Wine Article
2020 Ridge Mazzoni Home Ranch
Last edited on 4/11/2023 by ancientvines
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Wine Information
72% Zinfandel, 26% Carignane, 2% Petite Sirah
*Members-only release. Learn more about our ATP membership program.
Vintage
2020
Vineyard
Mazzoni Home Ranch
Appellation
Alexander Valley
Alcohol By Volume
14.2%
Winemaker Tasting Notes
Rich aromas of tropical fruits, red licorice, cherry and sweet oak. A clean and lively entry with a light body that is balance with a solid mid structure of rustic tannins. Fresh acidity carries the wine to a long and juicy finish. TG (1/23)
Vintage Notes
Ridge first made wine from the Mazzoni Ranch in 1996. The warm climate and rocky soils provide ideal growing conditions for the traditional field blend of zinfandel, carignane and petitie sirah. In 2020, zinfandel yields were higher and so make up a larger proportion of the final wine. This rich, rustic wine is approachable as a young wine but will continue to develop over the next seven to eight years. JO (2/22)
History
Giuseppe Mazzoni and his fourteen year-old brother-in-law, Abramo Trusendi, arrived from Italy in 1898 and went straight to work at the Italian Swiss Colony Vineyard Cooperative in Asti, California. In 1899, the two managed to acquire hillside acreage nearby, overlooking Alexander Valley from the west. By 1910 they had built a winery and began making wine. Except for the Prohibition years, the Mazzoni family produced wine there until 1978. They were great believers in the contribution each varietal in a field blend could make to the finished wine. Accordingly, their century-old zinfandel is inter-planted with carignane, which adds elegance and lively acidity, and petite sirah, which provides spice and depth. Mazzoni Home Ranch was purchased in 1988 by Niccolo and Flora Oltranti. They have replanted parts of the abandoned hillside, and in some years we will include a small amount from these younger zinfandel vines.
Growing Season
Rainfall: 18 inches (below normal)
Bloom: Late May
Weather: Rains in March and April helped the vines get through the summer. We were just starting harvest when the heat hit in August.
Winemaking
Harvest Dates: 20 & 21 August
Grapes: Average Brix 23.9˚
TA: 6.30 g/L
pH: 3.60
Fermentation: Full crush, 100% natural primary and secondary fermentation, 100% floating cap.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (20% new, 15% one year old, 15% two years old, and 50% four and five years old).
Aging: Eighteen months in barrel
All Mazzoni Home Ranch hand-harvested grapes; de-stemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally-occurring bacteria; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35ppm at crush, 86ppm over the course of aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.
72% Zinfandel, 26% Carignane, 2% Petite Sirah
*Members-only release. Learn more about our ATP membership program.
Vintage
2020
Vineyard
Mazzoni Home Ranch
Appellation
Alexander Valley
Alcohol By Volume
14.2%
Winemaker Tasting Notes
Rich aromas of tropical fruits, red licorice, cherry and sweet oak. A clean and lively entry with a light body that is balance with a solid mid structure of rustic tannins. Fresh acidity carries the wine to a long and juicy finish. TG (1/23)
Vintage Notes
Ridge first made wine from the Mazzoni Ranch in 1996. The warm climate and rocky soils provide ideal growing conditions for the traditional field blend of zinfandel, carignane and petitie sirah. In 2020, zinfandel yields were higher and so make up a larger proportion of the final wine. This rich, rustic wine is approachable as a young wine but will continue to develop over the next seven to eight years. JO (2/22)
History
Giuseppe Mazzoni and his fourteen year-old brother-in-law, Abramo Trusendi, arrived from Italy in 1898 and went straight to work at the Italian Swiss Colony Vineyard Cooperative in Asti, California. In 1899, the two managed to acquire hillside acreage nearby, overlooking Alexander Valley from the west. By 1910 they had built a winery and began making wine. Except for the Prohibition years, the Mazzoni family produced wine there until 1978. They were great believers in the contribution each varietal in a field blend could make to the finished wine. Accordingly, their century-old zinfandel is inter-planted with carignane, which adds elegance and lively acidity, and petite sirah, which provides spice and depth. Mazzoni Home Ranch was purchased in 1988 by Niccolo and Flora Oltranti. They have replanted parts of the abandoned hillside, and in some years we will include a small amount from these younger zinfandel vines.
Growing Season
Rainfall: 18 inches (below normal)
Bloom: Late May
Weather: Rains in March and April helped the vines get through the summer. We were just starting harvest when the heat hit in August.
Winemaking
Harvest Dates: 20 & 21 August
Grapes: Average Brix 23.9˚
TA: 6.30 g/L
pH: 3.60
Fermentation: Full crush, 100% natural primary and secondary fermentation, 100% floating cap.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (20% new, 15% one year old, 15% two years old, and 50% four and five years old).
Aging: Eighteen months in barrel
All Mazzoni Home Ranch hand-harvested grapes; de-stemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally-occurring bacteria; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35ppm at crush, 86ppm over the course of aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.