Ridge (mostly) Zinfandel
Getting the ol' palate tuned up for ZAP, had a few Ridges from the archives last night :
Ridge Calif Zin Esola (95% Zinfandel, 5% PS; 12.3%; Drink:6/86-6/87) '82: Med. color w/ no browning; rather wet dog fur/musty/dried out some tobaccoy/ oaked/dusty no-fruit nose; thin/lean dried-out slight wet dog fur/wet Army blanket tart bit metallic slight charred/tobacco/cedar flavor; med. short dried out/thin/tart/tannic dusty/charred finish; much like an old/ tired Chianti; some interesting things in here but by and large a wine gone 'round the bend. $8.00.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Fiddletown (Eschen Ranch; 13.05%; Drink:4/88-4/89) '82: Med.slight brick color; pungent/smokey/licorice/dusty/faded rose petal/ some dried out bit cedary nose; tart rather thin/dried out light licorice/ pungent/smokey/rose petal pungent/cedary flavor; med.long pungent/cedary/ licorice rather thin/dried out tannic finish; much more interesting but still a rather dried out/tired old Zinfandel. $8.50.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Geyserville (Trentadue Ranch; 100% Zinfandel; 14.6%; SaH: 26.5%; RS:0.02%; Drink: 12/85-12/86) '80: Med.color; lovely fragrant cedary/ pencilly/chocolate coffee/espresso/cherry complex/old Bordeaux/tobaccoy aromatic/perfumed some spicy nose; soft very smooth/silky elegant some spicy/cedary/cherry cough syrup/faded rose petal very complex/tobaccoy flavor; med.long very complex/elegant very smooth/delicate/graceful cedary/tobaccoy /cherry/spicy/chocolate coffee/spicy finish w/ light tannins; a beautiful complex fully mature Zinfandel; easily the best old Zinfandel I've ever had w/ everything come together perfectly; ready to drink. $10.00.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Geyserville (85% Trentadue, 15% Angeli/AlexanderVlly; 14.4%; Drink: 1/89-1/90) '81: Med.color; bit fecal/sewer gas some bretty/leathery rather pungent/licorice/tobaccoy/cedary certainly complex nose; soft some minty/menthol/cedary/tobaccoy/spicy slight funky/fecal/diaper pail/barn- yardy bit hot/harsh some blackberry/spicy fruit flavor; med.long slight tannic/dried out light blackberry/licorice/pungent bit funky/fecal finish; a bit on the strange & funky side but some interesting things therein and not at all unpleasant. $9.75.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Geyserville (95% Zinfandel, 5% PS; 12.6%; Drink: 5/88-5/89) '82: Med.dark color; beautiful fragrant very spicy/smokey/toasty/toasted coconut/ZagNut candy bar/peanut butter some blackberry/Zinfandel floral/violets/ perfumed complex nose; tart/lean bit dried out/metallic pungent/toasty light blackberry/Zinfandel slight mucilage flavor; med.short light blackberry/Zinfandel some thin/dried out/tart/metallic light toasty/pungent finish w/ little tannins; a beautiful complex nose but doesn't deliver on the palate; a bit on the tired & dried out side. $10.00.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Geyserville (85% Zinfandel, 10% PS, 5% Carignane; 13.3%; Drink: 3/92-3/93) '85: Med.color; rather pungent/smokey/toasty/licorice/perfumed talc some blackberry/fruit/Zinfandel bit funky/complex nose; soft pungent/ licorice/round/ smokey light blackberry/Zinfandel bit funky/complex flavor; long pungent/smokey/licorice soft blackberry/Zinfandel/raspberry bit funky/complex finish w/ light tannins; soft round & lush but starting to dry out a tad; plenty of fruit remaining. $11.50.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Geyserville (95% Zinfandel, 5% PS; 13.4%; Drink: 3/92-3/93) '83: Med.color; somewhat corked slight blackberry/floral/spicy/perfumed nose; rather tart/sharp/orange peel/citric slight corky/wet cardboard light blackberry/spicy flavor; med.short some dried out tart/citric/lean light Zinfandel/blackberry finish w/ light tannins; bit too corked in the nose & drying out a bit on the palate. $10.00.