The tasting bar at the Napa Whole Foods has become a great little place to taste recent releases. Youre as likely to be sitting next to the national sales manager of a prominent local winery as you are to your next door neighbor.
The lovely Christina Donley was there Friday night, pouring four current Zinfandels from Ridge, and I was as delighted with the wines as I was to spend time with her.
2007 Sonoma County Three Valleys 76% Zinfandel 8% Petite Sirah 7% Syrah 6% Grenache 3% Carignane 14.3% alcohol
This wine is a departure from the plush, jammy, fruit forward editions of recent vintages. There is, no doubt, plenty of fruit in this ten vineyard blend, but the result is a more balanced and elegant Zinfandel that doesnt thrust its bosom in your face. A throwback to the wonderfully balanced Sonoma County and Sonoma Station Zinfandels of the 80s and 90s, this wine will match beautifully with a wide variety of foods and should find a welcome home on many restaurant wines-by-the-glass lists. Drinks well now with time in glass, but should show much better with another year or so in bottle. At $22 full pop, a very good value in todays wine market.
2006 Lytton Springs 80% Zinfandel 16% Petite Sirah 4% Carignane 14.7% alcohol
A classically styled Lytton balanced and elegant the relatively high percentage of Petite Sirah lends depth and structure but emphasizes the need for a bit of cellar time. This is neither an early drinker nor a long ager, I think, but should reward your patience with a fine example of what this extraordinary vineyard can produce a very, very fine wine.
2006 Geyserville 70% Zinfandel 18% Carignane 10% Petite Sirah 2% Mataro 14.6% alcohol
User friendly from the start, this gregarious Geezer shows a lovely deep color, inviting purple and black stone fruit aromatics and forward flavors. Reminiscent of the fabulous 1991 (no doubt due to all that Carignane), this vintage might age as well, with the 10% of Petite Sirah to add structure and depth. Should evolve in interesting stages, but drinks wonderfully even now.
2006 Zinfandel York Creek 99% Zinfandel 1% Petite Sirah 14.8% alcohol
Shy in the nose, the wine shows lovely blackberry jam in the mouth classic York Creek flavors and structure, which means a decade of enjoyment, likely more.
Happily, the days of ultra-ripe Zins: late picked, late harvest and the like seem to be a thing of the past at Ridge and nobody could be happier than I am. These are food wines, not tasting panel wines and will be enormously satisfying to drink, as well as taste.
Im bored with oak whacked gob balls and welcome these Zinfandels that deliver interest and pleasure beyond the first glass, and match harmoniously with meals.
Im just sayin.
The lovely Christina Donley was there Friday night, pouring four current Zinfandels from Ridge, and I was as delighted with the wines as I was to spend time with her.
2007 Sonoma County Three Valleys 76% Zinfandel 8% Petite Sirah 7% Syrah 6% Grenache 3% Carignane 14.3% alcohol
This wine is a departure from the plush, jammy, fruit forward editions of recent vintages. There is, no doubt, plenty of fruit in this ten vineyard blend, but the result is a more balanced and elegant Zinfandel that doesnt thrust its bosom in your face. A throwback to the wonderfully balanced Sonoma County and Sonoma Station Zinfandels of the 80s and 90s, this wine will match beautifully with a wide variety of foods and should find a welcome home on many restaurant wines-by-the-glass lists. Drinks well now with time in glass, but should show much better with another year or so in bottle. At $22 full pop, a very good value in todays wine market.
2006 Lytton Springs 80% Zinfandel 16% Petite Sirah 4% Carignane 14.7% alcohol
A classically styled Lytton balanced and elegant the relatively high percentage of Petite Sirah lends depth and structure but emphasizes the need for a bit of cellar time. This is neither an early drinker nor a long ager, I think, but should reward your patience with a fine example of what this extraordinary vineyard can produce a very, very fine wine.
2006 Geyserville 70% Zinfandel 18% Carignane 10% Petite Sirah 2% Mataro 14.6% alcohol
User friendly from the start, this gregarious Geezer shows a lovely deep color, inviting purple and black stone fruit aromatics and forward flavors. Reminiscent of the fabulous 1991 (no doubt due to all that Carignane), this vintage might age as well, with the 10% of Petite Sirah to add structure and depth. Should evolve in interesting stages, but drinks wonderfully even now.
2006 Zinfandel York Creek 99% Zinfandel 1% Petite Sirah 14.8% alcohol
Shy in the nose, the wine shows lovely blackberry jam in the mouth classic York Creek flavors and structure, which means a decade of enjoyment, likely more.
Happily, the days of ultra-ripe Zins: late picked, late harvest and the like seem to be a thing of the past at Ridge and nobody could be happier than I am. These are food wines, not tasting panel wines and will be enormously satisfying to drink, as well as taste.
Im bored with oak whacked gob balls and welcome these Zinfandels that deliver interest and pleasure beyond the first glass, and match harmoniously with meals.
Im just sayin.