We tried tonight (10/5/11) the New Ridges:
1. Ridge Estate Chard MonteBelloVnyd/SantaCruzMtns (100% Chard; 14.5%; Bttld: Jan'11; Drk: 9/10-9/15: EB)
2009: Med.light gold color; strong ripe/melony/Chard strong spicy/toasty/oak/nutmeg very fragrant/perfumed lovely
nose; fairly tart slight earthy ripe/melony/Chard fairly strong nutmeg/toasty/Fr.oak/smokey lush/mouthfilling
flavor; very long ripe/melony/honeydew/Chard slight earthy strong nutmeg/smokey/oak rich finish; lots of ripe
character but good acid & balance and should age well; a bit less oak than previous versions. $40.00
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2. Ridge Calif Zin YorkCreek/NapaVlly (78% Zin/22% PS; 14.6%; Bttld: Dec'08; Drk: 8/08-8/14-8/16: JO)
2007: Med.dark color; rather dusty strong ripe/blackberry/raspberry/Zin bit hot/fumey/alcoholic light vanilla/oak
attractive nose; soft bit hot/alcoholic bright raspberry/Zin/blackberry/spicy light vanilla/oak slight tannic flavor;
med.long bit alcoholic/hot bright/raspberry/Zin/blackberry slight earthy/dusty slight tannic finish; still needs
several yrs; a bright lively Zin that seems more DryCreekVlly than Napa. $28.00
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3. Ridge Zin YorkCreek/SpringMtn/NapaVlly (7% PS; 14.7%; Bttld: 1/11; Drk: 8/10-8/16-8/17: JO) 2009: Med.dark color;
strong pure/raspberry/Zin/bright/spicy slight alcoholic/hot light oak fragrant/ripe nose w/ bit more richness and
depth; bit tarter very slight alcoholic/hot bright/spicy/raspberry/blackberry/Zin light vanilla/oak flavor w/ modest
tannins; med.long bright/spicy/raspberry/Zin/blackberry very slight alcoholic/ripe light vanilla/oak finish w/
modest tannins; ripe & bright but less noticible alcohol and more depth & fruit. $27.00
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4. Ridge Calif LyttonSprings/DryCreekVlly (71% Zin/22% PS/7% Carignane; 14.4%; Bttld: 3/09;
Drk: 11/08-11/18: JO) 2007: Med.dark color; strong very spicy/Zinberry/blackberry/Zin some complex/licorice/pungent
bit dusty/old vines light vanilla/oak some developed nose; rather rich very spicy/raspberry/Zinberry/bright light
vanilla/oak bit dusty some tannic flavor; very long very spicy/bright/raspberry/Zinberry some dusty/old vines light
vanilla/oak finish w/ some angular tannins; not showing much secondary characteristics yet; loads of bright DCV Zinberry
fruit and the structure to age; lovely/classic Lytton Zin. $30.00
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5. Ridge LyttonSprings (71% Zin/23% PS/ 6% Carignane; 14.5%; Bttld: 2/11; Drk: 11/10-11/20-11/25: JO)
2009: Dark color; bigger/richer quite spicy/blackberry/Zin/Zinberry/raspberry deeper/richer light vanilla/oak nose;
bit soft rather richer/lusher strong blackberry/Zinberry/Zin very spicy slight licorice light vanilla/oak some tannic
flavor; richer/lusher/rounder very strong blackberry/Zin/raspberry/bright very spicy light licorice/pungent light
vanilla/oak finish w/ some tannins; a classic terrific LyttonSprings w/ a great deal of spicy character; bit bigger &
lusher than the '07 but lovely balance. $31.50
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6. Ridge Calif Zin PaganiRanch/SonomaVlly (92% Zin/5% AB/ 3% PS; 14.3%; Bttld: 4/09; Drk: 1/09-1/19: EB)
2007: Dark color; more dusty/old-vine pungent/earthy/blackberry/blueberry/boysenberry bit chocolaty/ripe light
vanilla/oak complex slightly rustic nose; fairly tart strong dusty/old-vines/rustic strong licorice/blackberry/Zin
bit chocolaty/licorice light vanilla/oak some tannic flavor; very long dusty/ruustic very strong blackberry/Zin/licorice
slight plummy/chocolaty finish w/ fair tannins; lots of base notes and some rusticity. $30.00
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7. Ridge Zin PaganiRanch/SonomaVlly/SonomaCnty (14% AB/4% PS/2% Carignane; 15.0%; Bttld: 3/11; Drk: 12/10-
12/25: EB) 2009: Dark color; strong ripe/boysenberry/blackberry/bing cherry/Zin light licorice/chocolaty light
pungent/oak rather earthy/dusty/old-vine some complex nose; fairly tart rich/lush/chocolaty/licorice strong
blackberry/boysenberry/Zin/plummy light toasty/oak/smokey good dusty/rustic/old-vine/earthy flavor; very long earthy/