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Geyserville/Trentadue (13.4%; Drink: 5/90-5/91) '83: Med. color; lovely floral/aromatic/spicy some pencilly/licorice/cheap Christmas candy/floral/aromatic/violets nose; soft bit dried out spicy/floral/lilacs light blackberry flavor; med.short soft bit spicy/blackberry bit lean/ dried out finish w/ light tannins; a beautiful nose but doesn't quite deliver on the palate. $10.00.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel York Creek (NapaCnty; 86% Zinfandel, 14% PS; 12.8%; Drink: "collector's Zinfandel... to develop considerably w/ bottle age..."-PD) '82: Med.color; bit funky/musty/wet dog fur/wet Army blanket/dishwater light floral/raspberry/fragrant nose; tart bit dried out/thin/metallic some raspberry/floral/perfumed slight horsecollar flavor; med.long bit dried out/metallic/lean slight musty/wet dog fur light floral/raspberry finish w/ some tannins; some unattractive elements & drying out somewhat. $10.50.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel LateHrvst II (Main crop/EsolaVnyd, AmadorCnty; 15.4%; SaH: 25.5%; RS: 0.21%; Drink-??) '76: Very dark color; very intense blackberry very ripe/briary/chocolaty/pungent/dusty old vines classic ripe Amador Zinfandel very young nose; bit hot/alcoholic intense blackberry/ briary/boysenberry/chocolate cherry/AmadorZin flavor; very long intense Amador/blackberry/ briary/chocolaty/ jammy complex bit hot/alcoholic finish w/ some tannins; very young Zinfandel w/ lots of blackberry fruit though a bit hot & alcoholic; no overripe/raisened/pruney character at all; who says LateHarvest Zins don't last. $11.00.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Late Harvest I (100% Zinfandel; Esola Ranch, AmadorCnty; 16%; SaH: 29.5%; RS: 0.80%; Drink: 5/81) '76: Very dark color; badly corked slight blackberry/licorice nose; soft off-dry very intense briary/black- berry/boysenberry silky/lush/ripe some dusty flavor; very long lush intense blackberry/briary/boysenberry/mouthfilling off-dry dusty/old vines finish w/ some tannins; badly corked nose but great rich very young flavor on the palate. $9.00.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Late Harvest Geyserville (100% Zinfandel; Trentadue Ranch; 16.2%; SaH: 27.0%; RS: 0.33%; Drink: 5/82-5/83) '77: Dark color; very strong pungent/smokey/oaked/blackberry/chocolate devil's food cake/chocolaty/very spicy pungent/smokey/oaked bit charred flavor; very long slight alcoholic/ hot very ripe blackberry/boysenberry/very spicy/complex/coffee grounds/ chocolate devil's food cake finish w/ light tannins; a lovely complex rather young LateHrvst. $9.00.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel LateHarvest Shenandoah I (EsolaVnyd; 96% Zinfandel, 4% PS; 16.5%; SaH: 27.5%; RS: 1.0%; Drink: "as a young and fruity wine"-PD) '78: Dark color; intense blackberry/Amador/briary ripe boysenberry slight stemmy/ herbal/chalky nose; soft rich lush ripe/blackberry/ boysenberry/ briary bit hot/ alcoholic/overripe/ late harvesty flavor; med.long ripe/blackberry/ briary/overripe bit simple slight hot/alcoholic finish w/ some tannins; a classic very ripe Amador LateHrvest; still a very young wine w/ no signs of drying out (or complexity). $9.00.
Ridge Calif Zinfandel Late Harvest (Amador Cnty; 16.3%; SaH: 26.0%; RS: 2.0%; Drink: 1/87-1/88) '81: Dark color; very intense late harvesty intense blackberry/Amador/briary/jammy/licorice some complex rather overripe nose; slightly sweet very ripe/overripe intense blackberry/briary/jammy slight alcoholic flavor; long off-dry very ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Amador/ briary slight alcoholic finish w/ some tannins; on the very ripe/jammy side but not pruney or raisened; very young stuff. $8.00.
