John Olney

The Climb

California wine has a clear throughline in John Olney’s career: long apprenticeships, disciplined cellar work, and repeated returns to Ridge Vineyards. The sequence begins at Lycée Viticole in Burgundy (1994), where the training placed him inside a region that treats wine as practiced craft. From there, Ridge Vineyards became the next proving ground. At Monte Bello Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains, John Olney worked under Paul Draper from 1996–1999, a period shaped by tasting discipline and technical rigor. The most substantial stretch of that path came at Lytton Springs Winery in Healdsburg, where John Olney served as winemaker and Chief Operating Officer from 1999–2021. Two decades in one house points to continuity: learning a site’s habits, keeping methods steady, and earning trust over time. He then returned to Ridge Vineyards as Head Winemaker & COO from 2021–2026, resuming work at the winery that first defined his early professional years. Since 2026, John Olney has served as CEO & Head Winemaker of Ridge Vineyards.

Today

Since 2026, Olney has served as CEO & Head Winemaker.

Signature

Monte Bello and Lytton Springs are the wines that most directly define John Olney’s work. Each marks a different part of his career: Monte Bello Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where his Ridge years began under Paul Draper, and Lytton Springs Winery in Healdsburg, where he spent 1999–2021 as winemaker and Chief Operating Officer. Read together, they point to a career built around site, structure, and continuity rather than constant reinvention.

In Their Words “I've been pleasantly surprised with my '11 Zins. I think rigorous selection at harvest is finally paying off, as the wines have really lost the sharp edge they had for the first six to eight months.” “I most aspire to Paul Draper’s discipline in tasting the wine throughout the winemaking process.” These remarks show a working palate attentive to change over time and to the routine discipline of tasting throughout production. The first quote is about selection at harvest and how structure settles after bottling; the second identifies a method learned under Paul Draper at Monte Bello Winery, where tasting was part of the work, not a ceremonial step.