Had a bottle of this yesterday. It should be past its 'drink by date' to be fair. I fact it was a lovely wine. Lovely soft fruit. It was a bit light on the palate as opposed to its youthful vigour but lovely none the less.I got lovely vanilla, tobacco leather. My daughter said blackberries. This is easily a 89 to 90 point wine. Very pleased it has lasted so well this long.
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Brief note. cork was perfect. color showing age. this is perfectly mature. it has dill from its obvious oak influence, but despite the oak being prominent the fruit is hanging in. i dont see any upside to waiting. drink
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Tasted in a flight with 94 Rafanelli and 94 Ravenswood Old Hill Vineyard.
When first tasted, it was by far the freshest of the lineup. Still quite primary with jammy blackberry, fresh raspberry, boysenberry, and blueberry, but it opened up to reveal black pepper, white pepper, drying leather, dried thyme, and a hint of potting soil. Spectacular! Wine of the night, but just by a hair over the Ravenswood.
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Lovely wine. Had it with duck. Delicious. Its aged with all the secondary flavours you would expect. A little dusky on the edge but still holding up well especially if you like you secondary flavours.
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Deep color belies its age. Red fruit, spice and leather notes. Raspberry, cherry and red plum with pepper and spice qualities as well. Fully-integrated and balanced. This bottle has held up surprisingly well.
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Ridge tasting at the Rheingau Gourmet Festival 2016: strong red color; in the nose leather, herbs and red fruits; later vanilla aroma added in; medium body and strong finish.
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Had this wine the other night. I was expecting it to be past its best. It is radically different to when it was a young wine but it has aged really well. No flaws. Lovely dark fruit, liquorice, soft tannins. I am really pleased and plan to drink this case of wine over the next 2 years. Well done Ridge. Its a testament to the ability of their wines to age even wines that are mainly Zinfandel.
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mature colour. Very expressive nose, plummy fruit, quite luxuriant. Palate mature fruit , quite high toned, still some tannins and quite high acidity. Excellent with food. Fully mature.
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Wow -- though my expectations were low, I'm stunned how well this was still drinking... must be the petit syrah complementing the oxidizing zin. I agree with prior review that this could keep awhile, but why wait more on a 16-yr-old zin-heavy blend? Enjoy now while a sure thing.
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mature colour some rust. Popped and poured and a little harsh at first but ten mellowed out and this bottle was vigoous complex, plums and spice, harmonious with some tannins and acidity. Very good. Fully ready but will keep a while.
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Excellent bottle. Still got that zin flavor with lots of body & fruit. No funkiness, tannins integrated. 16 years old and still going strong! Amazing quality @ Ridge all the time.
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color holding, started out "dusty" then evolved to more meaty and dark berry fruit aromas. the palate attacked by secondary tobacco/cedar and a bit pruny, mid palate very dry (alcohol vs tannin?) followed by a fairly mellow lengthy finish that goes stemmy at the very end. i think that served with the right dish (red meats or bbque) this might be ok, but past its prime from my view.
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Nose- lovely tobacco and barnyard, blackberry, spice, touch of flan. Lovely dusty tobacco, black currant, lime, peppery bite, touch of blackberry, perfect maturity. Some tobacco and a hint of barnyard on the finish.
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Still fresh and bright in color. Almost opaque. Fantastic Zinfandel nose but very subtle now on the palate. Some acidity but all the tannin is integrated. Very pleasant.
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Deep, almost opaque color. No orange rim. Very concentrated nose. Very blackberry, plum, chocolate, and a hint of tobacco. Terrific in the mouth with a very satisfying middle that radiated out. Went on and on and on...... Not tired at all. Just great.
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I blinded this wine on my tasting group last night with some startling results. First of all I will note that it has evolved into a full, rich and velvety wine with very few "edges" and aromatics ranging from red fruit through turned earth and pencil shavings. The flavors tended to somewhat darker fruits, and the evolution into a rich but elegantly balanced wine continued through from the promise of the aromatics. Delicious wine drinking supremely well right now.
Of course the blind guesses were "interesting" to say the least. It was even more interesting as people were not always privy to prior guesses (this was poured as folks arrived). First two guesses were California Cabernet and California Merlot from the early to mid-90s. The next guess was Bordeaux. The final guess was Penfolds Grange (the wine did get a bit more flamboyant over the 90 minutes or so between all the guesses). So that was fun(ny).
