TN: New Ridge Zins...(long/boring)

WINE TALK
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We tried the other week (3/23/11) the New Ridge Zins:

  1. Ridge Calif Zin Carmichael (8% PS; 14.7%; 41 brls; Bttld: 11/09; Drk: 8/09-8/15-8/16: EB)
    2008    : Med.dark color; attractive bright/raspberry/Zinberry some vanilla/oak slight buttery bit
    spicy/dusty nose; tart bright/raspberry/Zinberry some vanilla/oak pleasant/simple flavor; med.
    slightly tart bright/Zinberry/raspberry slight dusty/spicy some vanilla/oak finish w/ light
    tannins; a pleasant/simple/quotidian Ridge Zin. $28.00
  1. Ridge Calif Zin Carmichael (4% PS; 14.1%; 47 brls; Bttld: 12/08; Drk: 9/08-9/12-9/13: EB) 2007: Med.
    dark color; deeper less bright/Zinberry/fruit bit more pungent/licorice/blackberry some toasty/oak/
    DraperPerfume bit more interesting nose; some tart licorice/blackberry/Zin rather pungent bit toasty/oak/DP
    bit lean/tannic flavor; med.long pungent/toasty/oak/DP some licorice/blackberry/Zin bit hard/tannic finish;
    nice Zin but just that; more interesting and less simple than the '08 and seems longer lived. $28.00
  1. Ridge Calif Zin BuchignaniRanch (7% Carignane; 13.8%; 48 brls; Bttld: Dec’08;
    Drk: 8/08-8/13: JO) 2007    : Med.dark color; rather dusty/earthy/old vine strong blackberry/Zin/spicy light
    pungent/oak very attractive Ridge Zin nose; soft fairly rich blackberry/Zin/cranberry/spicy light pungent/toasty/
    oak some tannic flavor; med.long some pungent/spicy/blackberry/Zin/cranberry soft finish w/ modest tannins;
    some thought it had TCA but I didn’t get any; needs several yrs; one of the better Buchignanis. $28.00
  1. Ridge Calif Zin JimsomareRanch/SantaCruzMtns (100% Zin; 14.3%; 13 brls; Bttld: 5/10;
    Drk: 3/10-3/17: EB) 2008    : Dark color; very strong blackberry/raspberry/Zin/licorice some DP/pungent/oak rather
    dusty/old vines very spicy quite interesting nose; somewhat tart fairly tannic strong blackberry/Zin/raspberry/
    licorice light toasty/pengent/oak/DP very spicy flavor; very long strong blackberry/raspberry/Zin some dusty/OV
    quite spicy fairly tart light pungent/toasty/oak/DP finish w/ modest tannins; one of the best Ridge '08 Zins
    released thus far; lovely/lovely very spicy Zin. $32.00
  1. Ridge Geyserville SonomaCnty (74% Zin/17% Carignane/6% PS/2% AlicanteBouschet/1% Mataro;
    14.3%; Bttld: Feb 2011; Drk: 9/10-9/20-9/25: EB) 2009    : Dark color; lovely complex blackberry/black cherry/Zin/plummy
    very spicy/cinammon light DP/pungent/oak/toasty perfumed nose; somewhat tart very spicy/blackberry/black cherry/Zin/
    plummy light DP/pungent/toasty/oak flavor w/ somehate smooth/polished tannins; very long very spicy/cinammon dusty/OV
    very spicy/black cherry/blackberry/Zin/licorice somewhat tannic finish; lots of spiciness and terrific balance to
    take it for the long haul; 2025?? I don’t see that…but sometimes you just gotta believe. $35.00
  1. Ridge EastBench Zin (100% Zin; DryCreekVlly/SonomaCnty; 15.2%; Bttld: 1/2011; Drk: 10/10-10/15-10/16: JO) 2009:
    Med.color; rather alcoholic some very ripe/raspberry/Zin/blackberry light vanilla/oak/buttery nose; soft some
    very ripe/raspberry/Zin bit simple rather ripe/overripe slight hot/volatile light vanilla/oak/buttery ripe/simple
    flavor; med.long perfumed talc/cherry soda pop/raspberry/Zin bit ripe/hot/alcoholic rather vanilla/oak finish w/
    light tannins; a bit simple and rather on the ripe side; an underwhelming Ridge Zin. $26.00
  1. Hamel Syrah SonomaCnty (Vitis Allobrogica?; 63% RRV/37% DCV; U/U; 14.4%) 2000: Very dark color w/ little bricking;
    strong plummy/blackberry/Syrah very slight bretty/horsecollar light pencilly/toasty/oak somewhat complex nose;
    somewhat tart light tannic dusty/earthy/plummy some blackberry/licorice/Syrah light toasty/pencilly/oak flavor;
    med.long light tannic plummy/blackberry/Syrah light pencilly/oak slight unclean/bretty some complex finish; nice
    complexity and development at a great price; wouldn’t risk holding longer; much bottle-to-bottle variation. $4.00
  1. Coloma Syrah ElDorado “Meatgrinder” (14.2%) P&B by Jarvistomei/Napa 2008: Dark color; strong blackberry/Syrah/grapey
    rather mushroomy/earthy/ElDorado light toasty/oak rather simple nose; soft earthy/mushroomy light blackberry/Syrah/
    plummy/grapey light toasty/oak simple flavor; med.short mushroomy/earthy slight blackberry/Syrah/grapey/plummy finish
    w/ light tannins; speaks of ElDorado terroir and rather pleasant/simple, but just that. $15.00
  1. Ridge Calif Zin PasoRobles BenitoDusiRanch/SLOCnty (5% PS; Bttld: Sept 2010; 14.8%;
    Drk: 7/10-7/15: EB) 2009    : Dark color; lovely very strong blackberry/boysenberry/jammy/PR Zin/plummy light toasty/oak
    nose; slighhtly tart lush/rich plummy/blackberry/boysenberry/jammy/PR Zin loads of swet fruit almost framboise
    light toasty/oak flavor w/ modest tannins; very long plummy/blackberry/boysenberry/sweet PR Zin/jammy light toasty/
    oak framboise-like finish w/ modest tannins; loads of that sweet fruit/PR Zin character; classic ripe PR Zin w/o being
    over the top. $30.00
  1. Ridge Calif Zin OldSchool/IndependenceSchoolDistrict/SonomaCnty (100% Zin; 15.2%; 51 brls; Bttld: Mar’09;
    “significant residual sugar”; SaH: 28.3 Brix; Drk: 11/08-11/13-11/15: EB) 2007    : Med.dark color; strong very ripe/
    blackberry/plummy/Zin/chocolaty slight herbal/Kansas feed store light pencilly/oak nose; soft bit hot/alcoholic/
    very ripe strong blackberry/raspberry/Zin rather sweet some Kansas feed store/herbal light pencilly/oak flavor
    w/ modest tannins; med.long soft very ripe/blackberry/chocolaty/raspberry/Zin slight herbal/feed store light
    pencilly/oak pretty sweet finish w/ modest tannins; pretty sweet on the palate but basically good Zin. $30.00

