I cracked tonight for dinner (big mistake):
1. Ridge Calif Zin OldSchool (100% Zin; 15.2%; 51 brls; Bttld:Mar'09; "significant residual sugar"; Drk: 11/08-11/13-11/15: EB) 2007: Dark color; intense grapey/boysenberry/blackberry/Zin/jammy/very ripe/licorice slight volatile/alcoholic/late harvesty light vanilla/oak nose; soft strong/very ripe/jammy/boysenberry/Zin fairly sweet (2%-3%) rather overripe/late harvesty some vanilla/Am.oak flavor; med. soft very ripe/jammy/boysenberry/Zin/blackberry fairly sweet light Am.oak/vanilla finish w/ some tannins; lots of ripe/late harvesty/jammy character and needs age to show something. $30.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I was very disappointed in this ATP wine. Not because of the wine...it's very good for what it is...but because of the labeling. In the past, this would be labeled as a LatePicked and the RS would have been listed. The "significant residual sugar" on the side label should have been a tipoff. I just thought it might be a rather rich Zin that may have tasted a bit of RS. In the past, in such cases, they've listed the RS as 0.4% to indicate it might taste a bit sweet, but was real just a rich/dry red wine. So I was totally blindsided by this wine. As soon as I tasted it, I knew it would not be a good match for our pizza. The label suggests serving it w/ "rich food" or "for an evening by the fire". The latter I agree, but it probably is best in the mode of a Port or w/ rich cheeses. It is...right now..not a very food-friendly wine.
The wine is very good...just beware of what you serve it with.
Tom