April 22, 2024 - PnP. Opens with raspberry, pepper, anise, vanilla, cherry, plum and floral aromas. Still has plenty of fruit showing blackberry, raspberry, cherry, plum, anise, black pepper, floral, and light vanilla notes. Medium body with silky tannins. This was very rustic on release and has mellowed nicely with time. Drinking very well now, but has years ahead of it.
April 7, 2024 - Ridge....Zinfandel....do I need to add anything else? The mellow body of this wine with the moderate legs on the glass accented by the mild tannins, acidity with the lasting finish, what more could a person ask for...a longer life. Yes, there is still life in this vintage and bottle, but it is drinking very nice now, so why wait? Even if it is your last bottle you will not regret consuming this wine now. Enjoy!
April 1, 2024 - Modningstoner. Kjølig, fin balanse. Veldig god frukt. Imponert til å være zin. Kjøper gjerne igjen. Denne holder flere år.
January 25, 2024 - There is a slight green note on first open, surprisingly.
However the palette depth and richness here is very elegant. Slight varnish and cedar. Pale ruby.
December 5, 2023 - So drinkable now... this was being gulped down by everyone. Good fruit, bramble, structure and decent acid. Wonder how it will evolve with more bottle age... but who really cares?
November 27, 2023 - Reticent aromas of dark fruit, camphor, cedar. Glides into a lush palate of blackberry, blueberry cassis, mocha, sweet oak and spice. Medium bodied. Finish is fresh and clean with good length. Shows excellent balance. Lovely wine
November 18, 2023 - I always love this wine, but so did the three others drinking it. Tannins mellowed after a 2 hour decant, and the fruit was very present without being too jammy. Only 1 bottle left, unfortunately.
November 17, 2023 - Slow ox and drank over a few hours. Maybe it was an off bottle as this wasn’t as good as prior ones. Fruit was really muted.
November 3, 2023 - Bought multiple bottles directly from the winery upon release as member of the Zin Club. I remember this year being very tight, as most baby Lytton Springs are.
Rested upright for 3 months, and decanted off sediment leaving a glass and a half in the bottle 5 hours before tasting.
Not much nose to report except for some very faint blackberry, licorice and even less, essences of earth.
Palate, however was exquisite!
The lushness of the juice delicately tumbled over my tongue, something of a perfect spot for this cuvée. All kinds of complexities engaged and challenged my detection skills: Garigue, licorice, Christmas spices, perfect acid, delicate spice cakes with hidden but enough to pull out cinnamon, nutmeg and quality tight knit wood.
I’ve got Lytton Springs verticals in my cellar going back a decade. These wines for most years need at least 7 years bottle age to show and can stay in that sweet spot for twenty, though most would not allow that much time in bottle. 2016 was a drought relief year, and this is an interesting contrast to 2015.
The iconic label looked magnificent in front of a warm living room fire, and if I had to do this again I would wait for Christmas to open, as this with roast duck, or broiled rare ribeye would be fantastic for celebratory times with family who are not oenophiles. (Keep the 1996 Barolo hidden for ourselves!)
A fresh pour from decanter now 7 hours after decant smells more and more like Christmas season as the cakes with tart berry fit perfectly. Each swig had energy, was soft, luxuriously imparted smoke, gingerbread, boysenberry and memories of seasonal times past.
Add this to your holiday meal lineup, decant at noontime, keep ½ glass for yourself and pour the rest for others who don’t fully appreciate the depth of your cellar. This will woo your guests as you tell about the Taste Of Paris and why you opened it for this meal. (My Bruno Giacosa 2001 Serralunga D’Alba stays in my own belly!)
As this opened more and more of the oak started to show, and totally did not want to drink anymore. This is for others. Not for me. I’ve got to now hit the cellar again to find something else to open. Gotta remember not to drink any more Ridge, but only pour for others. So much time had past since the last bottle that I forget to remember! My bad.
In fact, at this point I just gotta say "UG! OAK! DOUBLE UG!"
August 21, 2023 - Straight down the fairway. Consistently good regardless of the vintage. Good value wine.