This Zinfandel had a nice nose but initially tasted a little thin. After letting it breathe for a couple of hours, it was much, much better. This is not for meaty, peppery zin lovers.
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The key to this was to give it lots of air. Like the last bottle it was too fruity when we opened it. After several hours it mellowed out and got delicious. It was even better the next day
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Like others have mentioned, this is quite jammy and fruity. In fact, for us, it was too fruity. We typically love nearly ever Ridge bottle but this is probably one of the more memorable “misses” for us. Just too strong on the fruity flavor and didn’t seem well balanced.
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Typical of Dusi Zinfandel — plummy, jammy and over the top. 15.3% alcohol. Whether from the Benito plot like this one or from the Dante plot that Stephen Ross Wine Cellars uses, either you like Dusi Zins or you don't. 'Nuff said.
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Considerably better than our previous bottle. Less oaky, less fruit-forward, more balanced. Still big, and too big for my taste, but not offensively so - despite its ripeness and high ABV. Not a wine I would buy again, but a wine I drank without complaining too much.
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This wine gives you a wonderful preview once the cork is out of the bottle. There are excellent aromatics of wild tart berries, spice, some pepper, and a touch of oak. The wine still has young tannins, and offers excellent briary fruit that is not overly jammy, nor overly oaky. The flavors mirror the nose, and become fuller as the wine aerates. As above, the tannins are still young, but are quite enjoyable if that is one's preference. I think this wine will easily evolve and improve over the next 3 years or so, as the tannins resolve. The 2012 Dusi certainly shows why Ridge is a top producer of excellent Zinfandel year after year.
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A bit of a hot mess of a wine. Very jammy, very high alcohol, and *a ton* of oak. To my palate, rather unpleasant, on the nose and especially on the palate. Sad that Ridge produced this. Little in common with a Geyserville bottling (or a Carlisle, or a Bedrock, or...) The kind of zin that gives zin a bad name, in my opinion.
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A little too fruity for me on at first but it opened up after an hour and the tannins show through. Still not my favorite offering from these guys and missing. Seems I had another Dusi that was one of my favorites so it's hard to put a finger on this one--maybe it should have rested a little longer.
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This wine is open for business with lovely bing cherry, blueberry and blackberry fruit. It has good acidity to balance out the fruitiness. It has a medium body with some savory notes too.
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The wine is in its drinking window. It has lovely (sweet) bing cherry, blackberry and blueberry fruit. Bramble is also a good description of the flavors. There are some savory elements too. Very nice.
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Served with grilled pork tenderloin and a roasted vegetable medley. Decanted prior to serving. Nose: black cherry/blueberry. Palate: medium weight, no tannin we could detect, mild acid. Plum/prune/fig over some undetermined (almost sweet) spice. An interesting wine which we enjoyed, but did not fall in love with. I came away thinking that if I tasted this blind, I would have guessed the grape was Carignane rather than Zinfandel. Not sure what this means.
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WANTED to like this a lot better than we did. Still a good Zin, lots of black cherries and wood. Slightly more robust than medium-bodied, but too restrained to get more than a 90. That said, fair amount of complexity with some tastes we could not easily place (that is good). Definitely in DRINK NOW status, we decanted and did not aerate and that was more than enough to get it to open up. Just expected a tad more, I guess....
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Very good. One of Ridge's better efforts. Decanted about 90 minutes. Ripe luscious red and black fruit. Integrated and bold. Drinking well. Good finish.
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Aroma: Fig compote with cinnamon and cloves. Hints of orange zest. Palate: Spicy and tannic attack with flavors of plums and figs. Low to moderate acidity. Good structure. Give it four years or so.
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was my #2 out of 7 Ridge 2012 Blind Zin tasting with Affordable Collector tasting group. It was 3 for the group. Fruit forward hint of cherry. nice aroma.
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Full bodied but not over the top. Typical Ridge fashion. Ripe fruit, good structure that suggests it can age. But it drinks well now with some air, so why wait? Raspberry, black cherry, boysenberry.
