Archive for the ‘Carignane’ Category

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Another Carignane Evangelical Goes On A Mission!

February 8, 2011

It is with great pleasure, pride, and excitement that I celebrate another voice in the great Carignane mission; enter Chiara Shannon, head sommelier at K&L Wine Merchants in Redwood City. Chiara has recently begun writing for the K&L blog, and with one fine missive, she has outed herself as a devout Carignane believer!

You can read her post here.

For those of you who would like to do a little digging into this blog’s own humble history of posts in defense of this oft-unjustly-maligned varietal whose star is in fact very much in the ascendancy (and some other contributions as well!), please feel free to enjoy the following links:

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2009/11/09/eric-asimov-the-pour-welcome-to-the-fight-or-carignane-wins-again/

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2009/07/13/a-carignane-confluence-or-a-conversion-conversation-or-monroe-on-carignane/

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2009/06/18/more-on-carignane-or-carignane-tom-hill-and-me-or-how-the-ridge-vineyards-1992-whitten-ranch-carignane-changed-everything-for-me/

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2009/06/16/carignane-redux-or-where-the-wild-thing-is-or-20000-leagues-under-the-carignane-or-dont-blame-the-varietal-for-the-method/

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Posted in Carignane, Varietals & Blends | 2 Comments »

ZAP Pre-Taste: Tasting Notes!

January 27, 2011

Ok, now we’re into the real nitty gritty!

But first, if you need to catch up, here are the previous and relevant posts:

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2011/01/26/zap-pre-taste/

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2011/01/24/zap-bob-dylan-and-the-greatest-tasting-note-movie-ever-shot/

Ok, so here is the list of the wines that Eric and I tasted:

2009 Ridge Vineyards Geyserville (barrel sample)

2009 Ridge Vineyards Pagani Ranch (barrel sample)

2008 Ridge Vineyards Carmichael Ranch (in bottle, winery-only offering, pre-release)

2008 Ridge Vineyards Buchignani Ranch (in bottle, winery-only offering, pre-release)

2006 Mazzoni Home Ranch (current release, winery-only)

2009 Ridge Vineyards Paso Robles (in bottle, pre-release)

2007 Ridge Vineyards Old School (in bottle, winery-only offering, pre-release)

And here are some tasting notes! Hopefully, you’ll get to taste these at ZAP, and we can compare! I’ll be at the Ridge table Saturday afternoon, so don’t hesitate to say hello!

2009 Ridge Vineyards Geyserville (barrel sample)

Quite high-toned color, with a light, fresh, buoyant nose expressing lovely perfume and florality; very pretty! … Seamlessly structured, not a bump in the road; no bite, no aggress, no discordance, no nothing, just perfectly structured … fascinating hints of sweet baked apple pie, with the requisite sampling of cinnamon, nutmeg, and other such spices … the high tone aspects continue into the palate as well; lot of bright cherry notes coming through … the late assemblage MO that Eric employed has paid off handsomely as regards the complexities, there is an awful lot going on in this wine, and it’s all beautiful …

2009 Ridge Vineyards Pagani Ranch (barrel sample)

Utterly beautiful color! And classically Pagani-esque aromatics; rich, compressed, laden with a potpourri of pressed flower leaves, grilled orange pepper, and all-spice, with a great briny layer as well … Very light on the palate, very clean minerality, hinting at cornflower and talc … brighter, leaner acidity that the past couple of vintages, reminiscent of the 2006, one of my personal favorite Paganis … even delivers an almost Grenache-like dose of blood orange at the end! A great Pagani in my estimation, though again, a leaner, brighter one …

2008 Ridge Vineyards Carmichael Ranch (in bottle, pre-release)

This is just an ARCHETYPAL Ridge Zinfandel, perfectly expressing everything we love to do with zin production; it’s got pepper, it’s got exotic spices, it’s fleshy without being flabby, its opulent without being ostentatious, it’s fruit-forward without being over-ripe, it’s both professorially dignified yet sensuously giving … in short, delicious! … While Eric and I were tasting this wine, I started talking to it; I said, “Oh yeah, I’m drinking you tonight, I’m drinking all of you! I’m drinking most of you at dinner, and then I’m taking you to bed, and we’re going to take advantage of one another!” … That’s what I said. To this wine. When I was talking to it.