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Still with quite a bit of dark fruit, some black pepper and allspice, and starting to pick up some cedar. Not faded at all, this wine could probably go another 5 years easy. Good clean finish.
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14.5% 78% Zinfandel. Pretty much a textbook red wine colour in the glass: a deep ruby fading to a slight hint of purple at the rim. I might perhaps have expected a bit more maturity on the colour. Killer nose - absolutely fabulous: there's lots of blackcurrant and blackberry, and all very concentrated. Then there are herby, spearmint tones, with a bit of vanilla and tannin. Also a streak of alcohol. Nice, good fruit on the attack, then it fills enormously. Really fat and mouthfilling. Powerful stuff. There's a real streak of berry fruit on the palate. Good length with slightly bitter tannins. Much improved in a Riedel Bordeaux glass, though the nose and flavour comes across more dilute. A Riedel Chianti/Riesling glass brings out much warmer tones in the nose. There's less fruit, more roasted tones. The glass seems to bring out a bitter tannin note a little. The Riedel Burgundy glass really concentrates the fruit and greatly enhances all the background herbaceousness, and cuts down the alcohol. On the palate, it's essentially similar to when in an ISO glass. Overall the Burgundy glass is the best.
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11/9/2020 - walsh wrote:
Had a bottle of this yesterday. It should be past its 'drink by date' to be fair. I fact it was a lovely wine. Lovely soft fruit. It was a bit light on the palate as opposed to its youthful vigour but lovely none the less.I got lovely vanilla, tobacco leather. My daughter said blackberries. This is easily a 89 to 90 point wine. Very pleased it has lasted so well this long.
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1/23/2019 - chcook Likes this wine:
Brief note. cork was perfect. color showing age. this is perfectly mature. it has dill from its obvious oak influence, but despite the oak being prominent the fruit is hanging in. i dont see any upside to waiting. drink
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11/8/2018 - bkc1428 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasted in a flight with 94 Rafanelli and 94 Ravenswood Old Hill Vineyard.
When first tasted, it was by far the freshest of the lineup. Still quite primary with jammy blackberry, fresh raspberry, boysenberry, and blueberry, but it opened up to reveal black pepper, white pepper, drying leather, dried thyme, and a hint of potting soil. Spectacular! Wine of the night, but just by a hair over the Ravenswood.
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12/26/2017 - walsh wrote:
Lovely wine. Had it with duck. Delicious. Its aged with all the secondary flavours you would expect. A little dusky on the edge but still holding up well especially if you like you secondary flavours.
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10/22/2016 - AllRed wrote: 92 Points
Deep color belies its age. Red fruit, spice and leather notes. Raspberry, cherry and red plum with pepper and spice qualities as well. Fully-integrated and balanced. This bottle has held up surprisingly well.
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3/12/2016 - Fatty Cat wrote: 90 Points
Ridge tasting at the Rheingau Gourmet Festival 2016: strong red color; in the nose leather, herbs and red fruits; later vanilla aroma added in; medium body and strong finish.
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1/23/2016 - Ali wrote: 91 Points
on the downslope, but still enjoyable. Trademark brambly red fruit faded after an hour.
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10/24/2015 - walsh wrote: 92 Points
Had this wine the other night. I was expecting it to be past its best. It is radically different to when it was a young wine but it has aged really well. No flaws. Lovely dark fruit, liquorice, soft tannins. I am really pleased and plan to drink this case of wine over the next 2 years. Well done Ridge. Its a testament to the ability of their wines to age even wines that are mainly Zinfandel.
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4/22/2013 - redders Likes this wine: 90 Points
mature colour. Very expressive nose, plummy fruit, quite luxuriant. Palate mature fruit , quite high toned, still some tannins and quite high acidity. Excellent with food. Fully mature.
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10/7/2012 - rharl wrote: 93 Points
Wow -- though my expectations were low, I'm stunned how well this was still drinking... must be the petit syrah complementing the oxidizing zin. I agree with prior review that this could keep awhile, but why wait more on a 16-yr-old zin-heavy blend? Enjoy now while a sure thing.
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9/2/2012 - redders wrote: 91 Points
mature colour some rust. Popped and poured and a little harsh at first but ten mellowed out and this bottle was vigoous complex, plums and spice, harmonious with some tannins and acidity. Very good. Fully ready but will keep a while.
