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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 93.5 pts. and median of 94 pts. in 14 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by leebmx on 3/8/2021 & rated 95 points: What an incredible wine. At first glance we were a bit worried, the cork broke, and the wine, when poured through a filter was a deep golden colour looking unpleasantly like a dehydrated sample....However from first nose it was evident that this was a wine of great development and robust flavours but still in perfect condition for its age. A big ripe nose of peach, nectarine, toffee, macadamia nuts, a real feel of a sweet wine/botrytis although I don't expect there could have been any.
The palate was equally rich matching the nose but there was still a good core of acidity which kept the wonderful tropical, dried fruit, nut and burnt vanilla flavours in balance. What a riot! Drunk with a shrimp risotto and was a perfect combo with the intense flavours of the dish.
It was very hard to tell whether the acidity is going to drop off markedly over the next few years, so I would advise drinking soon if you are lucky enough to have a bottle. (897 views) | | | Tasted by Keith Cooper on 4/1/2019 & rated 95 points: Tasted at The Wine Society's dinner, Berkshire, UK, with Ridge winemaker Eric Baugher introducing the wines. This was served alongside the 2015 vintage to accompany salmon blini starter. It had been flown in from the winery especially for the dinner. It was a fantastic opportunity to taste a Ridge chardonnay at 16 years after the vintage. The colour obviously showed age, being light gold/rusty. The first surprise was that the nose had sweetness, almost a feel of botrytis, with peaches and mandarins. However, the palate was bone dry! I'm not sure I've previously experienced something like that in an old chardonnay. The palate showed less fruit, but there was orange blossom and it was very complex. It was Eric's view that all of his chardonnays keep well for this length of time, regardless of the vintage. For me, this was an incredibly interesting wine to taste. Certainly the most interesting of the whites we tasted. (1307 views) | | | Tasted by UpfromtheCellar on 2/24/2019 & rated 90 points: One of my highest scoring chardonnays ever, (and a strong candidate for my chardonnay of the year back in 2012) this wine still has a lazer like intensity, even after 16 years. Hints of vanilla and brioche on the nose, lazer focused fruit and acids on the palate, nice long finish. What its lacking at this point in its development are the broad rounder notes of hazelnut and tropicals that were so mouth filling 8-10 years ago. Still a great chardonnay, just past prime and time to drink up those last cherished bottles. (1398 views) | | | Tasted by andtheodor on 7/28/2017 & rated 93 points: Loved this; warm and sunny with judicious oak approaching banana ester plus a beam of acidity. Mature, but not getting much nuttiness and the apple character is green and crunchy, not bruised. There's alcohol lurking but still has the richness to cover it up. This really hit the spot. (2167 views) | | | Tasted by blanquito on 7/27/2017 & rated 93 points: This was really delicious. Showed elements of both Californian and Burgundian Chardonnay, with richness married to elegance and brightness. I haven't always loved Ridge's Chardonnay, but this was fabulous and right in the zone. (1906 views) | | | Tasted by Klugi Wine on 6/9/2013 & rated 95 points: Wow, what should I say. This wine is at it's peak. Nutty flavours, minerality and some apricot. For the rest refer to my first tasting note. Will drink my remaining bottle when ever it fits the occasion, no hurry. (3077 views) | | | Tasted by UpfromtheCellar on 11/21/2012 & rated 94 points: My Chardonnay of the year so far! Dark yellow color. Nose of smoke, fruit and spice. Long rich lingering finish that fills the mouth. Fruits, oak, vanilla, smoke with enough acids to keep it all lively and moving across the palate. Wonderful.
I note that other recent reviewers have had bottle oxidation problems, but nothing of the sort here. In fact, I have one bottle left and I am going to save it for at least another year to see how this plays out. (3064 views) | | | Tasted by pismo45 on 6/10/2011 & rated 90 points: Enjoyable but glad we didn't wait any longer to drink our last bottle. In early stage of oxidation. Still big body with decent acidity. Tasty with shrimp and pasta. Not sure I'd like to drink this one without food. (3309 views) | | | Tasted by silton on 10/9/2010 & rated 91 points: This bottle is not as integrated, nervy, complete or sublime as the last; a rare case of wishing I hadn't been quite so patient. Some oxidative notes are mostly overwhelmed by butterscotch, macadamia nut, kiwi, almond, melon and pit fruits. Label notes reference drinking well through the decade, and that was about right, but actually peaking in 2009. Day 2 about the same. (3062 views) | | | Tasted by Yiannis on 5/3/2010 flawed bottle: Oxidized. What a pitty! (3384 views) | | | Tasted by Klugi Wine on 2/19/2010 & rated 94 points: On the nose hazelnut and slight vanilla. Beautiful structured wine with nice integrated acidity and some minerality. On the palate some banana and later on peach. The wine gained complexity with time, was a great fit with some delicous sushi.
Highly recommended. (2159 views) | | | Tasted by silton on 2/7/2009 & rated 95 points: Oh my. The nose shows this wine's adulthood, with marzipan, walnut-butter, straw and kiwi, but the palate remains youthfully vibrant with peach and nectarine flavors balanced by lemon verbana, grapefruit pith and a riverbed full of liquid stone throughout. Finishes with a dusty butterscotch note. Fantastic wine that outperforms most anything else in its price range. Glad to have another which will be drunk in the next 1-2 years. Update: even better on day 2 on the warm side. More butterscotch, but still plenty of energy and lift, nice and long. Bumped up a point. I expect this wine to last longer than I will be able to hold it. (2178 views) | | | Tasted by MeMyself&I on 6/12/2007 & rated 95 points: Extraordinary! Perfumed nose of almonds and vanilla. goes down like silk, it is so smooth. (2454 views) | | | Tasted by bkburns on 9/10/2006 & rated 95 points: Easily equal to a great french burgundy. It's got that kind of nose. Much more integrated and well balanced than a great many of the high scoring California Chardonnays. Definitely on the repeat list (2750 views) |
| 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.Chardonnay The Chardonnay GrapeMonte Bello On weinlagen-infoUSAAmerican 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 Santa Cruz Mountains Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association | Wikipedia
Once referred to by wine writers as the Chaine d'Or -- or "golden chain" -- the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA sits above Silicon Valley, running along the craggy range next to the Pacific on some of the prettiest parts of Northern California. The area supports more than 75 wineries, despite being limited by geography and high land prices.
In 1981 the Santa Cruz Mountains Viticultural Appellation became federally recognized, one of the first American viticultural areas to be defined by geophysical and climatic factors. The appellation encompasses the Santa Cruz Mountain range, from Half Moon Bay in the north, to Mount Madonna in the south. The east and west boundaries are defined by elevation, extending down to 800 feet in the east and 400 feet in the west. |
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