2008 Ridge Vineyards Buchignani Ranch (in bottle, pre-release)

If the above was quintessential Ridge, this is quintessential Buchignani. Funky, rich, concentrated and earthy, with loads of lower-tone boysenberry and blackberry notes, layers of dried herbs counterbalanced by a potent pepperiness, and a very firm tannin layer that definitely takes front seat while acidity rides in the back … This is one to watch, but still a little too muscular for current consumption …

2006 Ridge Vineyards Mazzoni Home Ranch (current release)

A consistently fantastic old-vine designation, and this a fantastic vintage. Rich, ripe, but tempered, in supreme balance … this has all the qualities of zin that, when excessive, can be negatives, but when integrated, are just pure delight … lean mouthfeel, great acidity courtesy of the high percentage of carignane, lovely old-vine concentration and significant yet supple minerality … an extraordinary food wine that had Eric and I rhapsodizing about tapas for a good ten minutes … the subtle hint of kirsch adds a nicely sweet underlayer beneath the exotic spice and the vibrant acidity … waiter, another dish of patatas bravas!

2009 Ridge Vineyards Paso Robles

Sweet, ripe, woody, great notes of cherry tobacco on the rose; pretty classic Paso fruit … Given the distinctly different micro-climate within which this fruit is grown, I’d say this is a very honest central coast zin offering, and very in keeping with previous vintages; particularly the 2007; with 2006 being notably leaner, and 2008 being somewhat uniquely more multi-dimensioned then Paso fruit can sometimes be … this is probably not the most complex zin in the Ridge portfolio, but its fewer dimensions are still good ones, and for those who like a riper style without the alcohol levels that tend to come with that style, this should be a great offering …

2007 Ridge Vineyards Old School

Wonderful red-wood character to the aromomatics, with a succulent savoriness reminiscent of a good cigar soaked in cherry juice or brandy … the sweet tobacco character permeates through to the palate as well, as do the cherry notes, making for a richly flavored, sweet and savory offering … there are also hints of caramel apple afoot, the tangy citricity from which lends itself well to the structure, and opulence of the fruit …

–

And just in case you missed it from a previous post, the greatest tasting note movie ever shot!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvCZz5lSafM

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Posted in Carignane, Events & Photographs, Food & Wine Pairing, Geyserville, Special Offerings, Tasting Flights, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Video, Zinfandel | Leave a Comment »

Wine Bloggers Tasting: The Acrostic Anagram Sessions!

December 29, 2010

Greetings all!

So, we’ve just very recently hosted the final Wine Bloggers Tasting of 2010 here at Monte Bello, and as always, it proved to be a delicious, and deliciously entertaining session. Many, many thanks to the bloggers who attended!

Wine Bloggers Tasting #4

With every one of these happenings, one of my tasks is to assemble the roster of wines that we’ll be tasting, and I always try and do this to a theme.

-For Session #1, we tasted exactly the same wines that Robert Parker had just reviewed, to see how the collective Blogger Palate matched up (I included a barrel sample of the ’08 Monte Bello, a five-vintage vertical of post-2000 Monte Bellos, plus the 1996 Monte Bello!) …

-For Session #2, we tasted all limited-production/winery-only Rhone varietal offerings …

-For Session #3 (held at Lytton Springs), we tasted a 10-vintage vertical of Lytton Springs …

So what to do for Session #4? Why, an Acrostic Anagram, of course!

