Hi Jamie:  Good question. And it’s hard to answer because “ripe” does not describe one specific state of physiological maturity. Ripeness is a range. In fact, whether or not grapes are ripe is a winemaker’s opinion, not a fact. In a sense, ripeness is in the eye of the beholder. And so is richness. For my part, I don’t think the two ideas are synonymous. For me, richness describes the quality of the flavors. (I sometimes think of fresh orange juice vs. frozen orange juice concentrate mixed with water). Ripeness is a measure of sugar in the grapes and therefore a predictor of its final alcohol content and body. But I’ve drunk plenty of wines with rich flavors that were picked at modest sugar levels.  In fact, I love wines like that because they are rich without being heavy or ponderous.

—Karen