A bottle that pre-dates my inventory on Cellartracker and therefore wasn't listed. I expected this to be dead, but it was GREAT. Full bodied, no hard tannic edges, I'm guessing it would have kept for many more years. I had it with Brown Rice Jambalaya as part of a Mardi Gras dinner with friends. It handled the spices and smoked sausage effortlessly, and was a great accompanyment to the food. It also would have been fine on its own. 15.8% alcohol (it didn't taste hot), 89% Zinfandel, 7% Alicante Bouschet, 4% Petite Sirah.
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California Dreamin' - Double Blind - Zin/PS/Cab - 70's - 2009: Brief Notes - part of a larger blind tasting. In a Ridge late harvest/picked flight with a 95 Pagani, and 77 Geyserville, this was the groups WOTF, although I preferred the 77. Showing the most youthful of the 3, with deep blackberry notes, a nice mellow sweetness, and a long finish. Alcohol and oak well integrated and drinking nicely.
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Loads of Draper Perfume on this wine, but the mouthfeel, while full is a touch lighter than wine #2. Loads of rhubarb and cherry on this wine’s nose too. On the second tasting: OMG, loads of RS. This must be the Late Picked. The finish has a goodly dose of vanilla and brown sugar. Well made, but too sweet. While some loved the taste of this with the pork the best, no one (not even the sweet wine drinking in the group) ranked it as the top wine. It is the only wine at the end of the evening with wine remaining in the bottle (about 1/2 glass remaining). Heavy sediment all around the shoulder and neck. 15.8% alc. Recommended with reservations with a nod toward Not Recommended depending on your tolerance for RS in your Zin. All wines tasted with homemade dry rubbed smoked pork shoulder BBQ). 05.28.16 with good friends to celebrate Memorial Day holiday.
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pedestrian. wine had only a modest presence w med structure and modestly thin in the mouth. alcohol was present element on palate. tough to find many redeeming qualities.
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Deep, intense, and still youthful. While this has just 0.2% RS according to the label, there is a ton of fruit that makes it seem slightly sweet, pairing well with some sticky pork ribs from the grill.
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Last of 02's Pagani Ranch. Just a great representation of old vine zin even on the back side of its life. Fabulous! My wife and I throughly enjoyed drinking the last of my old zins:-)
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Big with Zin funk, boysenberry and some smokey rhubarb. The finish is more brown sugar and dust. I can’t really say it exhibits Draper Perfume, but it does show a pretty nose. So very much better now than a few years back. Now more balanced than it was and much more integrated. Yeah, the RS doesn’t float my boat much, but it is not nearly as off-putting as it once was. 15.8% alc. With pizza. For the race that didn’t run. Recommended.
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Maybe I had adjusted my expecations down, but this was actually OK. Sweetness and acidity have tamed with time, and a core of fruit with some drying leather remain. Not bad, but certainly the worst Ridge I've ever had. My last bottle, and I'm not sad to have gained the extra cellar space.
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The color of this thing is as young and deep as the skin of a purple plum. The notes from Mr. Draper (12/03) inform that the wine is “best over the next five to seven years” but the color suggests it hasn’t begun to hit its stride. Six years has passed since my last encounter with this wine. I liked it more then than now. But even then is was overly alcoholic. Big with Zin funk, boysenberry and some smokey rhubarb, the wine becomes an alcoholic mess, finishing with brown sugar. The alcohol is offputting. The acidity is lacking, and the 0.2% RS just isn’t carried well. The blend of 89% zin, 7% alicante boushchet, 45 petite sirah shows far too much alicante boushchet, for my taste, but then, it’s a grape I do not enjoy. Some decided sediment all the way around the shoulder and some pours out with the last couple of servings. 15.8% alc. With fall-off-the-bone-good smoked pork ribs with a dry rub. Not Recommended.
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This bottle has lost the port syrupiness that was present upon release. Acidity has tamed. It was just another high-alcohol Cali zin with dried out fruit and a pretty fair tannic clamp on the finish. Average wine in my book, and I am a big Ridge fan. I suppose I'll braise with my two remaining bottles if they are anything like this.
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My wife and I finished this baby off in short order. Ripe and succulent raisin and berry flavors in this high alcohol Zin based wine. Almost tasted fortified. Not the usual style of wine I like, but it did show good balance and it went well with chili and cornbread muffins.
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Would that more producers followed Ridge's approach of informative labels. Not only are all the varieties disclosed (Alicante Bouschet 7%, Petite Sirah 4%), the back gives significant insight into challenges presented by the vintage and the winemaker's response. As expected this is a big wine. Still it has enough acidity and structure so that neither the fruits (tasty red berry) nor the alcohol (27.4% sugar at harvest, RS .2% guarantees this will not be a shy wine) are out of balance. Languid finish. Bottle age helps as does matching with duck with spicy barbeque sauce.