Meaning, I poured an 11-wine flight with no discernible theme. I then explained to the bloggers that each wine’s label contributed one letter (just from the BIG letters, not every bit of fine print text!) to the puzzle. If they could guess the letters, and then get the letters in the right order, they’d find the secret phrase that gave us our theme! Because I poured the wines in the “proper” order for tasting, and not in the order of the letters, it was not only an acrostic, but an acrostic anagram!

Perhaps needless to say, when I explained my plan to a fellow Ridge staffer, I was called “a dork.”

Anyhow, care to play along? Here are the wines I selected, in the order poured:

Buchignani Ranch Carignane

East Bench

Lytton Estate Zinfandel/Primitivo

Geyserville

Nervo

Grenache

Independence School

Old School

Lytton West Syrah

Ridge Monte Bello

Geyserville Essence

Solved it yet? Ok, here’s a hint; as you’ll see below, I’ve bolded the relevant letter from each wine:

Buchignani Ranch Carignane

East Bench

Lytton Estate Zinfandel/Primitivo

Geyserville

Nervo

Grenache

Independence School

Old School

Lytton West Syrah

Ridge Monte Bello

Geyserville Essence

Got it now? No, not BELGNG IOWRE! You have to rearrange the letters! Got it now?

WINE BLOGGER

I am happy to report that Fred Swan, of the very great NorCalWine.com, was the first to successfully blurt out the correct answer. Congratulations Fred!

And lastly, a special thank you to Allan Bree, of the very great GangOfPour.com, for bringing the extraordinary trio of mystery wines we were all so fortunate to taste: 1993, 1994, and 1997 Ridge Vineyards Pagani Ranch Alicante Bouschet! How were they tasting? I think all involved agreed that “pretty” was by far and away the most appropriate descriptor, though I might add delicious, elegant, beautiful, extraordinary, enticing, and vibrant as well! Cheers Allan, that was such a treat!

Alicante Bouschet!

To close, a heartfelt thank you to Ridge Vineyards, all our participating wine bloggers, and everyone out there devotedly writing quality wine blogs; I feel very honored to be a part of both Ridge, and the wine blogger community, and 2010 was an extraordinary year for me in that regard, and for that, I thank you all! I am also very happy to report that we’ll be continuing this event is 2011, so cheers to the coming New Year!

Oh, one more thing, two other posts about this event have already gone up, you can find them here:

RJonWine

WineBookGirl

Enjoy!

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Posted in Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Events & Photographs, Geyserville, Grenache, Lytton Springs, Monte Bello, Press Reviews, Rhone varietals, Social Media, Syrah, Tasting Flights, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Viticultural Salmagundi, Wine Blogs, Wine Tales, Zinfandel | 1 Comment »

Winter Wine Series: Wine & Cheese!

December 4, 2010

Today in both our Lytton Springs and Monte Bello Tasting Rooms, we’re commencing our annual Winter Wine Series Event! Each tasting room is featuring a special offering from our Holiday Selections, and then closing the tasting with the current vintage of our flagship Monte Bello, and the very rare, very delicious 2007 Geyserville Essence! And to top that, we’re offering with each paid tasting a complimentary Ridge Vineyards Eco-Tote, which you can bring back on the subsequent two Saturdays and receive a complimentary tasting! And the excitement doesn’t end there! We’re serving each of the Winter Wine Series wines paired with a specially selected artisan cheese!

Here are the site specific specs:

At Lytton Springs …

2008 Ponzo Vineyard Zinfandel

Paired with 12 mo. aged Manchego 

2007 Pagani Ranch Zinfandel

Paired with Herbes de Humboldt, Cypress Grove 

2006 Geyserville Vineyard

Paired with Red Hawk, Cowgirl Creamery 

2007 Monte Bello

Paired with Humboldt Fog Chevre, Cypress Grove

2007 Geyserville Essence

Paired with Appleby’s Cheshire

And at Monte Bello …

2007 Carmichael Zinfandel

served w/ Dutch Double-Cream Gouda

2007 Buchignani Ranch Zinfandel

served w/ English Coastal Cheddar

2006 Lytton Estate Zinfandel

served w/ Asiago w/ Rosemary & Olive Oil

2007 Monte Bello

served w/ Spanish Iberico

2007 Geyserville Essence

served w/ Cave-Aged Blue

For more about Winter Wine Series, please click here. Come join us!

