I’m quickly going through the '09 line-up of Ridge - East Bench, Ponzo, Geyserville, Paso Robles and now Lytton Springs (still more to go) - but as usual, Lytton Springs is always the stand-out to me. Yes, they are all really solid in 09, as in many years, but qualitatively the Lytton Springs shines for me. Typically sporting the highest concentration of petite syrah in its blends, the Lytton Springs is more brooding, deep and rustic than the other blends. The 09 Geyserville is quite elegant in comparison. My recollection is that the Lytton Springs is also typically the lowest in alcohol percentage of the blends, except for perhaps Geyserville, and unquestionably exhibits more balance in that respect than the other blends.
Three Valleys. Because it seems to be on every wine list in the US, it is cheap, and it is a reasonably enjoyable drink. As I never buy zins otherwise, this is an easy call for me.
Interesting question. After several years in the ATP I dropped it because I decided I preferred the standard Geyserville, Lytton, & Pagani (although I’ll add that some of those ATP bottles lost in the depths of my cellar I’ve been finding more enjoyable after 5+ years than I did on release).
Anyway, my favorites come down to Geyserville or Lytton Springs, and that’s a close call but I’d say I’m probably preferring Lytton younger and Geyserville with some age. I’m excited about '09 in DCV although I still haven’t cracked any '09 Lytton Springs yet.
The various Ridge zins/zin blends exibit consistent, but different ageing profiles. For immediate gratification, the fat, rich and plush Paso Robles (Dusi) gets my nod. Intermediate term (3-7) years Lytton. Longer term (7+ years) Geyserville - one of the most gracefull long agers that I’m aware of. Pagani sees to have a similar ageing curve to Lytton.
Jimsomare is very hard to find, but really a gem. A long ageing gem.
Looks like we are going to have a lot of differences in opinion. I’m a big fan of Pagani for rich and structured and Ponzo for the big crowd pleaser. Don’t get me wrong, I love Lytton, but I find that I put most of it away with hopes of aging potential. HOWEVER, Lytton was the wine that sold me on Red Zins.
No Geyserville love? Well, it’s always my favorite Ridge Zinfandel-based blend.
I was at a big Ridge retrospective with almost every vintage of Geyserville paired against Lytton Springs from 1991-2001, and while both were great, 8 out of 10 tasters consistently preferred the Geyserville as having more structure and depth.
Good question & nice posts all around. Back in the late 70s and through the 80s the Geyserville was my easy favorite…with age it was fun to put blind in some tastings. I believe the Lytton blend has changed over the years as Ridge aquired the old Lytton Springs winery and that added to their available fruit. But these are both mostly field blends…for pure Zinfandel or mostly zin I have really enjoyed so many Pagani and Dusi Zins over the years…even the late picked ones…which could get pretty intense and sometimes hard to match with food. That all said, the 09 East Bench is a new 100% zin that really knocked us out the other night with some local TX BBQ brisket.
Yea, East Bench is a great new addition to the fold. I drank quite a bit of the '08, which was all of $20, and now the '09 locally is $22. An excellent QPR. Pure, unadulterated Zin goodness. Nowhere near the complexity of LS or Geezer, but when you want a wine to yank out mid-week with some Pizza or Burgers, this is it.
Thread drift, but what do folks think about the big points Galloni gave the 2009 Ridge wines, namely Lytton Springs and Geyserville? I haven’t tried them, but 95 and 94 pts respectively is 2-3 pts higher (I think, not positive here as my ebob subscription lapsed) than any rating Parker ever gave either wine in their long history (though Parker did give the 2008 Pagani Zin 94 points).
Is this just getting calibrated to Galloni’s palate for these two wines or was there a marked qualitative leap in the last year? Whatever we think of points, Parker almost always gave Geyserville 90-91 pts (I think 92 pts was his highest rating ever for this bottling), so a 94 is a sizeable jump.
I think 95 on the Lytton is a stretch, but if you look at CT data, the 09 vintage averages 1-3 points higher than all prior vintages until you get to 1999. The CT average on the LS for 09 is 91.7. I think 92-93 is about right. I’ve only had one bottle of the LS, but it is showing beautifully.
I have never paid attention to Parker’s scores on some iconic wineries like Ridge or Joguet. He was always tight with his ratings, yet on the other-hand, doling out 90+ ratings for just about every Cambie-styled Rhone that rolled onto the market. I’d take Ridge or Joguet over just about any of those highly-rated Rhones. And bear in mind, I really, really like Rhones.