From a recent tasting of Ridge's wines put on by a local distributor:
2001 Chardonnay: color: yellow-green nose: toast, butter palate: more toast and butter, moderately acidic *yawn*2001 "Three Valleys" Red Wine: nose: juicy berry fruit palate: slightly tannic entry, more berry fruit, soft mouthfeel notes: very attractive wine for near-term drinking (a "Rhonish" mixture of 50% Zin, 15% Petit Sirah, 15% Carignan, 11% Mourvedre, 9% Grenache) and almost reasonably priced at $17/bottle.
2001 Zinfandel Sonoma Station: nose: berry fruit with slight cedary overtones palate: moderately tannic entry, acids, eucalyptus, moderately fruity with a tart finish notes: never one of my favorite Ridge Zins, this one was too tight and not deep enough to appeal to me.2001 Lytton Springs: nose: closed in, slightly cedary and hints of berry fruit peeking out palate: moderately tannic entry, lots of red berry fruit and a complex, tarry, tannic finish notes: usually a favorite along with Geyserville, it didn't disappoint. I got the impression that we caught it at an awkward time in its development, but the ingredients are still there for future development.
'95 Lytton Springs: nose: raspberry, minerals palate: moderately herbaceous, with a decent core of fruit and a smooth finish notes: brought to the tasting by another patron (an ATP subscriber), still in decent shape, but not as appealing to me as the bottle we had last year. On its way downhill? Perhaps...
'96 Lytton Estate [ATP]: nose: classic Zin berry fruit and a sense of tartness palate: fruity entry, rich mouthfeel, a slight oaky presence in the finish notes: same source as the previous wine. Not as interesting to me as it was several years ago, but not in any danger of expiring from old age any time soon.
'92 York Creek Zin: nose: hot with pencil lead notes palate: rich mouthfeel, moderately fruity, cedar notes and a slightly tannic (!!) finish notes: The distributor still has a few cases of this wine, but at this point I can't really see much reason to invest in it.
'98 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon: nose: cedar, dark cassis fruit palate: tart entry, pencil lead, moderately fruity, with an acidic finish notes: very nice example of a Ridge CS for a decent price ($28/bottle); not as fruity as other years might be, but still a wine that will develop nicely IMHO.
'98 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon: nose: cedar, minerals, sulfury notes (that blew off with time) palate: tart entry, pencil lead, deep fruit, tannic finish notes: For their flagship Cab (at $120 per bottle) it didn't show that much better than its lesser sibling. Certainly, it had a deeper sense of fruit and will take more time to come around, but in this year I'd take the Santa Cruz bottling as a better value [however, I still view Monte Bello as one of the great Cabernets of CA]
With a later dinner, I also had a glass of:
2001 The Crossings Sauvignon Blanc: nose: powerful notes of gooseberries, grass, grapefruit palate: crisp entry, luscious fruit with grassy notes and an aromatic finish notes: From a Marlborough winery that was new to me, this was a great find. It had lots of just what I look for in a New Zealand SB and was still young and vibrant at 2.5 years of age (bottled under Stelvin? I know not...)Overall, a great night of wines
Mark Lipton
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************************************************************************Mark Lipton Associate Professor of Chemistry (765)494-0132 (765)494-0239 FAX