Tried this last night from my last ATP shipment:
1. Ridge GrenacheBlanc HalterRanch/AdelaidaDist/PasoRobles (12.9%; 80% GrenacheBlanc/20% Picpoul; 21 brls; bttld: 7/21; 10 mo. aging, 50% brl & amphora; bttld: 12/21; Drk: 6/21-6/25-6/26: JO) 2020: Light gold color; quite fragrant GB/honeysuckle/honeyed/floral light chalky/stony bit spicy/carnations lovely nose; fairly tart/slight metallic fairly rich/lush bit angular strong GB/honeysuckle/carnations/floral/honeyed lovely flavor; very long tart/bit metallic strong floral/carnations/GB/honeysuckle light stony/chalky rather rih/lush finish; lots of rich/lush GB character but the Picpoul gives it some structure & sinewy character; very little oak if any apparent for a Ridge; atypical of Ridge whites which tend to have a strong hit of oak; quite a lovely expression of Calif GB & not the usual Paso porky expression of GB. $27.20 (ATP)/$32.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I liked this GB quite a bit. It did not have the usual strong hit of Am.oak that Ridge whites tend to show and shows more structure than their whites often show.
This wine is one of several that Ridge has released over the last few yrs that lies outside their normal portfolio of wines. Like Charbono & PinotNoir. My sense is they are designed to give Eric & John the opportunity to expand their winemaking experiences & maintain their interest from doing the same ole/same ole. Now with Eric departed, it is John & Trester.
What is interesting is that this GB is the very first mention that I've seen of the use of amphora at Ridge. There is no other info on the Ridge WebSite of amphora in their winemaking. I recall in a visit w/ Eric a few yrs ago, he expressed an interest in working w/ amphora. So I'm assuming the amphora are at the MonteBello wnry, but cannot find anything more about their usage in winemaking. So it's a complete mystery to me.
This was a btl given to me by MarkVernon at SFW&CF last Fall as I recall.
Tom