dusty very strong blackberry/boysenberry/Zin bit licorice/plummy light toasty/smokey/oak finish w/ fair tannins;
easily my favorite of the new Ridges; shows more old-vines/dusty character and more intensity; a classic rich Pagani
that should age very well indeed. $31.50
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8. Dashe LesEnfantsTerribles McFaddenFarm/PotterVlly/MendoCnty (100% Zin; NaturalFermentation;
www.DasheCellars.com; 13.8%) Oakland 2010: Light color; pleasant old-timey/raspberry/grapey/strawberry pretty Zin
nose; tart bright strawberry/Zin/Grenache-like light earthy/Mendo-tomatoey quite pretty flavor w/ light tannins;
med.short light strawberry/Zin/earthy/tomatoey light tannins finish; a pretty, light, drinkable Zin but just that;
pricey at $27.00 (LCSWS)
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9. idge Calif Zin JimsomareRanch/SantaCruzMtns (100% Zin; 14.7%; 17 brls; Bttld: April'09;
Drk: 1/09-1/24: EB) 2007: Very dark color; very strong intense blackberry/Zin/very spicy light toasty/oak/smokey some
earthy/SCM/dusty beautiful Zin nose; rather tart some dusty/earthy/old vines intense boysenberry/blackberry/Zin/very
spicy some toasty/Am.oak/vanilla flavor w/ fair tannins; very long intense blackberry/boysenberry/very spicy/Zin
some Am.oak/vanilla/toasty light earthy/SCM finish w/ fair tannins; huge Zin fruit yet a balance & liveliness on
the palate; one of the best Ridge Zins of recent memory and like the Jimsomares of the '70's. Stunning wine. $34.00
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10. Ridge CabernetSauvignon Estate MonteBelloVnyd/SantaCruzMtns (75% CS/20% Merlot/3% PetiteVerdot/2% CabFranc;
13.5%; 66 tons from 34 acres; Bttld: 8/10; Drk: 6/10-6/25-6/30: EB) 2008: Very dark color; beautiful ripe/chocolaty/
blackcurranty/Cab slight minty/menthol some toasty/pungent/smokey/oak bit earthy/SCM/dusty complex nose; soft/ripe bit
hard/tannic strong blackcurranty/Cab/big fruit some toasty/smokey/oak slight menthol lovely flavor; very long/lingering
ripe/blackcurranty/Cab/chocolaty/menthol some pungent/toasty/oak finish w/ ample tannins; fruit seems on the ripe side
but the 13.5% suggests otherwise; big fruit but has the underlying structure to age well; a steal at $41.00 (LCSWS)
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11. Agharta Exhibit B NorthCoast RW (15.1%; 40% Merlot/34% CabFRanc/22% CS/4% petitVerdot;
www.AghartaWines.com) PaxMahle 2006: Very dark color; strong roasted/charred/burnt/oak/smokey almost Syrah-like/mocha/
espresso very ripe/blackcurranty/Cab rather interesting nose; soft very intense charred/toasty/smokey/oak rather Rhonish/
Syrah-like fairly ripe/overripe/chocolaty/blackcurranty/jammy/blackcurrant syrup fairly tannic flavor; very long very
ripe/blackcurranty/Cab/chocolaty/jammy quite burnt/charred/toasty/oak soft/lush rather tannic finish; huge fruit and
a ton of charred oak; rather late-harvest Cabernet; weird wine but quite interesting & I liked it quite a bit.
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12. Ridge Calif LyttonEstate Grenache (12% PS/10% Zin; DryCreekVlly; 14.4%; 52 brls; Drk: 3/03-3/08-3/10: PD) 2001:
Dark color; rather earthy/dusty beautiful strawberry/Grenache some vanilla/toasty/oak complex nose; tart very bright/
strawberry/Grenache light earthy/dusty/Rhonish light vanilla/toasty/oak complex flavor; very long/lingering bright/
spicy/strawberry/Grenache smooth/elegant some dusty/earthy/Rhonish complex finish w/ soft/smooth tannins; this used to
be a pretty tannic beast & has really smoothed out into a graceful/elegant CdP-look alike.
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And the usual BloodyPulpit:
1. LesEnfants: This is MikeDashe's rendition of a "natural" wine. I've had four of these before (Zin & Grenache) and found
them rather underwhelming, if that good. This one is by far the best LET I've had. But still underwhelmed. I was not
going to bother trying it but his Riesling from McFaddenRanch is spectacular, so thought I'd give LET another shot.
It's a pretty old-timey Zin that reminds me a lot of the Parducci Zins from the early '70's. I much prefer Mike's
regular (non-"natural"??) Zins, which show more intensity of fruit & varietal character. I'll leave the LET to sweet
Alice from now on.