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Posted in Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Events & Photographs, Food & Wine Pairing, Geyserville, Lytton Springs, Monte Bello, Special Offerings, Tasting Flights, Tasting Rooms, Varietals & Blends, Viticultural Salmagundi, Zinfandel | Leave a Comment »

Things I’m Thankful For …

November 23, 2010

On November 23rd of 2009, I posted a “Things I’m Thankful For …” list on this blog, in the spirit of the coming Thanksgiving holiday. I’d like to offer a new list for 2010 (though there may be the occasional overlap!) …

Things I’m Thankful For:

That despite a list of shortcoming that rivals the biblical begats, the gods and fates and powers-that-be have nonetheless chosen to bless me with an absolute miracle of a delight of a wonder of a wife, and a daughter who is to me perfection and miracles and magic …

The blessing of great parents, who are young, healthy, vibrant, and close by, and who love their children and their grand-children …

That the 1993 Monte Bello, in 375ml format, has really come into its own …

Friends near and far …

John Coltrane …

Lambchopper cheese, which is just SO good …

Han-Shan’s Cold Mountain Poems …

That the collective wisdom of Ridge Vineyards is just bent enough to have bestowed upon me the honor and opportunity of hosting this blog …

Pizza … especially mushroom and jalapeno pizza. Especially when I’m putting a piece of it into my mouth, when my mouth still has half-a-quaff’s worth of Ridge Vineyards Geyserville in it …

The new wireless surround-sound speakers that Chuck O’ Connor helped us get for the Monte Bello Tasting Room …

The book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind …

Decanters with a rounded glass lip instead of cut glass …

That just about everyone who visits our tasting room knows not to rinse their glass with water between tastes …

Monterey Bay, and the whales who breach up from its depths into the murk and mist of a winter dusk when you’re standing on the beach with your very pregnant fiancée, wondering what on earth is going to become of you all …

Acidity, and the palates that love it …

That the 2008 Pagani Ranch just sings, and sings, and sings …

That Paul Draper and Eric Baugher and David Gates and Caleb Mosley  have all  been so kind with their time, slowly ushering me into the vast halls of their collective knowledge of vineyards, wineries, and all that Monte Bello mojo …

That everyone else at Ridge has been so equally kind to me …

Lloyd’s Tires in Santa Cruz, and the Mazda company; without them, I’d never survive the Capitola-Monte Bello commute …

Haig’s Hummus. Not only because it’s the greatest hummus in all the world’s long history, but also because it pairs so well with our chardonnays …

That Ryan Moore and his lovely missus Dulcie have joined the Ridge family …

Flat-bottom glasses and the third-day Monte Bello I drink from them …

Moleskine notebooks …

That my daughter, at 22 months, can already play a bit of piano, and a bit of saxophone, and that, when she wakes up from a nap, she turns to one of the posters on her walls and says, “Wake up, Miles Davis!” …

Head-trained and dry-farmed vines …

Every single member of the Monte Bello Tasting Room Staff …

That Sandy Johnson has been named the Lytton Springs Tasting Room Manager … and every single member of the Lytton Springs Tasting Room Staff …

That we double-decant every wine before we serve it in the tasting rooms …

Pesto …

More pesto …

That those who got a tattoo (permanent) just because it was a trend (not permanent) will in some way or another eventually get their just desserts …

