Community Tasting Note
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Sagan99 Likes this wine: 88 points
June 19, 2023 - TBD
When I first found Jon Bonne's "Drink The Rainbow" caption in one of his books, this Ridge blend was in my thoughts.
I'd become less enamored with Zinfandel. Disliked Carignane. And who knows what Alicante Bouschet really does? (Must boost acid?) Petit syrah, has been around forever in Bordeaux and more, so it's purpose is still known.
Thus, I bought 6 bottles of this, which will last through 2034 at least.
Ridge, on the back label says " it will develop greater complexity within 15 years- 2034).
We're gonna find out. One every 2 years after quaffing this bottle.
I had low expectations for this blend. After the first glass, I was right. After the 2nd, I was wrong... Time will tell, with the first chance, tomorrow morning. I saved a little.
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Decanted only 1 hour before drinking.
Should be several hours!
Deep purple (big surprise, I know!)
Red and Dark berries
Earth
Tannic, structure increase, after bottle opened 3.5 hrs.
Dry
High alcohol
Medium acid
Will this continue on Ridge's path of continued improvement. When I first opened the bottle, and sipped the first glass, I would have said not a chance
However, and this is the reason to age wine, is it got better, in ways that cellaring will enhance the wine.
With that overnight glass, let's see if it truly has the aging potential, and more importantly, what it takes to improve and get better then it is today.
72% Zinfandel
19% Carignane
3%Petit Syrah
3% Alicante Bouschet
14.5% abv
PS- Drink The Rainbow!4,318 views
5 Comments
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WineJ2019 commented:
6/19/23, 6:59 PM - 53 points…typo?
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Sagan99 commented:
6/19/23, 7:56 PM - Funny. I get asked they exact question all the time.
CellarTracker doesn't have a way to "remind" users about a wine for which they have notes. So, I simply use a low 50s number to scribe a bit, and store it, until I've finished my notes and finished the bottle, which I often leave until the next morning.
So, in this case, I opened today, quaffed some, kept some, and will taste in the morning. Scribe a few more notes throughout tomorrow, and then enter a final number.
I drink at home, at friends, at restaurants wherever, and I often forget. With this basic process, I remember, or at least, in a month, I know I need to go back to my notes.
In reality, I expect this wine to be 85-90. But, reggi knows... Tomorrow it could become Petrus... Not!
Thanks for noticing and commenting.
If you have another way where I'm missing something in how CT functions, please let me know! I'm always learning software... Though, I think there's little rewrite/update happening here... Which is terrific!
Regards
Danny -
MLipton commented:
6/20/23, 9:40 AM - Inferring your tastes from your note, I'd say that you'd want to give this wine a full 10-15 years before opening another. Young Ridge Geyserville has never been my thing, but with bottle age they can become spectacular. Be aware, though, that is coming from one of the AFWE ("anti-flavor wine elite" as Robert M Parker dubbed us, way back when) so YMMV.
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WineJ2019 commented:
6/20/23, 10:26 AM - Ah now I understand your system - thx for sharing that. I know that the CT scoring is subjective / individualized but regardless I find the averages helpful and sometimes there are accidental/ inadvertent outliers that can skew things. Enjoy the rest of the bottle!
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Sagan99 commented:
6/23/23, 8:46 AM - .. and of course, I go away for a night... And my wife drank the glass!!!
Can you think of a few faaaabulouuuussssssly descriptive expletives I bellowed(internally)... I guess it's at least a year before coming back to this wine. Sad!