Lovely nose with still fresh fruit, spices, underwood, cedar, and smoke. Resolved palate that still has structure, flavors of dried fruit, berries, and cherries. It's clearly ripe, but well balanced. Nice finish. Quite impressive, this must have been perfectly stored. A great experience and probably the best Zinfandel based wine I had so far.
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Wow. This was totally fresh and would never guessed that this wine is 35 years old. Well balanced, strong fruit and just the right amount of tannins on the finish. No sign of age and great color. Interesting that that before we coravined it to taste, we were eating a organic naval orange. The pairing was great! We often drink Chianti with Tuscan Bundini, a dessert that is made withbthe zest of a whole orange and lemon. Will have this bottle tonight with Wagyu NY sirloin.
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There's still a lot of charm here, but it's certainly well past its peak. Light in body (but not "thin"), quite subtle and mellow, getting fairly tawny.
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A rare treat. pronounced nose of slightly briary, dusty raspberry fruit with a liquor-like density and gloss to it. Round and smooth on the palate, positive attack and plenty of crunchy raspberry fruit on the front-end, but drops away rather to a short finish. Reasonably complex and plenty of interest through the front end. I wonder whether this would have been better / more complete a few years ago. Still a lovely drink though. ****
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Dusty and musty red fruits on the nose, along with eucalyptus and black cherry. More eucalyptus on the palate, along with dusty red and black fruits, and some minerality. A tad past it prime but still good. The one bottle I had a few months ago was better.
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3rd of 4 purchased recently. First had crumbly cork and some flaws. 2nd was young and amazing. This one was in between, but closer to the 2nd bottle.
Decent mature floral nose, with some menthol. Very lightweight on the palate, with minerals/stone, and a dash of menthol. Super gentle, slightly earthy.
Very nice.
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2nd of 4 purchased from Invino for $17.50 including shipping. First had a crumbly cork and musty note that mildly overshadowed a wine with many other nice components. This 2nd bottle had a perfect cork that came out nicely. That gave me hope.
Popped and poured, a great nose of florals, menthol, strawberry/cherry. Similar notes of menthol, strawberry, cherry, cranberrry, minerals/stone. Nice acidity for its age. This was a joy to drink. All the Geyserville components that I recall from the 2006 and 2009, just mature and integrated. Bravo!
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Crumbly cork, had a rough time getting it out without it crumbling into the bottle, but was successful. Had a significant funkiness that blew off after a while. A ton of sediment so i decanted the second half. Very light in color with some orange bricking. A really nice wine, with a slight musty aroma at first, revealing some earthy floral notes. Tart black cherry/raspberry with a hint of minerals and a nice menthol component. The wine is probably just a couple years past its prime, and I don't drink a lot of older wine,but this is a real treat. Super interesting and gentle.
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Cork crumbled, but good looking bottle. Tasted over 2 days. Clearly past peak, but still drinking nice. There was some real funkiness that blew off, to show a slight nose with a dusting of dark cherry, with hints of mint. Thinner texture on the palate, still showing a cherry cough drop flavor profile that is rather pronounced. There is still firm acidity on the tail end of this, That lingers into a dam eart, if not slightly reductive finish. Not a Whiff of alchol in sight, this is listed at 13.3%.
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We had a similar experience to smnorton's first bottle. Bought from winery on 3/12/06 and opened that evening. We let it decant for over an hour which was clearly not enough. Upon tasting we both noticed vinegar and a thinness, very much a separation of fruit frmo water (urgh!). After a further couple of hours it really changed and almost became drinkable. A friend we had over inisted it was fine at first and then "great" so not sure what to make of that...We were offered a return by the winery but I guess we blew it ;-)
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This was my 2nd recent attempt at this wine. The first bottle revealed funk on the nose that never quite blew off and a thin palate that demonstrated a separation of fruit from water. What a difference in this 2nd bottle! Great balance. Fruit core still going strong (although I wouldn't wait much longer) with tobacco and earth notes throughout.
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bot directly from winery and opened next day.....an old wine for sure but still alive....tasting notes veered towards leather, tar , and mushrooms....but interesting and a lot of fun to drink
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PRETTY RUBY RED COLOR. VERY FRUITY AROMA WITH LEATHERY OVERTONES. BLACKBERRY TASTE. A VERY RICH ZIN WITH LOTS OF CHARACTER AND A MEDIUM TO LONG FINISH.
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11/14/2023 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 93 Points
Lovely nose with still fresh fruit, spices, underwood, cedar, and smoke. Resolved palate that still has structure, flavors of dried fruit, berries, and cherries. It's clearly ripe, but well balanced. Nice finish. Quite impressive, this must have been perfectly stored. A great experience and probably the best Zinfandel based wine I had so far.
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9/19/2020 - Cellarmaster Likes this wine: 94 Points
Wow. This was totally fresh and would never guessed that this wine is 35 years old. Well balanced, strong fruit and just the right amount of tannins on the finish. No sign of age and great color. Interesting that that before we coravined it to taste, we were eating a organic naval orange. The pairing was great! We often drink Chianti with Tuscan Bundini, a dessert that is made withbthe zest of a whole orange and lemon. Will have this bottle tonight with Wagyu NY sirloin.
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3/13/2017 - yhn wrote:
There's still a lot of charm here, but it's certainly well past its peak. Light in body (but not "thin"), quite subtle and mellow, getting fairly tawny.
