Ridge 2004 Cabernet Franc rated one of the Top 100 Exciting Wine Finds, international list compiled by Tom Stevenson, British editor of the New Sothebys Wine Encyclopedia and publisher of the paperback Wine Report 2008. Kinkead Ridge made the same list in 2006 with our 2003 Viognier/Roussanne. Only 11 other American wines made the top 100. Ann Boucher names 2005 Petit Verdot her 2007 Wine of the Year. Click here.

Kinkead Ridge 2006 Viognier/Roussanne: Gold Medal, American Wine Society competition, October 2007.

The winery is closed for the season. We will re-open Memorial Day Weekend, May 2008 for the release of a limited amount of white wine. The Easter frost decimated this year's white wine and Syrah production. Our award winning wines are available in fine wine stores and restaurants throughout Ohio.
 

Our Terroir

Terroir, loosely defined as the total natural environment of a viticultural site (there is no exact translation from the French) is a particular determinant of wine quality. At Kinkead Ridge, we have the advantage of ancient soils underlain by hundreds of feet  of broken limestone on ridge tops overlooking the Ohio River. We have excellent exposure and air drainage due to our 450' elevation above and 2 mile proximity to the river. The modified continental climate offers challenges, but in a good vintage this site has the potential to make world class wines.  Our location is approximately 60 miles east of Cincinnati. Terroir has also been defined as "a sense of place." 

"Rest assured, the quality at Kinkead Ridge is very high, and I would argue represents the best in Ohio and possibly the eastern US.  I would also add that yes indeed their terroir is worth expressing!  A good sniff and a quick taste will prove that to anyone.  The important thing to me is that these are not wines of ego, rather they are clearly wines of place.  Ron and Nancy have worked hard to clearly express the virtues of their vineyard, and have given the wine drinking public something rare indeed…  an entirely new wine region, with its own unique combination of flavors and aromas.  To me this is exactly what fine wine is all about." Click here to read this stunning review.
--Chuck and Ann Boucher, Serendipity Wine Shop, Columbus

There is an interesting article on Terroir in the New York Times, Talk Dirt to Me. May 2007. Click Talk Dirt to Me - New York Times
 

Ripley, Ohio is a 55-acre National Historic District on the scenic Ohio River located approximately 60 miles east of Cincinnati along the scenic Ohio River, and approximately 100 miles south of Columbus. Rich in history, from Tecumseh and the Shawnee to pioneers and the Civil War, Ripley gained a reputation throughout the United States for its strong beliefs in the abolition of slavery, and many of its citizens were active in the Underground Railroad movement. 

See www.RipleyOhio.net for things to do in and around Ripley and northern Kentucky.