Ravenswood Napa Valley Dickerson Vnyd (14.1%) Zinfandel '90: Med.dark color; strong minty/menthol/classic Dickerson very eucalyptus some chocolaty ripe black- berry spicy/Zinfandel nose; soft very lush/plush strong minty/menthol/eucalyptus pencilly/oaked ripe blackberry/complex very spicy flavor; very long strong eucalyptus/minty/menthol ripe blackberry very spicy/oaked finish w/ light tannins; needs 1-3 yrs yet; a classic great Dickerson. $nc(Rich's mystery wine)
And, of course, the usual bloody pulpit:
The prices are the purchase prices I paid. Since Zinfandel prices don't inflate that much (everybody KNOWS that you drink Zins "young" and that they don't age), these wines would probably sell in the $25-$45 range I would guess. What strikes me most is these (my purchase prices) are only about half of what the current releases sell for. Ridge is one of the very few wnrys that, I feel, have been modest about raising their prices. It sure leaves you w/ a nice warm fuzzy feeling for those folks up on Monte Bello Ridge!
The "Drink" recommendations are Paul Draper's recommendations from the label for peak maturity for the wines. If find his recs are pretty accurate, if a bit on the conservative side. If he says the wine needs 10 yrs to come around.... you darn well better believe it!!
I was (and have been) a big Ridge fan from my first exposure to a Ridge Zinfandel around 1973. These wines are mostly from a period when I was becoming a bit perplexed/disenchanted w/ the Ridge wines. In the late '70's thru early '80's, Ridge was battling a bad brettanomyces problem. Many of the wines were very stinky/barnyardy/horsecollary/ very funky wines I felt were rather out of control. My interest started to wane & I bought the wines only because it was the "right" thing to do. What really struck me about these wines is that very few of them showed any signs, here 15 yrs down the road, of those problems from their youth (hey.... maybe there's hope for my Beaucastel after all!!). Then, with the '84 vintage, Ridge got all those problems cleaned up and it's been, by and large, a continued string of successes, going from strength to strength, ever since. Make no mistake, the Ridge wines almost always have brett in them (they monitor the presence w/ lab analysis very very closely), but very much under control.... there only as a complexing component.
The Geyservilles have always been Ridge's flagship Zinfandel. In some yrs, I prefer the Pagani; but, by and large, it's the Geyserville I always go to. Because of the cepage from this vnyd, they always have a slightly funky/ strange character.... the wines don't show a great deal of Zinfandel/ varietal purity.... which makes for a more complex and cerebral Zinfandel.
After tasting thru this set, I'm not quite sure I can identify a unique/ distinctive "old Geyserville" character in them. Need to take more data points, I guess.
The Late Harvests: These LateHarvests all seemed to be quite young wines. Paul's recommended drinking periods seem to be way on the conservative side for them. Those of you lucky enough to have the Ridge Heart's Desire (now there's a big marketing screw-up on Ridge's part!!); hang onto 'em. You'll get the kind of wine you see above.
Ridge & Amador Zinfandel: In the '70's; Ridge made some terrific AmadorCnty Zins; some of the best ever made. The first two wines show what happens when you make 12%-13% Amador Zinfandel.... some things are not meant to be. Ridge had a lot of problem w/ the ripeness (over-ripeness) in the Amador grapes (from Esola and Eschen vnyds) and Paul finally threw up his hands in frustation about '82 and quit making Amador Zinfandel. What a shame; there are some really beautiful/old vine vnyds up there capable of making great (perhaps LateHarvest... so be it) Zins. Since there will probably be no more PasoRobles Zinfandel Essences, they really ought to go back to Amador & go ahead and make these over-the-top LateHarvest/Essence wines again. IMHO.
