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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.5 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 190 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by jgh123 on 3/12/2023 & rated 92 points: Cherries and dark fruit on the nose. In the mouth, it's rich with notes of fig; lingering; fully mature but will hold a few more years. 14.7 abv which is a little higher than I like. (903 views) | | | Tasted by zin-fan-delaware on 1/7/2022 & rated 92 points: We had this Zinfandel with steak and foie gras. Excellent. It still has plenty of fruit and drinks beautifully. I don't think it will get better, so I will be drinking my remaining bottles. Paul Draper is the man! (1659 views) | | | Tasted by Rambadt Cellar on 1/5/2022 & rated 89 points: Soft but slight tannins noticeable. It’s a nice wine, not crazy about it having just previously finished an amazing 2005 Ledsen Petite Syrah (1605 views) | | | Tasted by datorr on 12/25/2021 & rated 92 points: Beautiful drinking, beautiful aged Zin, in Magnum. (1632 views) | | | Tasted by blanquito on 9/10/2020: Just terrific. In a great, great spot right now, open and giving, but it’s still vigorous and only just showing a secondary profile. Sweet without any sweetness, built now more around its minty freshness than its brambly fruit. Delicious scents of blackberries, lavender, and menthol. Last bottle, so wish I had more. (2821 views) | | | Tasted by glou.sf on 6/3/2020 & rated 90 points: Still lots of fruit, plums, dark berries, and leather on the nose. Well integrated, quite soft tannins and more dark fruit and plum notes on the palate. Medium finish. Drinking well and still has life ahead, but it’s not a very complex wine. (2251 views) | | | Tasted by cweiss on 5/18/2020: My only bottle. Drinking well at 19, and no basis for comparison but if I had more I'd drink now. (1566 views) | | | Tasted by greedy on 3/8/2020 & rated 89 points: Not bad. But a aging these zin blends don’t make any material impact on the wine. (1789 views) | | | Tasted by talbot61 on 3/8/2020 & rated 93 points: A pleasure bomb: I usually shy away from rich, high-alcohol, oaky California reds, but it would take a stronger man than me to resist the charms of this wine. And I had to do a double take at the label -- this is a ripe, full-bodied wine, without much acid, but also without any sign of overmaturity. (1697 views) | | | Tasted by sethebarlow on 10/21/2019 & rated 75 points: Showing slightly more fruit than the previous bottle, this is still the product of a less (bad) vintage. For students looking to learn about the influence of oak, it presents an interesting opportunity but otherwise I couldn’t recommend it. (1638 views) | | | Tasted by sethebarlow on 7/21/2019 & rated 80 points: Opened this for another wine friend who needed cheering up and, well, I should have chosen something else.
Paul Draper’s vintage notes on the back admit that the wine received much more oak (American) than normal, and I’m afraid that the wine suffers as a result. Hints of violets and cocoa powder, but it’s all drowned out by a strong note of old fashioned root beer liquour. It’s unlike any thing I’ve ever gotten from a wine in American Oak. I have a few bottles left, so I’m optimistic that with even more time, they’ll evolve beyond this... (1527 views) | | | Tasted by jviz on 11/10/2018 & rated 92 points: Bottle purchased from winebid. Capsule looked good and cork broke at the midpoint but was fairly easily retrieved. PnP. Showing just fine at a group tasting. There are some green aromatics (and I am not very sensitive to pyrazines) with blackberry and rhubarb fruit with spicy zin typicity on the finish. Broke down with a couple hours of oxygen and no good at all on day 2, so finish it in one session ;) (1743 views) | | | Tasted by MRichman on 7/6/2018: Past prime, but still a very nice bottle of wine. (2004 views) | | | Tasted by J3r0me H@n on 2/21/2017 & rated 88 points: Decanted for sediment then drunk after about an hour to and hour and a half.
Nose is oak and blue fruit, dried fruit, white flowers.
Palate: A little too much vanilla for my tastes leading to a creamy berry flavor. Not a bad bottle and tannins are fully resolved. Enjoyable wine but a little one-dimensional. Will not improve with age. Drink up. (3744 views) | | | Tasted by andtheodor on 2/21/2017 & rated 90 points: Tasted blind. Rich purple fruited nose, a spike of EtOH, some oaky spice, faintly smoky over a silky but linear palate. American oak here, and when the dried strawberries poke out it's clear this is Ridge but doesn't strike me as Geyserville or Lytton so I'm not sure what to guess, some field blend 20 years old. (3674 views) | | | Tasted by Doc90 on 2/18/2017 & rated 90 points: Tasted blind. Very blue-themed nose; blueberries, yogurt, hedonistic aromas. Full bodied, yet sort of transparent overall. Blueberries and cream palate, and a nice finish of wood and tannin, but missing something in the middle. I like this, but I like it best up front and on the nose. (3212 views) | | | Tasted by robmatic on 2/18/2017 & rated 90 points: Tasted blind. Candied fruit nose, spicy, peppery palate. Lovely balance, but with sharp cranberry zing that is slightly odd. Good juice, but my least favorite of the blind tasting of 4 wines. (3027 views) | | | Tasted by robmatic on 1/29/2017 & rated 91 points: Sharp and juicy, delectable. (2648 views) | | | Tasted by pigdaddy on 1/18/2017 & rated 90 points: decanted one hour. on-point bottle, performed perfectly on an unseasonably mild Jan. night at the table; warm berries nose, mature brambly fruit, delightful weight & texture.
