September 18, 2017 - I sort of liked this! Everyone has different taste & mine is rather the opposite of big bold california wines. that said, enough age has tamed this nicely. a little sweet perhaps, but lovely in its unique way. Glad I kept it so long (I was actually scared to open it so it lingered).
December 17, 2011 - One of the better Ridge wines I have had in a while. It is certainly big, but it shows an earthiness that is lacking in many of their other ATP wines.
June 10, 2011 - Certainly an over-extracted wine, but with a certain charm. More of a dessert wine than a wine for dinner. Super ripe, black fruits and oaky spice, still quite tannic.
No rush to drink these up.
March 12, 2010 - Superb nose, lush fruit with tight tannic base that provided terrific structure and balance. We powered thru this bottle with tacos from Taco Bell, and the wine did fine and was refreshing. Draper's notes on the back say that the prime for this wine was til 2008, but this was in a very good place last nite and was fun to drink. 75% Mataro, 25% Zin.
April 26, 2008 - Absolutely superb. Lush, sweet fruit with balancing acidity and tannins. The tannins are soft, but still there. Very good.
September 15, 2006 - On opening, this was vile -- prune juice with vanilla extract and lots of heat. After 4 to 5 hours of air it has improved somewhat, but ultimately remains a huge disappointment. Rather grapey, primary nose of dark fruits and prune juice. Pleasant weight on the palate, but far too sweet, with vanilla, cassis, and, yes, stewed prunes on the long (25 sec) disjointed finish. Only a hint of heat. But honestly, this is nastiest Ridge wine i've ever tasted. Not sure what went wrong here -- maybe some premature oxidation. Ullage was good and cork was clean. If you have some I'd recommend popping one sooner rather than later.
January 20, 2005 - 14.9% alc...nose of leather and sweet, jammy cherry with a sappy element, vanilla coke, spicy...sappy on the palate as well, like a Carignane I had recently from the South of France, good acidity but an enticing creamy finish...fully realizing that vanilla coke may sound unpleasant, but this wine was great - just not a deep or necessarily complex wine.
August 29, 2004 - Deep purple color. Spicy nose with lots of exuberant raspberry, pepper, and bitter coffee. Lively on the palate, with layers of bright spicy fruit. Well balanced with subtle tannins. A trace of heat on the slightly short finish. This was a fun, lively wine that's drinking great right now. It will probably last a few more years, but why wait?