Pulled the cork, carefully, on this old gem, the last of my once decent collection of “Lytton Springs Lytton Springs” as most of us referred to Dick Sherwin’s wines once Ridge bought the vineyard-Valley Vista, and winery and shut the separate winery down. If any of this is incorrect, I am sure I will get corrected. I have no cares about that. The aspect of this I do want to share is that the wine was not only alive, it was very healthy. The color was very dark with the only sign of age being the weird sense of fragmented pigmentation (my imagination perhaps) as the wine pours. There was ample sediment. The balance was beyond criticism with more than sufficient fruit, but as has become so cliche-but true-it resembled an aged cab. A beautiful bottle of wine from a winery that I wish was still around. The other two bottles in the pic were OK too. The Montelena had a bit too much oak for my taste, but showed no taint. The Geezer was a '94 and showed very well.
I am sitting on a 84 & 87. One day soon.
We do have a 94 Geezer upright for sometime this week.
Lytton Springs, Lytton Springs. Man I miss those wines. Had a pretty big stash of wines from 83-87 once upon a time. Loved the wines, just packed with gorgeous fruit. Sadly finished them all about two years ago. The last bottle, an 85, was still packed with fruit, but was corked. Not the way I wanted to end the run. Ridge of course did a fine job with the fruit back then, but I always preferred the LSLS.
Well, Mitch…I’m here to correct you. Shirley you expected that, didn’t you.
This was, of course, one of DickSherwin’s Zins. The wines were always very/very good, but the label plug-ugly.
Ridge purchased the LS vnyd in 1991. They didn’t immediately shut down the wnry, but eventually the production was shifted down to MB.
Actually, for 2-3-4 yrs after they bought LS, they continued to make LS Zin under Dick’s label. There was a definite following for those Zins,
even thoughh it was not Draper’s style. There were people who liked those big fruit Zins, often w/ some noticible brett, and Ridge wanted to
accomodate them. But, eventually Draper pulled the plug on that label and it’s only Ridge LS now. Not too surprised the wine is still holding
up.
Dick Sherwin and DeeSindt were the owners/publishers of the short-lived WineWorld magazine in the late-'70’s/early-'80’s. Therein lies a tale
I can tell you sometime in pprivate.
My best to your Dad.
Tom
Well Tom, if anyone is going to correct me, I prefer that it be you. I always liked the label. I suppose not so much for what it is, as what it represents in the way of wine memories. I did forget that there were a few overlapping years in which wine was bottled under both labels. As for the style, I can see where you are coming from but there have been some very thick ripe boysenberry syrup style Ridge LS in the past. Seemed in the early 90s they were really pushing for big point scorers. I recall that Mr. Parker gave the '90 Meeker zin a huge score and then the Ravenswood Dickerson and then in short order the Martinelli Jackass and suddenly the octane wars were back to the forefront.
Cool post, Mitch! Lytton is typically my favorite Ridge.
Nice notes, Mitch. The 1993 Lytton Springs was one of the best Zins I have ever tasted. We had our last bottle a few years ago, a magnum, for a dinner party and everyone was shocked at how good it was.
Thanks,
Ed
Well, MItch…maybe I just have a greater sense of asthetics for label design than some attourney would have!!! 
I always thought it was plug-ugly…but it does stir up some very fond memories. What I remember about the labels is that
they were cheaply printed and had a bad tendency to scuff when stacked atop each other.
Tom
Thanks for the note Mitch, am a big fan of the Lytton Springs Zins. I had my last bottles a couple of years ago: 1983 Private Reserve and a 1987. The 1983 was panned at release by Connoisseurs’ Guide with an “upside down glass” but I tried it on release and thought it very interesting. It was in fine shape but did show some brett (I’m pretty tolerant of brett) and plenty of fruit. Unfortunately the 1987 had leaked (low shoulder ullage) and was oxidized.
Occasional poster Allan Bree posted a great history of Lytton Springs at The Gang of Pour site that you can find here Homage Lytton Springs - the land, the people, the wine, by Allan Bree | Gang of Pour On Wine.
BTW Tom I quite liked the label
Dick Sherwin and DeeSindt were the owners/publishers of the short-lived WineWorld magazine in the late-'70’s/early-'80’s. Therein lies a tale
I can tell you sometime in private.
I’ve heard this story as well.
The wine that sparked thoughts of winemaking for me. Had it at a party early 90s after moving out to CA and fell in love. Toured through Dry Creek and then down Westside Road after that. A few years later I started making wine. Now what the hell have I gotten myself into ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
Someone who knew them brought a pre-commercial Valley Vista Zin ('74 iirc) to a Lytton Springs vertical. I heard more than one tale. That wine was spectacular, though it did have something to it that spawned a new tale…
We had the 94 Geyserville last night in our local Francophile’s restaurant. Wine got better & better over the 75 minutes it was open. Great bottle!