pecan-smoked pork ribs; roasted romanesco w/oil-cured olives, anchovy & chile; crushed pan-fried potato (1129 views) | | | Tasted by leadpencil on 12/17/2016 & rated 90 points: Well balanced, claret like (1097 views) | | | Tasted by robmatic on 9/20/2016 & rated 90 points: Hmmm, a classic in many ways, fully mature, lush, luscious, and charming. But I also found a sharpness that was slightly out of balance, and an alcoholic edge detracted from the overall score. Wonderful to drink now, I believe it will hold steady for a couple of good years. (1653 views) | | | Tasted by timewithwine on 5/28/2016: The wine sits almost translucent in the glass. The bouquet offers up a deep brambly nose. The flavors of brambleberry on the attack and the finish of coffee and mocha make for a very nice wine. This too needs a bit of time to open up with the third tasting presenting more elements. But the wine lacks depth or length. Nice enough, but little else. 14.7% alc. Recommended. All wines tasted with homemade dry rubbed smoked pork shoulder BBQ). 05.28.16 with good friends to celebrate Memorial Day holiday. (307 views) | | | Tasted by Mr T on 4/12/2016: Drank the last bottle with grilled lamb chops, 2 nights after opening and never drinking, so it sat corked in fridge until last night. This is remarkably young and ripe for its age, with still deep dark purple color and full black fruits, raspberry and cherry. Virtually no tannin and extremely smooth, this wine is VERY easy to drink. (2111 views) | | | Tasted by Loren Sonkin on 3/10/2016 & rated 93 points: A Ridge Lytton Spring Vertical and a few others (our home): Really nice showing for this wine. In a rare showing this took 7/8 first place votes from the group. Purple/ruby on the rim. The nose is great. Dusty with black raspberries and cherries. Lovely texture which turned out to be in most of the wines. Juicy yet lush. The palate has dark raspberries and a bit of spice. Deep with some layering. There is also a slight sour note which is really nice. Slight tannins. Long finish. Shows some visual signs of age, but still drinks youthfully. Impressive showing. (2738 views) | | | Tasted by Mr T on 4/19/2015: Popped and sipped and drunk over several hours with friends watching Gettysburg....more ripe than I'd prefer but opens with air and becomes less candied....probably still has years to go (3485 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (3/3/2010)
(Ridge, Lytton Springs Dry Creek Valley Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jeb Dunnuck
JebDunnuck.com, Bonus Reviews (1/26/2008)
(Ridge Lytton Springs) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, May/June 2003, IWC Issue #108
(Ridge Vineyards Zinfandel Lytton Springs Dry Creek Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (9/26/2010)
(Ridge Lytton Springs) Dark red violet color; beginning of maturity, spice, incense, dried red fruit, autumnal spice, allspice nose; plush, ripe raspberry, red berry, dried red currant palate with structure and sweet, firm tannins; medium-plus finish 92+ pts. (76% Zinfandel, 17% Petite Sirah, 7% Carignane; 50% American oak between two and four years old, 20% new barrels and 30% one-year old; 13 months in barrel) 92 points | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (5/17/2007)
(Ridge Lytton Springs) Plummy nose; bright, plush, plum, mulberry palate; medium finish 93 points |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of JancisRobinson.com and JebDunnuck.com and Vinous and RJonWine.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Ridge Producer website | Wikipedia
Ridge Vineyards is a California winery specializing in premium Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay wines. Ridge produces wine at two winery locations in northern California. The original winery facilities are located at an elevation of 2,300 feet (700 m) on Monte Bello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA near Cupertino, California. The other Ridge winery facilities are at Lytton Springs in the Dry Creek Valley AVA of Sonoma County.Ridge Lytton SpringsHistory
In 1972, Ridge made its first Lytton Springs from vines planted on the eastern half of the vineyard at the turn of the century, and purchased both the eastern and western portions of the vineyard in the early 1990s, (In the 1870s, under "Captain" William Litton's ownership, the two were part of one property; spelling evolved into "Lytton" by 1903.) The vineyard is planted to zinfandel and its principal complementary varietals.
Vineyard
First Ridge Lytton Springs®: 1972
Location: The bench and hills separating Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys, just north of Healdsburg, Sonoma County.
Elevation: 80' - 160'
Soils: Varied, with a predominance of gravelly clay; gravelly clay loam on hillsides.
Age of Vines: Lytton East: zinfandel, petite sirah, grenache and carignane planted 1901 (32 acres) and 1910 (11 acres); zinfandel and petite sirah, planted 1997-1998 (5 acres), Lytton West: zinfandel, petite sirah, carignane, grenache re-planted 1953-1968 (26 acres); zinfandel and petite sirah, planted 1980's (2.5 acres); zinfandel and petite sirah planted in 1990's (42.8 acres); zinfandel, limited petite sirah, limited carignane, in 2000's (60 acres).
Training: Head trained (no trellis), spur pruned.
Climate: Fog in a.m., warm sunny afternoons, breezes in late p.m.
Exposure: Southeasterly
Yields: 1.5 to 3.0 tons per acre
©Ridge Vineyards
In the heart of Dry Creek Valley, home to 100 year old Zinfandel vines, co-planted (as was the norm) with small amounts of Petite Sirah, Carignane, Grenache and Mourvedre, Lytton Springs is Ridge’s Sonoma HQ. This is ideal Zinfandel country and produces wines that are spectacular both young and with age.Lytton SpringsThe bench and hills separating Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys, just north of Healdsburg, Sonoma County.USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Sonoma CountyMendocino CountyDry Creek Valley Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley | Dry Creek Valley Association | Appellation America | San Francisco Chronicle Article |
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