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Still very dark red-purple color. Extreme nose of cooked ripe fruit - like a kitchen when you are making jam. Palate is like drinking blackberry jam with no evidence of secondary character yet emerging. The heat on the finish is overt and does make this like drinking a young port. Would be a great accompaniment to a berry pie dessert course or sweet, smoky barbecue with lots of sauce. Was too much for turkey burgers.
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Nose of dark candy fruits and alcohol, maybe some raspberries. Well integrated tannis frame a really nice raspberry and sour cherry fruit with some snap from acidity in the wine. Finish is pretty long, mabye 30 seconds. This is probably one of Ridge's stronger efforts in the early 2000's to my tastes. My first bottle was corked so I am glad I had this one in the wings.
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Ridge is good about replacing their flawed wines with ATP and Zin panel members. They replaced this with a '04 Geyserville, paying for shipment both ways.
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This is quite port-like, with a strong nose, lots of alcohol, and some sweetness despite being dry. It has strong tannins and is quite jammy. We enjoyed it with some Beemster Gouda cheese.
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Had with Feijoada, spinach and mushroom quiche, and a salad with fresh ranch dressing. This is a big wine. At almost 16% alcohol, it's pretty sturdy. It held up well to the moderately spicy Feijoada. It had a very clear smell of jammy fruit, and had an unctuous load of it on the palate. Neat acid, gobs of alcohol, modest tannins, but well integrated and very flavorful. A very commendable wine.
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NIce, stawberry jammy fruit bomb with enough wood. Stil too green peppery for my tastes, still think the '01 late picked York Creek blows it away, but it was good to drink with a grilled steak from the grill. Compared to the recent Martinelli Zins I've been drinking, it's a bargain.
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This was great when it was opened as somewhat of an afterthought to end an evening, the thought being that I need to work down my Ridge ATP cellar. Thus, only a couple of glasses were drunk, and then it sat for three days vacuum-sealed in the refrigerator. I enjoyed it even more then, having the remains with some onion/garlic rubbeb-pork. It's big, with some great chocolate notes. But it also displayed some nice complexities. I only wish that I had a couple more of these.
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Bit too tanic, so a little age might help. Green pepper hints that I don't think are going to away. Bit of a disappointment after some other great late picked Ridge zins.
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I really enjoy the late picked zins from Ridge. With its rich, port-like flavors and subtle sweetness from the .2% RS, I wouldn't pair this with food, but it was great after dinner. No need to give this any time, although it did improve slightly over the couple of hours that the bottle was open.
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Thursday, August 19, 2004 It arrived in the afternoon via UPS. Despite the cool weather this summer, it’s arrival coincided with one of our hottest days. The bottles looked fine, but it called out for a test in the name of science. Either that or Ellis-Ames has migrated a bit northward. The delicious color of a candy apple filled the glass. A nose of rhubarb, pepper and boysenberry. Rather alcoholic on the nose. Despite the mouthfeel of roundness the wine delivered, it’s still a tight wine that needs time. Eventually, a more port-like wine may develop, but for now, it lacks the fullness port delivers. The boysenberry, black pepper flavors were supported by a under tone of fully ripe raspberries that carried through to the finish. And the distinct sweet vanilla and oak make their entry but are not overdone in anyway. 89% zin, 7% alicante boushchet, 4% petite sirah. 15.8% alc. with 0.2% RS.
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2/12/2023 - SMHalps Likes this wine: 92 Points
A bottle that pre-dates my inventory on Cellartracker and therefore wasn't listed. I expected this to be dead, but it was GREAT. Full bodied, no hard tannic edges, I'm guessing it would have kept for many more years. I had it with Brown Rice Jambalaya as part of a Mardi Gras dinner with friends. It handled the spices and smoked sausage effortlessly, and was a great accompanyment to the food. It also would have been fine on its own. 15.8% alcohol (it didn't taste hot), 89% Zinfandel, 7% Alicante Bouschet, 4% Petite Sirah.
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5/23/2018 - RichEB1 Likes this wine: 90 Points
California Dreamin' - Double Blind - Zin/PS/Cab - 70's - 2009: Brief Notes - part of a larger blind tasting. In a Ridge late harvest/picked flight with a 95 Pagani, and 77 Geyserville, this was the groups WOTF, although I preferred the 77. Showing the most youthful of the 3, with deep blackberry notes, a nice mellow sweetness, and a long finish. Alcohol and oak well integrated and drinking nicely.
