Still in need of a nice bottle of wine, and after a corked bottle of 05 Shirvington Cab earlier I decided to pop an old ridge for fun while I watch Slumdog Millionaire.
1990 Ridge Howell Mt. Zin - Pours deep ruby with almost no bricking on the edges., Started off with a whiff of funk on the nose, but that blew off to reveal raisins, graphite, and blackberry jam on the nose. Nice start! It is mid-weight with spicy strawberry flavors and bright cherry with a pomerganite note coming in on the back of the palate. It has some minerality but the tannins have pretty much resolved leaving a perfectly rounded aged zin.
Boy, haven’t had this one since '98~Thanks for the notes, nice to read where it’s at these days. Here’s what I thought of this one back then:
The ‘90 Howell Mountain is a dark garnet that reminded Zinchick of nail polish remover and turpentine, though others’ opinions were less harsh. Like the first two, it continued to open and improve for as long as it lasted. The Zinfan said that this is less complex than the first two wines, though there was obviously more fruit. There was also a bit more Brett in it, but with air, it took its place in the greater whole. There are still good tannins and acidity here, with lots of dark black raspberry/blackberry/plum/pepper/ spice flavors and aromas, and yes, that “Eau de Draper” eventually makes itself known. A very satisfying Ridge Zin.
Cool TN - I think I still have one bottle of this left, along with a bottle of the '90 Lytton Springs. Nice to hear I’m not hanging on to it for no reason .
Greg, it’s been a while, but my recollection is that the Zin vines were pulled up and replanted to Cab - I believe the '90 was the last year Ridge produced wine from this plot.
I was also curious if they still made this bottling or if someone else used the vines. Sucks if it is cab now, cause this bottle was very tasty. It was in perfect condition, high fill, capsul spinning, etc. And this bottle would have lasted another 5-8 years I bet, though I’m not sure it would improve any. It is likely just past peak, but pretty suprising.
I have a not so good looking bottle of 76 Lytton Springs that will be checked in on soon!
It was similar to yours, but no funk at the beginning. The wine was beginning to turn brownish also. I like the amount of acid on this wine and I think it has helped a great deal in the longevity of this wine.
If I recall the Ridge Howell Mountain Zin was a blend of Beatty RanchVineyard, Park Muscatine Vineyard and Stout Vineyard. Park Muscatinewas sold to Randy Dunn if I remember correctly and he replanted most ofit to Cab but kept the old Petite Sirah. Beatty Ranch is stillproducing and Zins are produced by Vie winery and Howell MountainVineyards. I don’t no anything about the Stout Vineyard. Ridge did makevineyard designated Beatty and Park Muscatine Zins for their ATP club.
I decided to pop an old ridge for fun while I watch Slumdog Millionaire.![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
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