And the usual stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:

  1. Jimsomare: This comes from the old remaining block of Zin on the Jimsomare/lower MonteBello Ranch. This is
    only made sporadically. Not sure where those grapes go in yrs they don’t release a Jimsomare. Back in the
    old days (by crackey), back in the early '70’s; the Jimsomare and Occidental Zins were Ridges biggest (and
    best, IMHO) Zins Ridge made. The Jimsomares tend to show an incredible spice-box character to them. I thought
    this '08 version was a bit lighter than the previous '07 version, but much the same exotic spiciness. It, to
    my taste, shows more purity of Zin fruit than do the more complex LyttonSprings or Geyserville; much the same
    purity of fruit you get in Dusi, w/o the intense blackberry/boysenberry fruit that you find in Dusi.
  1. Geyserville: I think this is one of the better Geyservilles that Ridge has done in the 2000’s. It seems to have
    more spiciness, more purity of Zin fruit, more balance than previous ones upon release. I get a bit amused by
    this search for “balance” that seems to be the hot-topic of the day in the Syrah and Pinot worlds. If anyone
    wants a great definition of balance, then Geyserville is always my go-to example. It’s not a dramatic statement
    of Zin upon release, but that incredible balance it typically displays is probably what makes it so ageable.
  1. Hamel: I haven’t seen hide nor hare of KevinHaamel’s Syrah around in yrs. I really liked them back in the late
    '90’s and thought them fairly priced in the low-$30’s. Low & behold, this '00 version showed up at our local
    SunflowerMarket for the absurd price of $10…for 3 btls!! I have no idea where this stash has been sitting over
    low those many yrs. This was the 2’nd of 3 btls I’ve tried. This first was a huge brett bomb and pretty near
    undrinkable. This btl showed a little brett, but was much better than the first one. I’ve had similar reports
    from others who have bought this wine…some very bretty…some very good. You pays your money…
    The Vitis Allobrogica refers to at one time (afore Carole showed that Syrah was a cross from the Savoie of
    Deureza and MondeuseBlanche) there was some belief that Syrah was not a member of the Vitis Vinifera family.
    That has been shown to be incorrect.
  1. Dusi: BeniDusi is one of the most likable farmers I ever done met. Must be in his '80’s by now and still out
    there on the tractor. The Ridge Dusi/PR Zin is one of my favorite Zins out of PasoRobles year-in/year-out.
    When Ridge first started producing PasoRobles Zin back in the mid-'70’s (by crackey; accompanied by a sound
    slap to the thigh and a loud guffaw), it was easily my least favorite Ridge Zin. They were harvested much earlier
    w/ alcohols in the 12% to low 13% range. They hard a hard chalky minerality (back afore minerality was highly
    desired in a wine) and a certain austerity to them that I didn’t care for. Except for the occasional Dusi LatePick
    or Dusi LateHrvst, they now are typically in the upper-14% range and much more attractive; yet they seldom show
    that overripe/over-the-top jammy character that Paso reds can often show.
  1. Old School: Back in the old days of Ridge (by crackey), this wine would have been labeled LateHrvst because of the
    high RS (2.7% in this case). For some reason, this wine was not labeled as a LateHrvst. It’s easy to get blind-sided
    by this wine because of the RS unless you note Eric’s “significant residual sugar” comment in the side-label.
    The wine is NOT bad wine…you just have to be forewarned that it is somewhat sweet and use it in the proper
    context. Some of the old Ridge LateHarvests were legendary, even w/ RS. My guess it was not labeled as LateHrvst
    because it was not up to the standards of those LateHrvsts of yore, or that the folks at Ridge are so spooked by
    the high-alcohol/late-harvest AFWE fanatics out there that they’d be tarred&feathered. They shouldn’t cave so
    easily to those AFWE folks.
    Tom
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Nice notes. Always nice to get a “sneak peek” at the Ridge ATP offerings especially. I have expanded my Ridge ATP group to the point where we get only two bottles each, so it’s good not to “burn one” too early.

