From the Ridge website:

Wine Information
90% Zinfandel, 5% Petite Sirah, 5% Alicante Bouschet

96 Points – Zinfandel Chronicles
95 Points – Owen Bargreen, OwenBargreen.com

Vintage
2021

Vineyard
Pagani Ranch

Appellation
Sonoma Valley

Alcohol By Volume
14.6%

Winemaker Tasting Notes
Nose of jammy blueberry, red cherry and pepper. Lively acidity and structure give this wine a full mouthfeel with notes of raspberry, mineral and dark chocolate with a lingering finish. SR (11/22)

Vintage Notes
Given the cool micro-climate of Sonoma Valley, Pagani Ranch often sits under fog into the early afternoon. Harvested between October 7th and 16th, the young zinfandel was ready first, followed by the old-vine zinfandel, petite sirah and alicante bouschet. Typical of the appellation, bright acidity and plentiful fruit are benchmarks of this exuberant wine. This excellent zinfandel will be best over the next eight years. SR (12/22)

History
Since 1991, Ridge has made zinfandel from the Pagani vineyard on the western side of Sonoma Valley. The majority of the vineyard was planted ninety to one hundred twenty years ago; portions of it were replanted between 2013—2018. The vineyard is meticulously tended by a quality-conscious family who has worked the land for four generations. An average site would have been abandoned during the thirteen years of Prohibition, or during the Depression. Its long survival is proof of its merit.

Growing Season
Rainfall: 14 inches (below normal)
Bloom: Early May
Weather: A dry winter and spring stressed the vines, limiting yields and concentrating flavors.

Winemaking
Harvest Dates: 7 – 16 October
Grapes: Average Brix 24.9˚
TA: 6.27 g/L
pH: 3.42
Fermentation: Grapes destemmed and crushed. Natural primary and natural secondary (malolactic) fermentations; pumped over a floating cap.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (3% new, 10% one year old, 20% two years old, 50% three years old, and 17% neutral oak).
Aging: Fourteen months in barrel

Pagani Ranch grapes; hand-harvested; destemmed 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 (35 ppm at crush, 66.5 ppm over the course of aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

Edit this Article