4488: A Ridge Blog

There is a gentleman who works for Ridge Vineyards by the name of Chris Seguin. He once referred to himself as a “Boondock Saint.” But he is neither a bar in New Orleans, nor an Irish vigilante. Nor is a he a certain romantic practice that propriety forbids me from describing. But he is certainly a saint.

Meaning, he is one of the nicest, kindest, hardest-working, most professionally disciplined, hospitable cats I’ve ever met.

The World Dictionary defines “boondocks” as follows:

boondocks (ˈbuːnˌdɒks)

— pl n

1. wild, desolate, or uninhabitable country

and Dictionary.com lists the following synonymns for “boondocks”:

And as to the 2002 vintage, he keeps feeling fascination.

Meaning, the theme song of The Saint From The Wild Sticks is by The Human League.

But I digress, so back to the wine, and the 2002 vintage.

Specifically, the 2002 Lytton Estate Petite Sirah, and the 2002 Home Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon. He very kindly provided me with some tasting notes recently, and I wish to share them with you. Two different sittings for the Petite Sirah, and one for the Cab. Enjoy, and if you’ve had either of these wines recently, let me know how they’re showing; I’d be happy to pass your thoughts on the The Saint From The Wild Sticks.

2002 Ridge Vineyards Lytton Estate Petite Sirah, 3/31/2011,  rated 92 points: Decanted for about 20 minutes and overall was excellent. Smelled of dark blackberry fruit with some cocoa and vanilla bean. Tannins were very soft/ chalky and coated the whole palate which lengthened the finish. Flavors were also dark with plum and again blackberry. The Cocoa on the nose translated to mild tobacco on the palate. Structurally, this is in a gorgeous place currently! Probably another couple of years of life left, but may not benefit as the fruit flavors are beginning to dissipate.

 2002 Ridge Vineyards Lytton Estate Petite Sirah, 11/1/2010, rated 95 points: Decanted for about a half hour before drinking and certainly benefitted from that. Could even have used more air. Still very tannic, but aged enough now that they coat the palate and are well integrated and balanced, yet nicely chalky. I love that there was still something to chew on! Most apparent are dark flavors of tobacco and chocolate with dark berry fruit, i.e. blackberry, plum, etc. Now is a good time to drink if you prefer more fruit as this will continue to get earthy and lose the little fruit that is there. For an even softer wine, it has the structure to go another 3-5 years. Beautiful wine that just again proves the consistence of Ridge’s quality!

2002 Ridge Vineyards Home Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon, 4/1/2011, rated 97 points: Exceptional! Decanted for about a half hour as it was quite sharp and tannic straight from the bottle. It settled in beautifully and showed some dark fruit, Eucalyptus, mild tobacco and mineral notes on the nose. The mouthfeel gave chalky, yet very soft tannin structure that coated the whole palate. The finish was very long with a nice acidity being most prominent by holding up dark raspberry flavors. Cocoa and some toasted oak came through as well. Certainly has some structure to last another few years, but at the moment I think that it is in an amazing place since I enjoy something that I can still chew on a bit!

The Saint From The Wild Sticks has spoken.