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2. RidgeChard: I have, of course, followed the Ridge Chards from the very start. Back in the late '60's. Back then, in
Calif Chards you looked for intense fruit flavors and lots of new oak. The DavidBruce's were the poster child for that
style of Chard...a style that is widely scorned today by so-called "connoiseurs" of Calif wine. Back then (by crackey),
the Ridge Chards (and Sylvaner & WhiteRiesling) were very/very odd ducks. I didn't like them. They had a bit of old
oak, not that much fruit because they were harvested fairly early, and had a distinctive earthy/SantaCruzMtn streak to
them.
The winter of '75, I took a group of engineer-types up to TheRidge for a visit. DaveBennion was hosting us. We went
thru a bunch of the new '73 Zins with Dave up there on the knoll. Blustery winter day, windy, and colder than a well-
digger's hiney. After we were there for about an hour, I made an off-hand comment to Dave that I really liked his
Zins, but I thought his whites were not so hot. Dave rolled his eyes and sorta took that as a challenge. He headed off
to the cellar and brought out a bunch of Chards (and White Rieslings) from the late '60's for us to try. They were
amazingly good, much like an old Chablis or WhiteBurg. Dave was quite pleased with himself of having made his point...
you've gotta give them some age. Thus, I became a big fan of the Ridge Chards thru the '70's and bought every one
I could lay my hands on. Alas, the Ridge WebSite was not up & running then...so I couldn't order direct.
As I have followed the Ridge Chards from the early '00's, they were much different than the early style that Dave
followed. They have often been quite ripe and have lots of toasty/Fr.oak. The last few yrs, the Ridge Chards have
shown a lot more restraint and balance. This '09 Estate is one such.
The Estate Chard is a new wine for Ridge. They've always made a MonteBello Chard and, with lots that were down-
selected, they produced a SantaCruzMtn Chard. In order to emphasize that the fruit comes entirely from their Estate
(mostly Jimsomare I believe), they are now calling it simply their Estate Chard.
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3. Ridge Zins: I have, of course, followed the Ridge Zins from the very start. Back in the '70's, has the winemaking
was being handed off to PaulDraper by DaveBennion; they were pretty big/massive Zins, not always particularly
alcoholic, though some were, and lots of vanilla/Am.oak. They've had a very distinctive aromatic profile that has
become to be known as the "Draper perfume"; a term christened by Geo. As more & more of the daily winemaking chores
have been handed off to JohnOlney/LyttonEstate and EricBaugher/MonteBello; there's been a gradual evolution in the
Ridge Zins over the last 10 yrs or so. There's been a fading of the "Draper perfume" characteristic of the old Ridge
Zins, though the oak treatment still remains obvious in the wines. There's been somewhat of an increase in the fruit
that seems more characteristic of the vnyd source (that terroir thing I guess), the extraction level has dropped a bit;
and the balance & elegance level has risen. What has struck me most is the consistency in style of the Zins across
the board...there is no "EricBaugher style" or "JohnOlney style"....just the "Ridge style". I'd be curious if John/Eric/
Paul could identify reliably, blind, Eric's wine from John's.
The Zins oftentimes seem a bit underwhelming on release. There are bigger/brasher/more in-your-face Zins out there.
But there are none that are such reliably good agers. The drinking windows Eric & John provide are usually on the
conservative side and, often, they can go well beyond that end date.
The last three vintages of the Zins have been in absolutely top form; much better than the '05 & '06 vintages,
as I recall. I'd be hard-pressed to choose amongst the three..maybe giving the '09's a slight edge..but it's close.
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4. YorkCreek: This is typically my least favorite of the Ridge Zins. From FritzMaytag's SpringMtn vnyd. It used to be
that these grapes consistently came in on the overipe side and the wine was pretty hot/alcoholic and had a late-
harvesty character. In recent yrs, that problem seems to have been solved and they don't seem nearly as overripe.
Alas, Ridge no longer takes (much) PS from YorkCreek. Fritz was giving Paul a sweetheart deal on those grapes
and could sell them for a much higher price to Napa Cabernet producers who needed a boost to their Cabernet color.
And they also used to make Cabernet & Merlot from YorkCreek that were pleasant/nice, but not nearly the stature
of their SCM Cabs.
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5. Pagani: This is almost always my favorite lineup of the Ridge Zins. Typically, this wine shows more old-vines character.
The Alicante often seems to give it a sort of rustic/old-time Ridgecharacter. In some yrs, Ridge even made a Pagani
AlicanteBouschet that was black as the ace of spades. Very interesting wine. It will be interesting to see what Morgan
and MikeOfficer do w/ these grapes.
Tom