Ridge Vineyards 2023 Spring Release
Sonoma & Santa Cruz Mountains
2023 Wines Available
Geyserville 96pts
Three Valleys 93pts
Paso Robles Zinfandel 95pts
East Bench Zinfandel 94pts
More OFFER DETAILS & to Order by eMail
Hard to believe it is already here, but we have the new spring releases of Ridge Vineyards and the hitly anticipated 2023 wines! Ridge of course is one of the most important wineries in our beloved and short history of winemaking. ALL WINES except Three Valleys (flat) received a PRICE DROP too this year! The 2023 vintage is being called one of the best ever in northern California with a long, warm, consistent (very few heat spikes) and NO FIRES!
Three Valleys 2023 93WS/93JD
Sonoma, CA
$27.99 on 6+*
$29.99 reg
*mix & match OK
93 pts Jeb Dunnuck “Made since 2001 from a number of Sonoma County vineyards, the 2023 Three Valleys blends 71% Zinfandel, 16% Carignane, 9% Petite Sirah, 2% each Mataro and Alicante Bouschet from Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Valley, and Russian River Valley. Floral, it is complex and less rustic than usual, the vintage showing classic charm and elegance. Though it is one of Ridge’s largest production wines, it is made in the exact same way as all its others, in open top tanks with real oak and native fermentations. It’s meant to represent a vintage more than a location. A popular by-the-glass pour, order it when you see it.”
93 pts Wine Spectator “Generous and robust yet retains a sense of polish, with expressive raspberry and blueberry flavors highlighted by licorice and pepper, plus a whiff of dill as this builds toward fine-grained tannins. Zinfandel, Carignane, Petite Sirah, Mataro and Alicante Bouschet. Drink now through 2034.”
71% Zinfandel, 16% Carignane, 9% Petite Sirah, 2% Mataro, 2% Alicante Bouschet
Ridge’s Three Valleys is kind of an anomaly in the Ridge portfolio and the wine market. The quality of this wine is obvious, the pedigree, the talent, but the blending which is what this wine represents (blending now FOUR Sonoma Valleys) is something that in the current wine market is seen less. That’s because we have trained the current wine consumer to think that single vineyards are the best. And while it is true they can deliver a significantly distinct expression, it does not necessarily make it better. Just ask Maria Teresa of Bartolo Mascarello! Blending is an art, and in many ways helps guarantee quality of a wine as you take a little from each of the sources to together to achieve something that truly is greater as a whole than the sum of its parts.
The Four (not Three Valleys)
Alexander Valley
Dry Creek Valley
Sonoma Valley
Russian River Valley
Three Valleys represents the blending of vineyards—winemaking—at its finest. Zinfandel determines the wine’s varietal character; old-vine carignane contributes bright fruit and acidity; petite sirah spice, depth of color, and firm tannins.
Winemaking
Fermentation: No inoculation; natrual primary and secondary.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (19% new, 8% one year old, 50% four years old, and 23% five-plus years old).
Aging: Twelve months in barrel
Geyserville 2023 95JD/96OB
Alexander Valley, Sonoma
$47.99 on 6+*
$49.99 reg
*mix & match OK
375ml: $27.99 on 6+ straight / $29.99 reg
96 pts OwenBargreen.com “The 2023 ‘Geyserville’ is a marvelous, silky blend of mainly Zinfandel (70%) with 18% Carignane, 9% Petite Sirah and a touch of Alicante Boushet. Very dark in the glass, this delivers beautiful violet rose petals alongside mocha, tar, Cuban cigar and notes of garrigue with loganberry compote. The palate is fresh and refined, with an elegant mid-palate mouthfeel and light dusting of salinity. Well-structured and weighted, offering plenty of depth and flavor density, this is a marvelous effort that has yet to fully hit its stride —- but the incredible potential is there. The combination of weight and tension suggests this will be very long-lived. Give this another year in the cellar before uncorking. Drink 2026-2045” -Owen Bargreen (March 2025)
95 pts JebDunnuck.com “A perennial standout for the winery that is produced for wider distribution, the 2023 Zinfandel Geyserville is a blend of 70% Zinfandel, 18% Carignane, 9% Petite Sirah and 3% Alicante, the 2023 a highly ageable vintage with great acidity. That freshness helps to define the wine’s juicy core of well-mannered, supple tannins and oak, the wine aged entirely in 100% air-dried American oak, 15% of it new. It truly offers the perfect balance of dark fruit and freshness, within a full-bodied richness and structure still built for aging, as with all Ridge wines. Enjoy now through 2033.” -Virginie Boone (April 2025)
70% Zinfandel, 18% Carignane, 9% Petite Sirah, 3% Alicante Bouschet
First produced in 1966, we have made this zinfandel every year for fifty-six years. Consistency of quality and vineyard character are its hallmarks. A dry winter with a moderate spring and summer ripened the grapes evenly. Showing plentiful fruit, elegant tannins and bright acidity, this fine wine will develop fully over the next fourteen years.
