You may remember a recent post in which the 1974 Ridge Vineyards Fiddletown Zinfandel was the primary topic of discussion. (You can find it here). Although I received some wonderful back-history on this rare offering in the course of assembling the post, I had no contemporary tasting notes. But now I do! Courtesy of a great friend to Ridge whom I’ll call Ron P, we have evidence from a very recent tasting on the current state of this wine. Here are the notes Ron P provided me:
“Bottom line: The 1974 Fiddletown was wonderful.
We had friends over for dinner last night. They’re enthusiastic, knowledgeable wine drinkers, whose taste runs to the better wines.
I found I had three bottles of the ‘74 Fiddletown. All were down a bit in volume, I guess due to migration of the wine through the cork.
The cork was a challenge to remove, as it had become very weak; I used my favorite opener for situations like this, an Ah-So.
There was minimal sediment; color was mostly classic zin, with only a tiny hint of brown. It was soft on the palate, with an elegant finish. We all waxed poetic about the staying power of this remarkable 35-year old(!) wine, a zinfandel no less. It was a fine complement to hamburgers on the grill.
An added note, the wine was not stored in classically proper conditions. It was stored indoors; was always on its side, but temperature was all over the place.”
Hurrah for the Fiddletown, Hurrah for Ron P!
Tags: 1974 Fiddletown Zinfandel, Ah-So Cork Puller, Zinfandel
July 25, 2009 at 10:16 am |
Wish me luck on the remaining two bottles!
July 25, 2009 at 11:45 am |
Good luck sir, and keep those tasting notes coming!