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Ridge Monte Bello tasting room June 29, 2014: Aromas of candied red cherry, spice and anise. Very ripe on the palate with some medicinal notes showing. Light in acid and a little rustic on the tannins. Struggled next to the rest of the Ridge lineup.
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Color darker and aromatics much more flamboyant than the "Triangle 2012", complex and floral, palate fresher than expected, almost some "exotic white wine caracteristic" to it! +++(+)
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7/12/2023 - casjf Likes this wine: 93 Points
Blackberry and blueberry flavors predominate in this lovely zin.
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3/24/2022 - casjf wrote: 90 Points
Hardy zin that stood up well to beef fajitas. Blackberry, green pepper and spices. Definitely stood up nicely to aging.
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10/11/2020 - winetoxgeek Likes this wine: 87 Points
This Zinfandel had a nice nose but initially tasted a little thin. After letting it breathe for a couple of hours, it was much, much better. This is not for meaty, peppery zin lovers.
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7/4/2020 - aaronmphoto Likes this wine: 90 Points
The key to this was to give it lots of air. Like the last bottle it was too fruity when we opened it. After several hours it mellowed out and got delicious. It was even better the next day
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5/5/2020 - aaronmphoto wrote: 80 Points
Like others have mentioned, this is quite jammy and fruity. In fact, for us, it was too fruity. We typically love nearly ever Ridge bottle but this is probably one of the more memorable “misses” for us. Just too strong on the fruity flavor and didn’t seem well balanced.
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3/27/2020 - JWSOMMERFELD Likes this wine: 96 Points
Outstanding. My favorite Ridge wine.
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12/29/2019 - oakville72 Likes this wine: 89 Points
Typical of Dusi Zinfandel — plummy, jammy and over the top. 15.3% alcohol. Whether from the Benito plot like this one or from the Dante plot that Stephen Ross Wine Cellars uses, either you like Dusi Zins or you don't. 'Nuff said.
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5/14/2019 - Mortgage92 Likes this wine:
Tastes heavier than a normal Zinfandel. Nice texture and after taste. Went well with salmon. Heavy mixed fruit flavors.
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1/1/2019 - bravo.solares wrote: 88 Points
Considerably better than our previous bottle. Less oaky, less fruit-forward, more balanced. Still big, and too big for my taste, but not offensively so - despite its ripeness and high ABV. Not a wine I would buy again, but a wine I drank without complaining too much.
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10/20/2018 - guitar guy Likes this wine: 92 Points
This wine gives you a wonderful preview once the cork is out of the bottle. There are excellent aromatics of wild tart berries, spice, some pepper, and a touch of oak. The wine still has young tannins, and offers excellent briary fruit that is not overly jammy, nor overly oaky. The flavors mirror the nose, and become fuller as the wine aerates. As above, the tannins are still young, but are quite enjoyable if that is one's preference. I think this wine will easily evolve and improve over the next 3 years or so, as the tannins resolve. The 2012 Dusi certainly shows why Ridge is a top producer of excellent Zinfandel year after year.
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9/29/2018 - bravo.solares Does not like this wine: 86 Points
A bit of a hot mess of a wine. Very jammy, very high alcohol, and *a ton* of oak. To my palate, rather unpleasant, on the nose and especially on the palate. Sad that Ridge produced this. Little in common with a Geyserville bottling (or a Carlisle, or a Bedrock, or...) The kind of zin that gives zin a bad name, in my opinion.
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5/18/2018 - kosinski Does not like this wine: 82 Points
Over-the-top, jammy fruit bomb. Lacks the usual Ridge balance and subtlety.
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3/19/2018 - spacewrangler wrote: 84 Points
Jammy paso fruit. I prefer their York Creek offerings.
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2/7/2018 - Bacchus NYC wrote:
nice black fruit subtly jammy but not overly fruity. No heat even though a whopping 15%+
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2/6/2018 - WineAttic Likes this wine: 89 Points
A little too fruity for me on at first but it opened up after an hour and the tannins show through. Still not my favorite offering from these guys and missing. Seems I had another Dusi that was one of my favorites so it's hard to put a finger on this one--maybe it should have rested a little longer.