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6/3/2016 - SK Cellars wrote:
Unfortunately this bottle was long past its prime. We expected that but had small hopes that it might be okay.
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11/28/2015 - SimonG wrote: 91 Points
A rare treat. pronounced nose of slightly briary, dusty raspberry fruit with a liquor-like density and gloss to it. Round and smooth on the palate, positive attack and plenty of crunchy raspberry fruit on the front-end, but drops away rather to a short finish. Reasonably complex and plenty of interest through the front end. I wonder whether this would have been better / more complete a few years ago. Still a lovely drink though. ****
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12/17/2012 - Scott Butler Likes this wine:
Dusty and musty red fruits on the nose, along with eucalyptus and black cherry. More eucalyptus on the palate, along with dusty red and black fruits, and some minerality. A tad past it prime but still good. The one bottle I had a few months ago was better.
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9/18/2012 - Scott Butler Likes this wine:
3rd of 4 purchased recently. First had crumbly cork and some flaws. 2nd was young and amazing. This one was in between, but closer to the 2nd bottle.
Decent mature floral nose, with some menthol. Very lightweight on the palate, with minerals/stone, and a dash of menthol. Super gentle, slightly earthy.
Very nice.
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7/22/2012 - jdabrowski1027 wrote:
This was the best bottle of the 3 I bought. Very nice
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4/6/2012 - Scott Butler Likes this wine:
2nd of 4 purchased from Invino for $17.50 including shipping. First had a crumbly cork and musty note that mildly overshadowed a wine with many other nice components. This 2nd bottle had a perfect cork that came out nicely. That gave me hope.
Popped and poured, a great nose of florals, menthol, strawberry/cherry. Similar notes of menthol, strawberry, cherry, cranberrry, minerals/stone. Nice acidity for its age. This was a joy to drink. All the Geyserville components that I recall from the 2006 and 2009, just mature and integrated. Bravo!
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2/20/2012 - zscheiner Likes this wine: 92 Points
Blind Tasting 1980-87 Ridge Geyservilles (Rich & Peggy's House, Los Altos, CA): Pretty, floral, red raspberry nose. Medium bodied with medium acidity. Young, floral, raspberry palate. Delicious. (my 1st, group's 3rd)
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2/12/2012 - Scott Butler Likes this wine:
Crumbly cork, had a rough time getting it out without it crumbling into the bottle, but was successful. Had a significant funkiness that blew off after a while. A ton of sediment so i decanted the second half. Very light in color with some orange bricking. A really nice wine, with a slight musty aroma at first, revealing some earthy floral notes. Tart black cherry/raspberry with a hint of minerals and a nice menthol component. The wine is probably just a couple years past its prime, and I don't drink a lot of older wine,but this is a real treat. Super interesting and gentle.
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1/28/2012 - jdabrowski1027 wrote: 88 Points
Cork crumbled, but good looking bottle. Tasted over 2 days. Clearly past peak, but still drinking nice. There was some real funkiness that blew off, to show a slight nose with a dusting of dark cherry, with hints of mint. Thinner texture on the palate, still showing a cherry cough drop flavor profile that is rather pronounced. There is still firm acidity on the tail end of this, That lingers into a dam eart, if not slightly reductive finish. Not a Whiff of alchol in sight, this is listed at 13.3%.
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10/10/2011 - zscheiner Likes this wine: 88 Points
Blind Tasting 1978 - 1990 Ridge Zinfandels (Rich & Peggy's House, Los Altos, CA): Moderate bricking, clear meniscus. Nice dark cherry nose. Light bodied with medium acidity. Tart cherries and cranberries. Silky texture, a bit simple but quite nice. (my 4th, group's 3rd)
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11/27/2009 - jlgnml wrote: 88 Points
Pizza night with best friends (Our House): Another old Zin. Served as a vertical with the '84 and '94. Lost its fruit. Still worth drinking.
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11/9/2006 - gregg g wrote:
17 vintages of Ridge Zinfandel, '67 & '78 Stony Hill & Dessert Wines (Campanile in Los Angeles, CA.): The nose was somewhat soapy with hints of cherry underneath. Not a very compelling wine with little complexity. Another wine with a clipped finish.
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3/14/2006 - slippytoad wrote: 70 Points
We had a similar experience to smnorton's first bottle. Bought from winery on 3/12/06 and opened that evening. We let it decant for over an hour which was clearly not enough. Upon tasting we both noticed vinegar and a thinness, very much a separation of fruit frmo water (urgh!). After a further couple of hours it really changed and almost became drinkable. A friend we had over inisted it was fine at first and then "great" so not sure what to make of that...We were offered a return by the winery but I guess we blew it ;-)
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3/4/2006 - vinosean wrote:
This was my 2nd recent attempt at this wine. The first bottle revealed funk on the nose that never quite blew off and a thin palate that demonstrated a separation of fruit from water. What a difference in this 2nd bottle! Great balance. Fruit core still going strong (although I wouldn't wait much longer) with tobacco and earth notes throughout.
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9/3/2005 - luko wrote:
bot directly from winery and opened next day.....an old wine for sure but still alive....tasting notes veered towards leather, tar , and mushrooms....but interesting and a lot of fun to drink
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7/14/1989 - buckeye76 wrote: 90 Points
PRETTY RUBY RED COLOR. VERY FRUITY AROMA WITH LEATHERY OVERTONES. BLACKBERRY TASTE. A VERY RICH ZIN WITH LOTS OF CHARACTER AND A MEDIUM TO LONG FINISH.
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