TN: 7 from Mr. Ridge

G

geo t.

George Heritier
The Merry Meehan clan hosted their annual "Fall Fest" in "The Cleve" a few weekends ago, and there were more great wine bottles uncorked than I could even hope to try (remember, we never spit), so I made a point of being very particular as to what I tasted. To say that I've never met a Ridge wine that I didn't like would not be quite true; there has been the odd clunker here and there, but they've been pretty darned few and far between, and some of those have turned out to be better than I thought they'd be with a few years in the bottle. There were seven of Mr. Draper's gems opened on the first night of the festivities, and of course, I focused right in on those, and here're my snapshot impressions.

1992 Ridge Santa Cruz Mtns. Cabernet Sauvignon, 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 13.4% alc.: Deeply, darkly colored, and exuding Draper perfume with a note of cedar; rich fruit, with big cassis-black currant underscored with hints of earth, blueberry and of course, more of that signature character known as Draper perfume, although its more reserved on the palate. Still plenty of structure, depth, body and length here; really nice, and yet to peak.

1995 Ridge Monte Bello Santa Cruz Mtns., 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 10% Petite Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 12.5% alc.: My initial impression reads big Cab character here, with a hint of Draper perfume, but in fact, its one of only two Monte Bellos ever made that wasnt a legal Cabernet Sauvignon. Though approachable, this needs time; it offers black currant, cassis and earth, with that distinctive perfume just peaking out here and there. Full bodied, with big structure and still some years from its peak. Mark Horvatich (who is always fun to taste Ridge with) says that Paul Draper calls this one of his favorite MBs, but its more about potential right now.

1987 Ridge Monte Bello Santa Cruz Mtns., 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 11.7% alc.: Cloudy dark garnet color, with cedar and Draper perfume on the nose; the pretty flavors echo, with a well-mannered core of black currant and cassis fruit and what Pam Gillikin describes as a note of iodine. Soft tannins, smooth texture, balanced acids and nice length all make for a lovely Mr. Ridge thats in a really nice place right now.

1992 Ridge Napa Cabernet Franc York Creek, 77% Cabernet Franc, 18% Merlot, 14.1% alc.: Good, rich color, with black currant on the nose shaded with subtle Draper perfume. Rich, ripe fruit with earthy undertones and some herbaceousness; just gorgeous, and it blossoms to exude a very pretty perfume with just a little air.

1997 Ridge Lytton Estate Syrah ATP, 88% Syrah, 12% Viognier, 14.6% alc.: This glass of ink exudes a pretty Draper perfume that resembles a mlange of black and blue berries, turning darker on the palate with some added black plum. Rich, ripe and dense, but balanced, this likes some air (Mark H. said it was tight a few hours earlier), and a few more years in the cellar wont hurt it at all.

1997 Ridge Napa Petite Sirah York Creek Dynamite Hill Vines ATP, 13.5% alc.: Good dark color, with a big black fruit nose that shows some attractive aromatics, even in what I would have expected to be its relative youth. Not quite as generous on the palate, nor as deep and rich as I would have expected, and slightly green, though not in a bad way. Not bad with air now, but Im not sure this will ever be a great Petite Sirah. Or, maybe it just needs more time, like the next wine had the advantage of receiving.

1986 Ridge Napa Petite Sirah York Creek Devils Hill ATP, 12.9% alc.: Slightly cloudy dark garnet color, and showing the dark side of all that Draper perfume, with smoky black plum and berry that follow through very nicely on the palate. Mark H. commented that there are a lot of good things in this; back then, Ridge had a lot of funk in their wines. He has a point, because its so good, it deserves a second pour, and best of all, its still not at its peak.

- from Fall Fest~The Cleve~2008

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Reporting from Day-twah,

geo t.
 
That is one of my favorite Monte Bellos, and is the wine to bring out if you want to make a big impression on visiting cool-climate winemakers. 11.7%. And delicious. I have one more in the cellar, but I don't know if I like anyone well enough to serve it to them...?
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
1987That is one of my favorite Monte Bellos, and is the wine to bring out if you want to make a big impression on visiting cool-climate winemakers. 11.7%. And delicious. I have one more in the cellar, but I don't know if I like anyone well enough to serve it to them...?
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Yup, it's one of those...

