To celebrate having made it through the first week of classes, I went down to the cellar for our last bottle of the Ridge '98 Lytton Springs only to find that my database had lied to me :( Not to be deterred, I returned with a bottle of the '01 LS to see how it was faring (3 more bottles remaining in the cellar).
nose: initially, red berry fruit and a good dose of the "Draper aftershave"; later, becoming darker, more briery and peppery palate: initially, quite soft and fruity, turning more structured and tannic with time; developing briery notes and a more astrigent finish
At first, I was quite worried about this wine as it tasted a good deal softer and more forward than the average Lytton Springs bottling. However, I should have taken into account the fact that we were opening this bottle a good deal earlier than we usually open a LS. With ~30 minutes of air time, the wine took on the familiar LS character and promised much more for this wine 3-5 years down the line. As usual, Paul Draper's comments on the back label are spot on: he says that this wine will soften and gain complexity over the next 5-10 years (12/02),
Mark Lipton