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5/28/2016 - timewithwine wrote:
Loads of Draper Perfume on this wine, but the mouthfeel, while full is a touch lighter than wine #2. Loads of rhubarb and cherry on this wine’s nose too. On the second tasting: OMG, loads of RS. This must be the Late Picked. The finish has a goodly dose of vanilla and brown sugar. Well made, but too sweet. While some loved the taste of this with the pork the best, no one (not even the sweet wine drinking in the group) ranked it as the top wine. It is the only wine at the end of the evening with wine remaining in the bottle (about 1/2 glass remaining). Heavy sediment all around the shoulder and neck. 15.8% alc. Recommended with reservations with a nod toward Not Recommended depending on your tolerance for RS in your Zin. All wines tasted with homemade dry rubbed smoked pork shoulder BBQ). 05.28.16 with good friends to celebrate Memorial Day holiday.
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9/5/2014 - JBVino wrote:
pedestrian. wine had only a modest presence w med structure and modestly thin in the mouth. alcohol was present element on palate. tough to find many redeeming qualities.
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3/2/2014 - rsprouse Likes this wine: 90 Points
Deep, intense, and still youthful. While this has just 0.2% RS according to the label, there is a ton of fruit that makes it seem slightly sweet, pairing well with some sticky pork ribs from the grill.
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6/22/2013 - Docdave wrote: 90 Points
Last of 02's Pagani Ranch. Just a great representation of old vine zin even on the back side of its life. Fabulous! My wife and I throughly enjoyed drinking the last of my old zins:-)
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2/26/2012 - timewithwine wrote:
Big with Zin funk, boysenberry and some smokey rhubarb. The finish is more brown sugar and dust. I can’t really say it exhibits Draper Perfume, but it does show a pretty nose. So very much better now than a few years back. Now more balanced than it was and much more integrated. Yeah, the RS doesn’t float my boat much, but it is not nearly as off-putting as it once was. 15.8% alc. With pizza. For the race that didn’t run. Recommended.
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3/19/2011 - suttonri wrote: 81 Points
Maybe I had adjusted my expecations down, but this was actually OK. Sweetness and acidity have tamed with time, and a core of fruit with some drying leather remain. Not bad, but certainly the worst Ridge I've ever had. My last bottle, and I'm not sad to have gained the extra cellar space.
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9/5/2010 - timewithwine wrote:
The color of this thing is as young and deep as the skin of a purple plum. The notes from Mr. Draper (12/03) inform that the wine is “best over the next five to seven years” but the color suggests it hasn’t begun to hit its stride. Six years has passed since my last encounter with this wine. I liked it more then than now. But even then is was overly alcoholic. Big with Zin funk, boysenberry and some smokey rhubarb, the wine becomes an alcoholic mess, finishing with brown sugar. The alcohol is offputting. The acidity is lacking, and the 0.2% RS just isn’t carried well. The blend of 89% zin, 7% alicante boushchet, 45 petite sirah shows far too much alicante boushchet, for my taste, but then, it’s a grape I do not enjoy. Some decided sediment all the way around the shoulder and some pours out with the last couple of servings. 15.8% alc. With fall-off-the-bone-good smoked pork ribs with a dry rub. Not Recommended.
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6/8/2009 - suttonri wrote: 78 Points
This bottle has lost the port syrupiness that was present upon release. Acidity has tamed. It was just another high-alcohol Cali zin with dried out fruit and a pretty fair tannic clamp on the finish. Average wine in my book, and I am a big Ridge fan. I suppose I'll braise with my two remaining bottles if they are anything like this.
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1/19/2009 - Garfield wrote: 92 Points
My wife and I finished this baby off in short order. Ripe and succulent raisin and berry flavors in this high alcohol Zin based wine. Almost tasted fortified. Not the usual style of wine I like, but it did show good balance and it went well with chili and cornbread muffins.
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11/23/2008 - Rangstrom wrote: 90 Points
Would that more producers followed Ridge's approach of informative labels. Not only are all the varieties disclosed (Alicante Bouschet 7%, Petite Sirah 4%), the back gives significant insight into challenges presented by the vintage and the winemaker's response. As expected this is a big wine. Still it has enough acidity and structure so that neither the fruits (tasty red berry) nor the alcohol (27.4% sugar at harvest, RS .2% guarantees this will not be a shy wine) are out of balance. Languid finish. Bottle age helps as does matching with duck with spicy barbeque sauce.
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6/27/2008 - fredb wrote:
Still very dark red-purple color. Extreme nose of cooked ripe fruit - like a kitchen when you are making jam. Palate is like drinking blackberry jam with no evidence of secondary character yet emerging. The heat on the finish is overt and does make this like drinking a young port. Would be a great accompaniment to a berry pie dessert course or sweet, smoky barbecue with lots of sauce. Was too much for turkey burgers.