};^)>
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
1987That is one of my favorite Monte Bellos, and is the wine to bring out if you want to make a big impression on visiting cool-climate winemakers. 11.7%. And delicious. I have one more in the cellar, but I don't know if I like anyone well enough to serve it to them...?
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Invite me. I promise not to confuse variety and varietal for at least as long as we are drinking this wine.
 
originally posted by geo t.:
1986 Ridge Napa Petite Sirah York Creek Devils Hill ATP, 12.9% alc.: Slightly cloudy dark garnet color, and showing the dark side of all that Draper perfume, with smoky black plum and berry that follow through very nicely on the palate. Mark H. commented that there are a lot of good things in this; back then, Ridge had a lot of funk in their wines. He has a point, because its so good, it deserves a second pour, and best of all, its still not at its peak.
geo t.
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Hey, I have one of these left.

I liked a '92 Montebello I had not long ago. I mean not a wine I'd pay $130 for or whatever Montebello goes for these days, but a pretty decent wine.

Do people still buy Ridge? Are the rumors of somewhat more spoofy or maybe lower quality Zins in recent years true?
 
originally posted by Bwood:

Do people still buy Ridge? Are the rumors of somewhat more spoofy or maybe lower quality Zins in recent years true?
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There have been rumblings to that effect. Geo OTOH seems to see no seismic shift in house style, and I -- ever the optimist -- have continued to buy selected Ridge wines to see for myself whether the rumors are true. Since I don't easily get much useful information from very young wines, I'll give them a few years before conducting my investigation.

Mark Lipton
 
All I can tell you is they taste hotter -- perhaps Scotchier would be a better term -- young, with more gaps, holes, and lacks than I recall. How they'll age, I don't know, and obviously only time will tell. But my buying has reflected my pessimism; the last Ridges for which I went deep and long were the '99s, with declining purchases over the following few years, and virtually none over the last three. I should note that I didn't taste a clear decline in Ridge until the last four years or so, and I still don't see it in the wines of the late 90s, though some here feel they did. The upshot of all this on-the-other-handness is that I really don't know; I want to trust Draper, but I'm not yet convinced by his successors (particularly Eric Baugher). I hope I'm wrong, though.

I should also note that this refers to the zin/zin blends only; the Monte Bello has seemed steady-state throughout.
 
I don't think they're spoofy at all, but they have pushed in the direction of ripeness and marginally more wood over time.

It's too bad, if you want big ripeness there are other terroirs to consider.
 
I've had ups and downs with the zins recently, '04 Geyserville was pretty apalling (all creamy oak) but an '05 Lytton Springs was fine. Chris opened a recent Montebello ('05?) recently that was much oakier than I remember young Montebellos of the past (not that they've ever been reticent in that direction but this was objectionable).
 
originally posted by Bwood:
Do people still buy Ridge? Are the rumors of somewhat more spoofy or maybe lower quality Zins in recent years true?
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Sorry to check in on your question so late Blackie, but life is crazy in these parts, what with "the gig," another NHL season (GO WINGS!) and our new Wii thingie do. (My virtual tennis game is coming along nicely...)

I still buy Ridge Zins, mainly Geyserville and Lytton Springs. Spoofy is a relative term, as Kim doesn't like these as much as she used to or as much as I mostly still do. The first time I thought a Ridge Zin got a little out of line was when the '97 Geyserville showed way too much oak for my taste, and I said so over several years until the wood finally started to integrate about 3 years ago. Now, it's a beautiful wine, but early on, a lot of people were calling that a great Zinfandel, and I couldn't agree. I wasted most of ours over the years checking in to see how they were coming along; only the last 2 or 3 really sang, and now we're down to the last, lone survivor. Ratfarbs!

These still can show excess oak in their youth these days, or they can just be weak, like the 2005 Pagani. Here's what thought of that one 11 months ago:

2005 Ridge Sonoma Zinfandel Pagani Ranch, 96% Zinfandel, 2% Petite Sirah, 1% Alicante Bouschet, 1% Mataro (Mourvedre), 14.2% alc., $31.20: Ruby garnet color, dark, but not too dark; not the Ridge Pagani that we remember from the early to mid-90s, in fact surprisingly middleweight in character and intensity. The reticent nose only hints at the toasty, mildly spicy raspberry and black raspberry flavors, and theres little Draper perfume to speak of. Medium full bodied at most and almost claret-like in personality, with moderate tannins, good acidity and decent length on the finish. A nice enough Zin for around $20, but overpriced for whats in the bottle.

