TN: 1976 Ridge Zinfandel Jimsomare

Figured I’d post my thoughts on an interesting bottle that I enjoyed this past weekend. The score is likely inflated a bit given the circumstance and my lack of comparative data points in tasting Zins of this age. Cheers!

1976 Ridge Zinfandel Jimsomare - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (4/10/2015)
Opened as part of some weekend birthday celebrations, this was a pop and pour. Rather opaque and rust-colored with considerable bricking. Initially had somewhat of a sharp, acrid smell to it that thankfully blew off after a few minutes in the glass with gentle swirling, leaving behind a pleasant surprise. Dried flowers/potpourri, leather, and tea leaves on the nose. In the mouth this is light and drying, with faint flavors of tart cranberry, cinnamon, black tea, dried cherries, and orange zest. Consumed over an hour and a half, slowly rising from cellar temp, and with no discernible fading during that time. Most likely way over-the-hill and by far and away the oldest Zin I’ve tasted, this was a very interesting experience nonetheless. (91 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Sounds like about where I’d expect this wine to be. Sounds like it’s fading into the sunset, but if it were way over-the-hill, you would have gotten
a lot of oxidation and wouldn’t have liked drinking it. Old Zins like this offer up a lot of intellectual pleasure, but not a lot of sensual pleasure.
The Ridge Occidental '70 was, like many folks here on WB, a legend in its time. And, lime many here, its time has come&gone.
The Jimsomare Zins thru the '70’s (before Ridge actually owned the Ranch & farmed it) tended to be pretty big & extracted. Often w/ alcohols above 15%.
Tom

Thanks for the insights, Tom! That’s a great way to describe my experience with it - intellectually pleasurable. Looking at the bottle this vintage clocked in at 14% abv, but who knows how far that may have been rounded down. Cheers!

Well…that 14% is probably pretty accurate. Ridge doesn’t juggle their figures on the label.
Tom

*Ridge doesn’t own the Jimsomare Vyd. It’s under long-term lease, as are some of the other vineyards up there. Due to proximity and because they manage it, it legally qualifies as estate.