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1/13/2008 - colekmmj wrote: 89 Points
Very interesting wine. Thick and syrupy with a very long finish. Rich taste, but a bit high on the alcohol for my preference
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12/16/2007 - Mallards wrote: 91 Points
Lots of gobby big fruits. Knocks you down with it. It is big - but not sugary gross like you might expect. We only wished we had bought more.
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7/15/2007 - mangell wrote: 88 Points
Nice red raspberry fruits, but seemingly light on complexity.
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6/15/2007 - mavericks wrote: 80 Points
Almost a full port and heavy on the alcohol, drink it that way.
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2/25/2007 - guitarguy wrote: 90 Points
Nose of dark candy fruits and alcohol, maybe some raspberries. Well integrated tannis frame a really nice raspberry and sour cherry fruit with some snap from acidity in the wine. Finish is pretty long, mabye 30 seconds. This is probably one of Ridge's stronger efforts in the early 2000's to my tastes. My first bottle was corked so I am glad I had this one in the wings.
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2/25/2007 - guitarguy wrote: flawed
Ridge is good about replacing their flawed wines with ATP and Zin panel members. They replaced this with a '04 Geyserville, paying for shipment both ways.
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11/5/2006 - tthorn wrote: 88 Points
This is quite port-like, with a strong nose, lots of alcohol, and some sweetness despite being dry. It has strong tannins and is quite jammy. We enjoyed it with some Beemster Gouda cheese.
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8/20/2006 - twoamps wrote: 90 Points
lots of ripe but not overripe berry up front. RS does it’s job or mellowing the high alcohol without getting in the way.
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8/16/2006 - twoamps wrote: 90 Points
really nice big ripe ridge. the RS takes a little of the heat off.
Does it take “late picked” levels of ripeness to keep us happy these days?
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7/9/2006 - rael007 wrote: 90 Points
Had with Feijoada, spinach and mushroom quiche, and a salad with fresh ranch dressing. This is a big wine. At almost 16% alcohol, it's pretty sturdy. It held up well to the moderately spicy Feijoada. It had a very clear smell of jammy fruit, and had an unctuous load of it on the palate. Neat acid, gobs of alcohol, modest tannins, but well integrated and very flavorful. A very commendable wine.
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6/18/2006 - lshantz wrote: 90 Points
NIce, stawberry jammy fruit bomb with enough wood. Stil too green peppery for my tastes, still think the '01 late picked York Creek blows it away, but it was good to drink with a grilled steak from the grill. Compared to the recent Martinelli Zins I've been drinking, it's a bargain.
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5/27/2006 - BuckeyeSmitty wrote: 91 Points
This was great when it was opened as somewhat of an afterthought to end an evening, the thought being that I need to work down my Ridge ATP cellar. Thus, only a couple of glasses were drunk, and then it sat for three days vacuum-sealed in the refrigerator. I enjoyed it even more then, having the remains with some onion/garlic rubbeb-pork. It's big, with some great chocolate notes. But it also displayed some nice complexities. I only wish that I had a couple more of these.
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9/24/2005 - lshantz wrote: 89 Points
Bit too tanic, so a little age might help. Green pepper hints that I don't think are going to away. Bit of a disappointment after some other great late picked Ridge zins.
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12/7/2004 - eullman wrote:
Won top pick at our blind Ridge 2002 tasting. Tasted Lytton Springs, Geyserville, Three Valleys and Paso Robles.
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9/12/2004 - JP wrote: 90 Points
I really enjoy the late picked zins from Ridge. With its rich, port-like flavors and subtle sweetness from the .2% RS, I wouldn't pair this with food, but it was great after dinner. No need to give this any time, although it did improve slightly over the couple of hours that the bottle was open.
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8/19/2004 - timewithwine wrote:
Thursday, August 19, 2004 It arrived in the afternoon via UPS. Despite the cool weather this summer, it’s arrival coincided with one of our hottest days. The bottles looked fine, but it called out for a test in the name of science. Either that or Ellis-Ames has migrated a bit northward. The delicious color of a candy apple filled the glass. A nose of rhubarb, pepper and boysenberry. Rather alcoholic on the nose. Despite the mouthfeel of roundness the wine delivered, it’s still a tight wine that needs time. Eventually, a more port-like wine may develop, but for now, it lacks the fullness port delivers. The boysenberry, black pepper flavors were supported by a under tone of fully ripe raspberries that carried through to the finish. And the distinct sweet vanilla and oak make their entry but are not overdone in anyway. 89% zin, 7% alicante boushchet, 4% petite sirah. 15.8% alc. with 0.2% RS.
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