WTN: Old Hill look at my wine

[David M. Bueker]

• 1990 Ravenswood Zinfandel Old Hill - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (1/6/2025)
  Cork was good - came out in one piece with no trouble. Stained only about 1/4 inch from the bottom. Color remains vibrant/deep, with only slight browning at the edges. Lots of sediment caked to the bottle with some getting into the glass. Will need to use the mesh filter for other pours.
  
  A touch of bottle sickness/stink at first on the nose, but then bramble berry fruit, herb, and dirt road dust take center stage. There’s a faint note of cedar, and the bottle sickness turns to a sweeter old red wine smell with time. If not for the “zinberry” fruit I would be hard pressed to identify this as Zinfandel rather than an old Merlot or Cabernet.
  
  Old red wine sweetness permeates the palate, which props up the berry fruit, and keeps it ahead of the still present tannins. There is acidity as well, and the mouthwatering effects feel more like Zinfandel, especially classic Zinfandel, than any Bordeaux variety.
  
  This bottle is definitely hanging on, and is representative of the early 1990s Ravenswood bottlings that avoided the excesses of over ripeness and excessive heat. The alcohol isn’t low (14.9%), but even at this stage it is not noticeable on the nose or palate.
  
  This is all rather clinical, but it’s an enjoyable wine, true to its variety and its origin in Sonoma. It’s even more notable to me as a historical marker, and a foundational element in my development as a wine drinker. The early 1990s Ravenswood wines were a major part of what I drank at the time, and returning to them now, with 30 additional years of experience, I can still see why they prompted such enthusiasm in me and others.
  

• 1990 Ravenswood Zinfandel Old Hill - USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley (1/6/2025)
  Cork was good - came out in one piece with no trouble. Stained only about 1/4 inch from the bottom. Color remains vibrant/deep, with only slight browning at the edges. Lots of sediment caked to the bottle with some getting into the glass. Will need to use the mesh filter for other pours.
  
  A touch of bottle sickness/stink at first on the nose, but then bramble berry fruit, herb, and dirt road dust take center stage. There’s a faint note of cedar, and the bottle sickness turns to a sweeter old red wine smell with time. If not for the “zinberry” fruit I would be hard pressed to identify this as Zinfandel rather than an old Merlot or Cabernet.
  
  Old red wine sweetness permeates the palate, which props up the berry fruit, and keeps it ahead of the still present tannins. There is acidity as well, and the mouthwatering effects feel more like Zinfandel, especially classic Zinfandel, than any Bordeaux variety.
  
  This bottle is definitely hanging on, and is representative of the early 1990s Ravenswood bottlings that avoided the excesses of over ripeness and excessive heat. The alcohol isn’t low (14.9%), but even at this stage it is not noticeable on the nose or palate.
  
  This is all rather clinical, but it’s an enjoyable wine, true to its variety and its origin in Sonoma. It’s even more notable to me as a historical marker, and a foundational element in my development as a wine drinker. The early 1990s Ravenswood wines were a major part of what I drank at the time, and returning to them now, with 30 additional years of experience, I can still see why they prompted such enthusiasm in me and others.

1990 was also an epic year in CA. I don't recall the Ravenswood Zins from that year, but I do recall going to a Ridge tasting where the '90 Geyserville and Lytton Springs were being served (ca. '92-3). When I walked into the room, I was greeted with an overwhelming smell of ripe raspberries. That was the '90 Geyserville, one of my first multi-bottle purchases.

[Jenise]

I remember those early 90's Ravenswoods. We moved to Alaska in late 1989, only a few years after my big wine epiphany in Paris that changed everything. I wanted to learn everything I could and in Alaska I had both the time and means to do it, as well as getting connected right off the bat with Anchorage's wine cognoscenti and, on line, other wine people around the country (Compuserve!). Wines like Ravenswood Zins were a highly allocated item that were sold out of the backroom immediately upon arrival and I remember smugly feeling "made it!" when I was offered a chance to buy one each of the 1990 single vineyards. Your comments brought all that back.

[David M. Bueker]

Exactly! Right up to about the 1997 vintage you had to “know somebody” to get the single vineyard wines.

Exactly! Right up to about the 1997 vintage you had to “know somebody” to get the single vineyard wines.

Or you had to shop at a retailer who "knew somebody." I think Bill Easton knew/knows Joel Peterson pretty well, and he was running Solano Cellars in Berkeley up until his move to El Dorado. County (in '90 or '91?) so one could usually spy a bottle or two of the single vyd Ravenswoods in his shop.