Winemaking
Fermentation: Full Crush, 100% floating cap. Natural primary and natural secondary (malolactic) fermentations; daily pump-overs. minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 70 ppm over the course of aging)
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (15% new, 10% one year old, 10% two years old, 30% three years old, and 35% four years old).
Aging: Sixteen months in barrel
East Bench Zinfanfdel 2023 95JD/94OB
Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma
$37.99 on 6+*
$39.99 reg
*mix & match OK
95 pts JebDunnuck.com “A 100% Zin from a single-vineyard estate of organically grown grapes in iron-rich soils, the 2023 Zinfandel East Bench is one of the producer’s only 100% Zins, and it is special at that, with mind-blowing structure. Medium-bodied and remarkably light on its feet, it has classic brambly berry fruit, dusty tannins, and seasonings of baking spice, a fantastically elegant representation of the appellation when in the right hands. Enjoy now through 2033.” -Virginie Boone (April 2025)
94 pts OwenBargreen.com “The 2023 ‘East Bench’ Zinfandel is sourced from a small site in the Dry Creek Valley, the Funstein Ranch, set on volcanic iron rich soils. This is plush and rich Zin, offering a gorgeous body, salinity and core of red and dark fruits. Full-bodied and showing chocolate and graphite accents, with shades of sagebrush, enjoy now and over the next ten plus years. Drink 2025-2037.” -Owen Bargreen (March 2025)
100% Zinfandel
Ridge has made the East Bench as a single vineyard since 2006, one of the few Ridge zinfandels that is 100% zinfandel. The vineyard sits high atop the bench land that overlooks Dry Creek Valley from the east. 2023 boasted a late and prolonged harvest due to consistently cool weather throughout the growing season
Winemaking
Hand-harvested; estate-grown organic grapes; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the indigenous yeast for primary and natural secondary (malolactic) fermentations in steel tank. 100% air-dried American oak barrels (14% new, 10% one year old, 10% two years old, and 66% five-plus years old) for 14 months in barrel.
Paso Robles Zinfandel 2023 94JD/94OB
Dusi Ranch, Paso Robles
$35.99 on 6+*
$37.99 reg
*mix & match OK
94 pts JebDunnuck.com “The 2023 Zinfandel Benito Dusi Ranch is made from 100% Zinfandel, the vines old and established; Ridge’s first vintage was 1967. Featuring full-bodied, jammy red fruit, it is juicy, broad, and fleshy while also offering a high-toned, restrained style. A hallmark of the vineyard is its great acidity, with brightness a consistent characteristic across vintages. Round, it’s not sweet but allows enough sweetness from the fruit to be lush and appealing from start to finish, spending 12 months in 15% new American oak. Drink now through 2033.” -Virginie Boone (April 2025)
94 pts OwenBargreen.com “The 2023 ‘Paso Robles’ Zinfandel is sourced from the Dusi Vineyard, as this wine was first made by Ridge in the 1960s. 100% varietal, this offers graphite and dark chocolate shavings mingle well with cardamom dusted orange peel and menthol notes on the nose. The palate is very fresh and lithe on the mouth, with terrific tension and texture, as well as salty undertones. Complex and delicious, enjoy now and over the next ten years. Drink 2025-2035.” - Owen Bargreen (March 2025)
100% Zinfandel
Benito Dusi’s Ranch is the only zinfandel vineyard that Ridge sources from within the Central Coast Viticultural Area. The 1967 vintage was our first wine from the Dusi Ranch. It was planted to zinfandel in 1922 which is unusual because Prohibition had started two years earlier. Purchased by Sylvester and Catarina Dusi in 1924, the property has been farmed since the 1940s by their son Benito, the owner. Benito passed away in 2019, leaving the care of the vineyard to his nephew, Mike.
Winemaking
Benito Dusi Vineyard grapes, hand-harvested; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; 100% air-dried American oak barrels (15% new, 10% one year old, and 75% four and five years old) for 12 months in barrel