TN: 1985 Ridge Geyserville (USA, California, Sonoma County)

  • 1985 Ridge Geyserville - USA, California, Sonoma County (2/12/2012)
    Crumbly cork, had a rough time getting it out without it crumbling into the bottle, but was successful. Had a significant funkiness that blew off after a while. A ton of sediment so i decanted the second half. Very light in color with some orange bricking. A really nice wine, with a slight musty aroma at first, revealing some earthy floral notes. Tart black cherry/raspberry with a hint of minerals and a nice menthol component. The wine is probably just a couple years past its prime, and I don’t drink a lot of older wine,but this is a real treat. Super interesting and gentle.

Posted from CellarTracker

PS - purchased a month ago from invino.com for $15…duh, winning!

Nice Scott! I have one '87 left that my dad bought on release and this reminds me to put in the que. The last bottle I had a couple of years ago drank a lot like an older bordeaux.

Sounds like this bottle may have gotten little TLC. A good 85 Geezer last year was quite colorful still with limited bricking and certainly no orange. Price was surely right though.

Great read, Scott.

Joe, I have two '87s as well and have been wondering when to pull one of those corks. Perhaps a virtual '87 horizontal? [cheers.gif]

Scott,

my note from last month was simliar, same $15 find as you. I think I have maybe 3 more bottles, I am hoping that one really shows it’s stuff.

1/28/2012 rated 88 points: Cork crumbled, but good looking bottle. Tasted over 2 days. Clearly past peak, but still drinking nice. There was some real funkiness that blew off, to show a slight nose with a dusting of dark cherry, with hints of mint. Thinner texture on the palate, still showing a cherry cough drop flavor profile that is rather pronounced. There is still firm acidity on the tail end of this, That lingers into a dam earth, if not slightly reductive finish. Not a Whiff of alchol in sight, this is listed at 13.3%.

Yes, a reference to an older Bordeaux seems appropriate with this, mature flavors and nice complexity. I liked it quite a bit. I also agree the wine wasn’t always kept in perfect storage - mainly because that cork just fell apart. However, the bottom of the cork was intact, so in the end all was good. The wine had good color as you can see from the pic, the color fade as it got to the edge was substantial.

Joe, I like your “damp earth” descriptor, that explains it quite well. I didn’t get the reduction, but everything else is similar to your note. As I don’t have a large cellar, I don’t often see a wine get to this level of maturity - so it is fun to experience.

Crumbling cork is not typical of old Ridge wines. I bet I have Ah-so’ed a 100 or more pre-1985 Ridge wines and almost uniformly the corks display superior integrity.

Right, which is why I agree with you about it’s probable history.

Crumbling cork is not typical of old Ridge wines. I bet I have Ah-so’ed a 100 or more pre-1985 Ridge wines and almost uniformly the corks display superior integrity.

Actually California wines in general have structurally sounder corks. Almost every one from the 70’s come out cleanly with minimal staining along the sides while those from other parts of the world tend to break apart.

We did a Geyserville vertical several years ago. The brief notes are here:

(I hope this does not violate any board rules for external linking)
BD

I’m game! [drinkers.gif]