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7/5/2012 - MeMyself&I wrote: 89 Points
Excellent bottle. Still got that zin flavor with lots of body & fruit. No funkiness, tannins integrated. 16 years old and still going strong! Amazing quality @ Ridge all the time.
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1/15/2011 - chcook wrote: 85 Points
color holding, started out "dusty" then evolved to more meaty and dark berry fruit aromas. the palate attacked by secondary tobacco/cedar and a bit pruny, mid palate very dry (alcohol vs tannin?) followed by a fairly mellow lengthy finish that goes stemmy at the very end. i think that served with the right dish (red meats or bbque) this might be ok, but past its prime from my view.
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9/26/2010 - yhn wrote: 92 Points
Nose- lovely tobacco and barnyard, blackberry, spice, touch of flan.
Lovely dusty tobacco, black currant, lime, peppery bite, touch of blackberry, perfect maturity. Some tobacco and a hint of barnyard on the finish.
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9/3/2010 - WeeklyWinePick.com wrote: 93 Points
Went way past my expectations. In great shape!
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5/25/2009 - Gassdoc wrote:
Past prime, 2008 drinking nicely now
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3/25/2008 - bwillia wrote: 89 Points
Still fresh and bright in color. Almost opaque. Fantastic Zinfandel nose but very subtle now on the palate. Some acidity but all the tannin is integrated. Very pleasant.
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3/22/2008 - kiichli wrote:
Deep, almost opaque color. No orange rim. Very concentrated nose. Very blackberry, plum, chocolate, and a hint of tobacco. Terrific in the mouth with a very satisfying middle that radiated out. Went on and on and on...... Not tired at all. Just great.
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7/12/2007 - Rieslingfan wrote:
I blinded this wine on my tasting group last night with some startling results. First of all I will note that it has evolved into a full, rich and velvety wine with very few "edges" and aromatics ranging from red fruit through turned earth and pencil shavings. The flavors tended to somewhat darker fruits, and the evolution into a rich but elegantly balanced wine continued through from the promise of the aromatics. Delicious wine drinking supremely well right now.
Of course the blind guesses were "interesting" to say the least. It was even more interesting as people were not always privy to prior guesses (this was poured as folks arrived). First two guesses were California Cabernet and California Merlot from the early to mid-90s. The next guess was Bordeaux. The final guess was Penfolds Grange (the wine did get a bit more flamboyant over the 90 minutes or so between all the guesses). So that was fun(ny).
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8/17/2006 - AzorianMatador wrote: 88 Points
For me this was fading. I drank a 95 recently that was much more lively than this 96. If you have any you should give one a try.
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4/20/2006 - sol wrote: 91 Points
Still with quite a bit of dark fruit, some black pepper and allspice, and starting to pick up some cedar. Not faded at all, this wine could probably go another 5 years easy. Good clean finish.
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2/19/2005 - richmyhre wrote:
Drank 2/12/05. Nice balance; big, not your overly jammy. Seems to be at ideal drinking age.
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9/4/2003 - dbg wrote:
excellent
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1/1/2002 - joshwoodward wrote: 91 Points
Currant jammy nose. More complex. Complete balance. Ton on tip of tongue.
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10/16/2001 - dbg wrote:
excellent
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3/8/2000 - andrewstevenson.com wrote: 93 Points
14.5%
78% Zinfandel. Pretty much a textbook red wine colour in the glass: a deep ruby fading to a slight hint of purple at the rim. I might perhaps have expected a bit more maturity on the colour. Killer nose - absolutely fabulous: there's lots of blackcurrant and blackberry, and all very concentrated. Then there are herby, spearmint tones, with a bit of vanilla and tannin. Also a streak of alcohol. Nice, good fruit on the attack, then it fills enormously. Really fat and mouthfilling. Powerful stuff. There's a real streak of berry fruit on the palate. Good length with slightly bitter tannins.
Much improved in a Riedel Bordeaux glass, though the nose and flavour comes across more dilute.
A Riedel Chianti/Riesling glass brings out much warmer tones in the nose. There's less fruit, more roasted tones. The glass seems to bring out a bitter tannin note a little.
The Riedel Burgundy glass really concentrates the fruit and greatly enhances all the background herbaceousness, and cuts down the alcohol. On the palate, it's essentially similar to when in an ISO glass. Overall the Burgundy glass is the best.
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11/19/1999 - SadEdjo wrote:
dark with firmish tannins & acid. long blackberry, tar & pepper finish
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