Ravenswood Under Constellation

Just my opinion, but I was never terribly impressed with Ravenswood to begin with so hopefully they'll improve.... again, just my opinion.

I've generally loved the RW "single-vineyard" Zins, and have enjoyed many bottles of the Sonoma, Napa, and the Vintner's Blend. With regards to the VB, I've been hard-pressed to find a better US$7 Zin. It cooks well, and one can drink it while the food progresses.

That said, I have been disappointed, of late, with even some of the single- vineyard offerings, and this goes back to before the Constellation buyout.

I did a wine dinner with Joel Petterson in May, and found that a few SV offerings were better, than some just three years back. Mr Petterson stated that his was an autonomus role, and that Constellation Brands had little input into the wine making. I don't know how much of this was truth, ego, or spin, but I'd say that he was getting back on track with RW. This might well be a function of having more cash-on-hand for acquisition of better grapes, or indicate that he could get back to concentrating on winemaking, leaving the business of investment banker satisfaction to a corporate office, or, that there was just better Zin material, with which to work.

As I have been a fan (mostly in the the "5 years ago" vien), I'll continue to monitor the situation.

Just some observations, Hunt

I tasted the 2002 Ravenswood Monte Rosso Zin at a ZAP tasting in Jan. It was much in the style of previous Ravenswood Monte Rossos, and it was served by Joel Peterson, the founder of Ravenswood, who is staying on as winemaker or consultant or something. What is beyond question is that production has gone way up, making IMO their "village level" (e.g. Sonoma) bottlings fairly uninteresting. As always, the interest lies mainly with their vineyard-designated bottlings, of which Old Hill, Monte Rosso and Barricia are typically my favorites. Only time will tell whether their quality slips, but my money is on them retaining their cachet (and quality).

Mark Lipton