An oversupply of increasingly alcoholic Ridge Rhônes was what a big part of what got me to drop out of the ATP club a decade ago. Sold some, kept some, now I have a small corner of the cellar full of them and will pull them to see if they're worth drinking when we need a glass of big red and aren't feeling picky. This is okay for a single glass with red sauce: it's still got some big purple fruit and decent acidity, but it's also got a lot of raspy tannins and barrel char in the background, which become tiresome after a glass. Meh.
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Drink this wine now, I do not think more bottle aging will help, however, the fruit flavors are still there. This 15 year old syrah from Ridge was "discovered" in my cellar (not showing up in my Cellar Tracker) as I thought i had consumed all my previous bottles...wrong. However, this win was still good with the dark fruit flavors, slight pepper and moderate finish. It worked well with the char-grilled strip steak.
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Still quite disappointing, not unlike 3 yrs ago or so. Tannins are still harsh and bitter (wood tannins, I suspect), and the wine remains an utter oak bomb. That oak is never going to integrate, and if it ever does, no fruit will remain. Little fruit remains as of now. Viogner is very noticeable - not surprising, since there is 10pct of it in the blend. Why so much oak, why so much ripeness and alcohol? To be honest, Ridge’s Syrahs have never delivered for me, and among their Zins/field blends, only Geyserville and Lytton Springs work consistently for my palate, esp. with 6-12 yrs of bottle age. (I adore aged Monte Bellos, but those are in a different league, and of course hail from a different region).
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3/14/2024 - ppmm wrote:
An oversupply of increasingly alcoholic Ridge Rhônes was what a big part of what got me to drop out of the ATP club a decade ago. Sold some, kept some, now I have a small corner of the cellar full of them and will pull them to see if they're worth drinking when we need a glass of big red and aren't feeling picky. This is okay for a single glass with red sauce: it's still got some big purple fruit and decent acidity, but it's also got a lot of raspy tannins and barrel char in the background, which become tiresome after a glass. Meh.
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1/7/2024 - Mortgage92 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Drink this wine now, I do not think more bottle aging will help, however, the fruit flavors are still there. This 15 year old syrah from Ridge was "discovered" in my cellar (not showing up in my Cellar Tracker) as I thought i had consumed all my previous bottles...wrong. However, this win was still good with the dark fruit flavors, slight pepper and moderate finish. It worked well with the char-grilled strip steak.
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1/1/2023 - sdahar Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wonderful syrah tannins with oak in the background. Enough fruit to hide the alcohol but that might not be true in a few years.
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7/13/2022 - casjf Likes this wine: 92 Points
Classic Syrah blackberry and black pepper flavors. Very powerful wine: needs a strong entrée to stand up to it.
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6/23/2022 - bravo.solares Does not like this wine: 87 Points
Still quite disappointing, not unlike 3 yrs ago or so. Tannins are still harsh and bitter (wood tannins, I suspect), and the wine remains an utter oak bomb. That oak is never going to integrate, and if it ever does, no fruit will remain. Little fruit remains as of now. Viogner is very noticeable - not surprising, since there is 10pct of it in the blend. Why so much oak, why so much ripeness and alcohol? To be honest, Ridge’s Syrahs have never delivered for me, and among their Zins/field blends, only Geyserville and Lytton Springs work consistently for my palate, esp. with 6-12 yrs of bottle age. (I adore aged Monte Bellos, but those are in a different league, and of course hail from a different region).
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