2002 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains Estate

Community Tasting Notes (29) Avg Score: 90.3 points

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  8/15/2023 - WetRock wrote:

  Without the obvious American oak influence you could easily mistake this for a right bank Bordeaux in a more modern sense. Not the ripe, oaky things but the newer school. The plentiful secondary characters really enliven the plushness and emerging fruit sweetness. Terrific wine. There is plenty of flesh here still. There's fruit for decades but I'm not confident the tannin and backbone really support lengthier aging. It's good for a long while though.

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  5/28/2020 - NiklasT Likes this wine: 93 Points

  After half an hour in the decanter we ​​are greeted by a wide-open and generous scent of dark sweet berries, vanilla and tertiary tones of sweet tobacco and cellars. The flavors flow into the mouth with blackberries, plum compote, dark cherries and more vanilla. Wonderfully fine-grained tannins that grip the teeth and the wine is very well-balanced, quite long finish as well.
  
  2002 was a great year in all of California which comes through in intensity and length. It may not match well-respected cousins ​​in Bordeaux in complexity, but in fruit depth and sheer enjoyment, this is hard to beat. Can certainly be stored for at least 10 years more but it is fully developed and really good now.

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  5/23/2018 - ricard Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Lovely brambly blackberry nose. Hard to tell the difference between this and a £15-20 Left Bank claret, quite frankly. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Remarkably acidic, still quite tannic, tight and inward-looking. Mint and eucalyptus. Undeniably good but would I know it's from California in a blind tasting? It's just too much like a claret to interest me. It's professionally made, and quite pleasant, but there's no sense of place...

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  5/13/2018 - wino121 wrote: 91 Points

  Still vibrant, nice integration,
  Drink now thru 21

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  3/5/2017 - bravo.solares Likes this wine: 92 Points

  More youthful than previous bottle or two. Should have cellared for a bit longer, to see if/how it evolved. Still, very enjoyable. The Merlot in the blend was singing (50pct Cab Sauv, 48pct Merlot, 2pct Petit Verdot). Very fine, well integrated tannins. Tobacco notes, cedar, menthol and forest floor coupled with black fruit.

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View all 29 Community Tasting Notes

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