1. Ridge Calif Zin Geyserville/SonomaCnty (13.2%; 84% Zin/10% PetiteSirah/6% Carignane; bttld: Feb 1988;
Drk: 1/88-1/94-1/95: PD) 1986: Med.color w/ some browning; strong oldZin/pencilly/cedary very slight berry/Zin some complex bit tired nose; lightly tart cedary/pencilly/oldRed bit tannic/bitey pretty dried out flavor; med.long tired/dried-out finish that follows flavor; not really unpleasant but pretty tired & dried out on the palate; on its last legs. $nc (BSvSG)/$5.10/hlf (Vino)
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2. Ridge Zin Calif LyttonSprings/DryCreek/SonomaCnty (14.9%; 88% Zin/8% PetiteSirah/4% Grenache;
40% EstateVnyd/31% MapleVnyd/29% NortonRanch;bttld 2/94; Drk: 2/94-2/??: PD) 1992: Fairly dark color w/ some bricking; Fairly dark color w/ some bricking; somewhat strong berry/raspberry/Zin/fairly spicy nstrong Am.oak/vanilla/pencilly bit dusty/OV slightly tired complex nose; lightly tart slightly dried-out berry/raspberry/Zin/spicy rather smooth/gentle flavor w/ light gently tannins; long Am.oak/vanilla finish that follows flavor; starting to show slightly dried out character but still some fruit but not the classic LS spiciness; a lovely example of a fully-mature gentle Zin. $nc (BSvSG)
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3. Ridge Zin Calif PaganiRanch/SonomaVlly (14.7%; 75% Zin/18% Mataro/4% Alicante/3% PetiteSIrah;
bttld March 96; Drk: 1/96-1/04-1/06: PD) 1994: Med.dark color w/ slight browning; strong vanilla/cedary/pencilly light blackberry/Zin/bit spicy rather dusty/OV slight rustic/sauvage complex nose; lightly tart cedary/pencilly/Am.oak slight spicy/blackberry/Zin bit earthy/sauvage/rustic flavor w/ light gentle tannins; still very much alive but starting its downhill glide; still shows some of the PaganiRanch/rustic character. $nc (BSvSG)/$20.00 (K&L)
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4. Ridge Mataro PaganiVnyd/SonomaVlly (13.8%; 75% Mataro/25% Zin; 30 brls; bttld March 98;
Drk: 1/98-1/03: PD) 1996: Very dark color w/ modest bricking; bit plummy/Mourv some vanilla/Am/oak/pencilly fairly complex quite lovely nose that speaks quietly of Mourv; bit soft fairly strong plummy/Mourv some vanilla/Am/oak slight earthy/rustic flavor w/ light drying tannins; still speaks of Mataro & a bit of that Pagani rustic character; still in quite good shape but starting its downhill slide. $20.00 (ATP)
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5. Ridge Zin DusiRanch LatePicked Dusi Ranch/PasoRobles/SLO Cnty (15.7%; 100% Zin; 35 brls; bttld Dec 98; SaH: 28.0%; RS: 0.47%; Drk: 11/98-11/02-11/03: PD) 1997: Very dark color w/ little bricking; very strong plummy/blackberry/boysenberry slight jammy/overripe classic PR/jammy plenty of fruit slight Am.oak/vanilla bit complex nose; soft slight overripe/plummy strong blackberry/boysenberryZin light vanilla/Am.oak slight dusty/OV rather smooth flavor; very long/lingering smooth/boysenberry/jammy finish w/ light soft tannins; no signs of drying out; loads of overripe jammy PR Zin fruit, doesn't show a lot of complexity.
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More jillerspeck from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Last night, Shauna Rosenblum was in town to do a winemaker dinner at LauraCrucet's Pig+Fig. As in the past, some of us dug into our Ridge archives (which are pretty deep) for a pre-dinner wine tasting. These five Ridges were from Stacy & myself.
The Geyserville '86 was clearly on the downside. The others were in remarkably good shape, especially considering how far outside of Paul's drinking window they were. The Mataro still spoke of Mataro & was in much better shape than I expected it to be. The Dusi LP was easily my favorite because of all the jammy PR fruit, but not showing a lot of complexity yet. May never get to that point.
Tom