I didn't like the '04 & '05 Lytton Springs when they were released either, but some time in the bottle really helped them come around, although they aren't the Lytton Springs that I remember from as recently as 2003, which was then and still is a very pretty wine. They're solid wines, just different in personality. The odd thing is that the same vintages of Geyserville seem to have mostly maintained their personality of yore, while Lytton has strayed some, if that is the right word, even though they both come out of the Lytton Springs facility, and the entire brain trust, including Draper, is still involved in the assemblage decisions, from what I understand.

I'm looking to do a serious survey of the new and recent crops of Ridge wines available in our neck of the woods across the board soon, breaking away from the dogshit French wines that we've become addicted to over the last several years; we're talkin' Zins, Bordeaux & Rhone varieties and Chardonnays. I'll try to stop working on my cross court backhand long enough to post notes.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
 
originally posted by geo t.:

I didn't like the '04 & '05 Lytton Springs when they were released either, but some time in the bottle really helped them come around, although they aren't the Lytton Springs that I remember from as recently as 2003, which was then and still is a very pretty wine. They're solid wines, just different in personality. The odd thing is that the same vintages of Geyserville seem to have mostly maintained their personality of yore, while Lytton has strayed some, if that is the right word, even though they both come out of the Lytton Springs facility, and the entire brain trust, including Draper, is still involved in the assemblage decisions, from what I understand.

I'm looking to do a serious survey of the new and recent crops of Ridge wines available in our neck of the woods across the board soon, breaking away from the dogshit French wines that we've become addicted to over the last several years; we're talkin' Zins, Bordeaux & Rhone varieties and Chardonnays. I'll try to stop working on my cross court backhand long enough to post notes.
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I'm still buying Geezer and LS too. I still don't drink 'em early, but now it's not abotu the tannins so much as it is about the oak. We'll see where these late model Ridges go in time. And for that crosscourt backhand, be sure to keep your weight on your forward foot and turn your hips ahead of your racquet. For me, the down the line backhand is the more challenging shot, but that's because I hit very flat ground strokes.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:

I'm still buying Geezer and LS too. I still don't drink 'em early, but now it's not abotu the tannins so much as it is about the oak. We'll see where these late model Ridges go in time. And for that crosscourt backhand, be sure to keep your weight on your forward foot and turn your hips ahead of your racquet. For me, the down the line backhand is the more challenging shot, but that's because I hit very flat ground strokes.

Mark Lipton
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Hey Mark, how goes it? Actually my Wii tennis strokes are pretty much the same as my real tennis strokes, so I'm good there; it's just a matter of getting used to Wii. Flat strokes were never my thing; I like a lot of topspin a la the Swedes of yore, Borg, Willander and Edberg. I like a good backhand slice too. Have you noticed how you can make the ball really dig in and veer off to the side with a good slice, just like on a real court? I like that!

We should play sometime.

Cheers,

geo
 
originally posted by geo t.:

Hey Mark, how goes it? Actually my Wii tennis strokes are pretty much the same as my real tennis strokes, so I'm good there; it's just a matter of getting used to Wii. Flat strokes were never my thing; I like a lot of topspin a la the Swedes of yore, Borg, Willander and Edberg. I like a good backhand slice too. Have you noticed how you can make the ball really dig in and veer off to the side with a good slice, just like on a real court? I like that!

We should play sometime.
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Doing well, old bean. I'm beginning to adjust to thinking of my adopted state of residence as a blue state. Hope all's well up in your neck of the woods. Bring your racquet to Toledo, geo, and let's find an indoor space to play. You'll have to repress your mirth, though, when you see the racquet I still play with: a 27-year-old Head Professional (metal). Parenthood and old age have conspired to ruin my footwork and deny me much practice time, but I still like banging the ball across the net when I can. Haven't played much Wii tennis, but what I did looked pretty convincing.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
I've had ups and downs with the zins recently, '04 Geyserville was pretty apalling (all creamy oak) but an '05 Lytton Springs was fine. Chris opened a recent Montebello ('05?) recently that was much oakier than I remember young Montebellos of the past (not that they've ever been reticent in that direction but this was objectionable).
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'05, yes. The most oak-marked young Monte Bello I've tasted in a decade. By far. And we buy futures every year.
 
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