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Awesome and timely note Tom, I’ll be haunting Monte Bello this Friday. The 09 Geyserville is locked into my sites, and probably a few others.

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Fabulous notes Tom and we seem to be in agreement on many of the Ridge wines. I had a 2004 Dusi last month that just sang. Gorgeous nose, rich brambly darker fruit, some DP, no noticeable heat, just delicious.

Many of the ATP’s I find lacking and have dropped off the list. Still have many Carmichaels and Buchignanis to work through but find little aging capabilities tp them.

As for Jimsomare, I love this vineyard and find the higher acidities help this wine in the long haul. Still have some late 80’s by crackee!

Seems to me the “late harvest” designation has been replace by “Late picked” as of late. Not sure of the semantic difference but they seem to be similarly cut to my palate.

Again, thanks for the notes.

Aloha!

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Thanks for the compliment, Mark.
For many yrs, Ridge was pretty consistent in their usage. LatePicked indicated a wine that was “late picked” and, therefore, higher in alcohol
than normal, usually above 15%, but dry. Oftentimes, they put the actual RS on the label to make sure it registered as dry, even though it may
have tasted slightly sweet.
For a LateHarvest, that was reserved for wines which were also picked late, had a higher alcohol, and had some/slight RS. Because of the AFWE folks railing
against high alcohol wines, and lack of balance, winemakers may be getting a little sensitive to the issue of alcohol in wines. So Ridge may be a bit
reluctant to use the LatePicked or LateHarvest term on the label.
The Ridge ATP program continues to perplex me. I find them sort of hit or miss. Ponzo, Caboose, Buchignani, Carmichael, Mazzoni, Oltranti, StoneRanch, etc.
Often/usually I find them very underwhelming/unthrilling upon release. Pleasant enough Zins, fairly priced, but not that distinctive; usually lesser wines than
the Lytton/Geyserville/Pagani/Paso. For a special program like ATP, you’d think they would be small lots of something really special or distinctive. But they
don’t seem to be. DonnReisen & I used to go round&round on this point. When I’ve made that remark to PaulDraper, he insists that he’d rather have John and Eric
focus on making their flagship Zins the very best they can possibly be. But that these old vnyds have something distinct and unique to say, so they continue
to make those ATP wines.
That said, some of these ATP Zins have an uncanny knack of, down the road w/ a few yrs of bottle age, rising up and biting you on the a$$ they’re so good.
And then others stay underwhelming their entire life. I haven’t been able to figure out any consistency to them.
And then their Rhone program is a whole nuther issue, but not for here.
Tom

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Went to a Ridge 2009 release tasting last week.

East Bench, yawn. I haven’t had an East Bench that has done anything for me
Ponzo – Quite tight but seems to have stuffing and I’m betting a good future
Geyserville – Like the Ponzo this is so young and not strutting its stuff yet. Still wonderful minerals, good fruit but muted nose. Easy buy but then Geyserville is my desert island drink.
Paso Robles – OMFG, this thing is singing. Delightful fruit, just delicious and charming. The partner, who always loves PR, immediately broke out into a big smile. Then she broke out her AmEx.

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There’s also the “Essence” bottlings, which are full-on sweet. Mike - if you’re interested, ask. They have a few bottles available. I’d recommend picking up some '05 P.S. Maybe ask if there’s still any Jimsomare around.