1996 Ridge Lytton Springs - USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley (7/12/2007)
I blinded this wine on my tasting group last night with some startling results. First of all I will note that it has evolved into a full, rich and velvety wine with very few "edges" and aromatics ranging from red fruit through turned earth and pencil shavings. The flavors tended to somewhat darker fruits, and the evolution into a rich but elegantly balanced wine continued through from the promise of the aromatics. Delicious wine drinking supremely well right now.
Of course the blind guesses were "interesting" to say the least. It was even more interesting as people were not always privy to prior guesses (this was poured as folks arrived). First two guesses were California Cabernet and California Merlot from the early to mid-90s. The next guess was Bordeaux. The final guess was Penfolds Grange (the wine did get a bit more flamboyant over the 90 minutes or so between all the guesses). So that was fun(ny).