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1/21/2018 - glou.sf wrote: 90 Points
Plum, spices, dark fruit, and leather notes on the nose. Lots of fruit on the palate with dark berries, plum jam, and herb notes. Medium finish.
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12/27/2017 - ajfret01 Likes this wine:
Big and jammy. Blueberry,blackberry, a hint of cranberry.
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10/9/2017 - JM_MadTown Likes this wine: 90 Points
This wine is open for business with lovely bing cherry, blueberry and blackberry fruit. It has good acidity to balance out the fruitiness. It has a medium body with some savory notes too.
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4/15/2017 - JM_MadTown Likes this wine: 90 Points
The wine is in its drinking window. It has lovely (sweet) bing cherry, blackberry and blueberry fruit. Bramble is also a good description of the flavors. There are some savory elements too. Very nice.
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1/29/2017 - bjschmitt Likes this wine: 89 Points
Served with grilled pork tenderloin and a roasted vegetable medley.
Decanted prior to serving.
Nose: black cherry/blueberry.
Palate: medium weight, no tannin we could detect, mild acid. Plum/prune/fig over some undetermined (almost sweet) spice. An interesting wine which we enjoyed, but did not fall in love with. I came away thinking that if I tasted this blind, I would have guessed the grape was Carignane rather than Zinfandel. Not sure what this means.
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1/20/2017 - Z1nnfull Likes this wine: 90 Points
WANTED to like this a lot better than we did. Still a good Zin, lots of black cherries and wood. Slightly more robust than medium-bodied, but too restrained to get more than a 90. That said, fair amount of complexity with some tastes we could not easily place (that is good).
Definitely in DRINK NOW status, we decanted and did not aerate and that was more than enough to get it to open up.
Just expected a tad more, I guess....
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2/27/2016 - ogres3 Likes this wine: 90 Points
3rd bottle of the night. Somewhat planned as we didn't think we would be critically savoring this wine. Seemed to be a solid zin.
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9/21/2015 - WineCPA wrote: 92 Points
Consistent with my prior tasting. One of my favorite Ridge bottlings.
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8/25/2015 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 88 Points
Very good but lacks the depth of some of the other Ridge offerings.
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7/26/2015 - ogres3 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Very good. One of Ridge's better efforts. Decanted about 90 minutes. Ripe luscious red and black fruit. Integrated and bold. Drinking well. Good finish.
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6/27/2015 - kosinski wrote:
Aroma: Fig compote with cinnamon and cloves. Hints of orange zest.
Palate: Spicy and tannic attack with flavors of plums and figs. Low to moderate acidity. Good structure. Give it four years or so.
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6/21/2015 - Aldhib Likes this wine: 91 Points
Blackberry jam with a hint of spice on the finish.
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3/26/2015 - rhanke wrote: 91 Points
was my #2 out of 7 Ridge 2012 Blind Zin tasting with Affordable Collector tasting group. It was 3 for the group. Fruit forward hint of cherry. nice aroma.
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2/22/2015 - CJM wrote: 87 Points
Clear deep garnet with no rim browning. Menthol, cinnamon, prune, dates. Medium acids, low tannins. Black cherry. Medium short balanced finish.
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11/25/2014 - cdebeau Likes this wine: 88 Points
Ripe fruit
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11/20/2014 - WineCPA wrote: 92 Points
Full bodied but not over the top. Typical Ridge fashion. Ripe fruit, good structure that suggests it can age. But it drinks well now with some air, so why wait? Raspberry, black cherry, boysenberry.
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7/1/2014 - MattMauldin wrote:
Ridge Monte Bello tasting room June 29, 2014: Aromas of candied red cherry, spice and anise. Very ripe on the palate with some medicinal notes showing. Light in acid and a little rustic on the tannins. Struggled next to the rest of the Ridge lineup.
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6/9/2014 - topher2411 wrote: 90 Points
Briary, maybe slightly green (in a good way). Rustic tannins on the finish. Really delicious.
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1/24/2014 - itsallaboutwine Likes this wine:
Color darker and aromatics much more flamboyant than the "Triangle 2012", complex and floral, palate fresher than expected, almost some "exotic white wine caracteristic" to it! +++(+)
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