WTN: Two Ridge Zins..Old/New...(short/boring)

We tried last night w/ grilled chicken kabobs:

  1. Ridge Calif Zin HeartsDesireVnyd/TrentadueRanch LateHrvst (14.7%; 30 brls; Bttld: 5/97; SaH: 26.7%; RS: 1.5%; Drk: 3/97-3/02: PD) 1996: Med.dark color w/ some bricking; slight volatile/alcoholic strong very ripe/blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/spicy slight late harvesty loads of frip/chocolaty light toasty/oak/DraperPerfume some complex nose; off-dry very ripe/overripe strong blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/licorice/DrPepper smooth/rich/lush slight alcoholic/overripe light vanilla/oak bit complex flavor w/ smooth/ripe tannins; rather long very ripe/overripe very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/spicy/DrPepper bit late harvesty light vanilla/oak some complex finish w/ ripe/lush tannins;big rich/ripe/lush LateHrvst Zin that has loads of ripe/boysenberry/Zin fruit; still very much alive; much like the CarnerosCreek '76 Zins; definitely very ripe w/o straying over into the raisened/pruney side.

  1. Ridge Zin OldSchool SonomaCnty (78% Zin/14% Carignan/8% PS; 15.2%; 33 brls; Bttld: March 2011; Drk: 12/10-12/15-12/16-longer: EB) 2009: Dark color; strong blacvkberry/Zin/licorice/RCCola lush/spicy light vanilla/oak very attractive nose; slightly tart rich/lush blackberry/Zin/licorice/RCCola light vanilla/oak quite spicy balanced/rich/big fruit flavor w/ modest tannins; long rich/lush blackberry/Zin/boysenberry/RCCola/licorice light vanilla/oak slight tannic finish; one of the better recent ATP Zins, more than just a pretty face; no signs of 15%+ alcohol or heat or overripeness. $30.00 (ATP)

A wee BloodyPulpit:

  1. HeartsDesire: The original HeartsDesire vnyd was planted in the 1870’s by a friend of LutherBurbank. Ridge took cuttings from that vnyd and propagated a new block on Trentadue, from which this wine was sourced. This is, I believe, a one-of.
    This btl, my last one, was my Valentine’s gift to Susan (along w/ some ChocolateSmith Chocolates). Thought it was an appropriate gift. She, in turned, gifted me w/ five pounds of beef cheeks, which we’ll have for dinner tonight. That Susan is such a romantic!! :slight_smile:
    I was expecting this last btl to be pretty shakey, if not dead and gone. It was not…it was still very much alive. It reminded me of some of the LatePicked Amador Zins that FrankMahoney/CarnerosCreek made in '76-'78.

  1. OldSchool: I find many/most of the Ridge ATP Zins are pretty underwhelming upon release. Pretty raspberry fruit, but just that. They sometimes/often have this strange knack of putting on weight in the btl and turning into pretty interesting Zins. And sometimes not…they just remain “pretty”. This OldSchool is one of the better Ridge ATP Zins I can recall; lots of big fruit, less of the DraperPerfume; but that classic Ridge balance & structure. Quite a nice ATP Zin from Ridge. Bravo for Eric.
    Tom

Thanx for the note on the Old School Zin. I will be receiving my 3x/year shipment next month, and I am looking forward to it. How does it compare to the 2006 that was recently being offered, if you have tried it?

You might find my note on a NV Santa Cruz Cab from the 1970s of interest… with bottle notes by DRB. https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1308186 you know, since you have followed Ridge from the very start!

Say whot…does a bear…??? I thought the '06 OldSchool was pleasant enough when I first tasted it 2 yrs ago. But just that.
Haven’t had it since then, so don’t know now.
But I thought this one was the best OldSchool yet.
Tom

The dates are from when the notes were written, so it’s '76 and '79.

Hey Tom;
Did Ridge have a TCA problem in '99? They did vis a vis my household, as I opened two Petites and both were horribly corked and then opened two LS zins, and both were corked, all four bottles opened back to back to back to back!

Clueless…but not to my knowledge, Mitch. They’re pretty rigorous at Ridge in their cork certification program and I find
fewer corked/TCA wines from Ridge than almost any other wnry. But I don’t recall any problem w/ the '99’s.
Maybe just bad karma for you dissing Ridge many a yr ago. [snort.gif]
Tom