Spicy raspberry compote nose. Classic Ridge herbal element, peppercorns, berries. Great acidity and balance. High-toned, faintly medicinal, but very good.

Old carob nose, meat, dried blood, dried baked fruit. Savory but totally lacking any freshness. I'm not convinced these can age very gracefully.

Dusty raspberry ganache nose. Big bodied and lower-toned than all the Zin blends. Faintly herbal. Good, but clumsy, low acid and boring for Ridge. Probably suffered being next to a number of racy old Zinfandels.

Berry preserve, black pepper, herb nose. Balanced, if simple and lacking stuffing. A bit boring and tired.

Hospital. Cherry, raspberry, strawberry nose. Decently fresh with some classic peppercorn/herbal tones. Adequate acidity but still a bit flat. More compelling than the 96 Nervo. The antiseptic nature became intolerable with air, reminding me of fetal pig dissection and formaldehyde. Some really liked this though. Meh.

Here we go! Menthol, dried herbs, peppercorn, tobacco, berry nose. Decent amount of fruit keeps it from teetering over the edge and becoming tired. Mature, thin, tealike but sexy and classic. This did wear out fast with air and was much better right out of the bottle. My favorite wine of the night if it had held its composure a little better. Time to drink.

Spicy, sexy, and complex. Great berry fruit, licorice, with herbs and menthol emerging. Almost ideal aged Ridge. Wow.

Primal, youthful, juicy. Stacked and promising but hard to interpret, especially in a field of mature Ridge Zins. Seems like a sure bet in 10 years.

Potent strawberry preserves. Adequate acidity, barely sweet, nice classic herbal character. Surprisingly fresh. Strawberry, cinnamon, tea palate. Declined with air.