April 1, 2024 - - Brick color. It's balanced with a medium/full body. Smooth texture with a long finish - Brick color. Gracefully aging and in its prime drinking window. Aromas of dark red fruits, wood and a hint of tobacco. Taste follows suit. A harmonious balance of all thats good in a great Santa Cruz mountain cab.
March 23, 2024 - Friday Night with Wagyu Burgers and Doctor Who (At home in leafy West London): Purple garnet colour. Decanted and threw off a fair bit of sediment. Lovely nose, almost austere, a hint of cedar box, lovely palate with the great ridge acidity and tannic structure. The first ridge I’ve had though that doesn’t taste of ridge - were they experimenting with French oak at this time? I’ve often wondered what a ridge without American oak would taste like - maybe it would taste like this?
A look at the website shows "100% air-dried american oak barrels; (16% new, 43% one year, and 41% two years old)." - perhaps more old oak? Or malfunctioning tastebuds.
Either way - this is proper kit, and pleased to have a couple more in the cellar.
November 1, 2023 - BYO USA (Centropa, Oslo, Norway): Dyp mørk lilla med antydning til murstensfarget kant. Veldig sødmefull cabernet-duft, her lukter mest solbær og eucalyptus og med et behagelig preg av vanilje og integrert eik. Heftig og fyldig i anslaget, her er det lett å gå til bordeaux, men som for de øvrige yngre cabernetene i flighten er solbærtonene dominerende. Flott konsentrasjon, rik stil med kraftfull frukt og syre som faktisk fremkaller svetteperler i pannen. Godt grep med fine tanniner og i en god "spot" nå.
October 22, 2023 - Popped and pured. Extremely healthy cork. Dark colour and immediate notes of eucalyptus and mint that immediately brings you to Californian cabernet. Quite astringent at first sip, but showed great promise. After about thirty minutes and a lot of swirling in the glass it starts to reveal layer upon layer of taste.
While clearly Californian, it is not the overly opulent style but rather the more elegant and balanced style that Ridge and other classic wineries are known for.
April 6, 2023 - passover dinner, what a beauty, amazing qpr, delivers inline with a first or second bordeaux growth and certainly better than some Monte Bello’s I’ve had over the years.
March 17, 2023 - No decant. Brickish red. Dark berries, red berries, a bit of eukalyptus. Intense. Full body. Some roast aromas in the mouth and a bit of chocolate. Very balanced. Medium complex. But very good!
February 20, 2023 - At pop n pour, taking this to dinner @ Tango Sur w/ Ben and Robin. A more taut blackberry aroma. Lots of iron. Chewy medium tannin still up front. Leesy and earthy undertones to the nose. A decant was in order, as there was a fair amount of sediment. Back into the bottle to take to dinner.
November 15, 2022 - I agree with the previous 2 reviews, it needs more time in the bottle - promise is there for something greater that what I tasted.
August 15, 2022 - Still a bit of American oak on the nose and palate. Aromatically quite nice with dark berries and forest floor. The wine is medium bodied with loads of black berry and plum fruit. A bit thin on the mid palate and tannins are a little grippy. Nice wine. Could stand a few more years in the bottle to allow the oak to integrate better
May 31, 2022 - Consistent with past notes and paired nicely with grilled filet. This is one of the best examples in our collection that balances power and finesse, as it had a large palate and firm acidic core with a round mouthfeel and refined tannins. More plums and blueberries emerging as this ages evolving nicely. Drink 2022-2028. Technical score: 93. Enjoyment score: 93.