Sportcoats …

Champys …

Champys and Salt & Vinegar crisps …

That I own a piano …

Drinking wine and playing piano …

Drinking wine and listening to someone else play piano …

Drinking wine …

The phrase “evidencing secondary maturation characteristics” …

All the wine bloggers who’ve been a part of our Wine Bloggers Tastings …

That almost everyone who works for Ridge has really groovy footwear …

Indian food, specifically Punjab Choley, paired with Ridge Vineyards Buchignani Ranch Carignane …

Listening to Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction sing “Comin’ Down The Mountain” when I’m comin’ down the mountain …

The Pneumonia’s Last Syrah campaign …

Non-sequiturs …

Horizontal tastings of a wine in multiple bottle formats … especially when I’m in charge of decanting and tasting everything before the wines are served … and particularly if it’s Lytton Springs …

Manual typewriters. Particularly Underwoods, Royals, and Remingtons …

My daughter’s giggle …

My wife’s giggle …

People who read both Rilke and Bukowski …

People who drink both Three Valleys and Monte Bello …

Chelsea Boots from Wales and PF Flyer Tenny-Runners …

Drinking Ridge Vineyards Carmichael zin while wearing Chelsea Boots from Wales, or drinking the Ridge Vineyards Mazzoni Home Ranch zin while wearing PF Flyer Tenny-Runners …

Every work in charcoal that my very talented missus has ever made …

That someone believed in me enough to publish a book of my poems, and that a wonderful work in charcoal by my very talented missus graces the cover of that book …

That Nicole Buttitta didn’t think it was prohibitively weird that my first interview with Ridge was a phone interview, with her in her office at Monte Bello, and me in a 28 ft. truck at a truck stop in Wyoming …

That on Thelonious Monk’s birthday, we are able to play 8 straight hours of his music in the Monte Bello Tasting Room …

The magnum of 1989 Monte Bello that we’ll be having on Thanksgiving …

The 2006 & 2007 Monte Bello chardonnays that we’ll be having on Thanksgiving …

The couple that brought the last third of their bottle of 1964 Monte Bello into the Monte Bello Tasting Room for everyone to taste, the morning after they’d opened it and found it to be delicious …

Wine nerds who keep handwritten tasting notes for years …

My new  Ducti Duct-Tape wallet that my missus got me,which is a replacement that the company provided when she mailed my raggedy old one back …

Film noir …

William Faulkner …

Every word between the first word of Winnie-The-Pooh and the last word of The House at Pooh Corner …

California; specifically the northern part …

The view of Northern California from Monte Bello …

That the Rattlesnake Sign is real …

The half-bottles of 2006 Santa Cruz Mountains Estate Cabernet that I still have, and that I’m going to be drinking and sharing more than one of them on Thanksgiving …

Tasting Room staff who stick by their guns and always ask for proper ID …

Unorthodox food and wine pairings, like Cabernet Franc and Enchiladas …

People who understand why real funk players hated disco …

People who like to argue about vintages of Monte Bello while smiling …

People who wear black-frame sunglasses, and don’t wear white-frame sunglasses …

People who understand Coupe glasses, and why they’re the only way to drink champys …

Wine Bars that don’t play rock n’ roll OR electronica …

Ridge Vineyards wines …

Ridge Vineyards …

That I have a job at Ridge Vineyards …

And every single other thing I could mention, including Watsonville Sourdough, the poems of James Wright, well-played pratfalls, the elegance of the 1992 Monte Bello and the funky muscularity of the 1994, books, Sketches of Spain, what a really important wine tasting looks like when you’ve set up all the glassware but no one has arrived yet, the sound of cork extraction, my gorgeous amazing wife and my beautiful astonishing daughter, people who not only write poetry but read it, fog, mist, and rain, long black wool winter coats, people who nod knowingly when I quote Robert Pete Williams, burdock and wasabi, wine-colored socks, people who can wear suspenders and get away with it, a great hat, sediment in wine, wine in my mouth, cars that don’t have bumperstickers, e-mails sans emoticons, and the persistence of love and faith and belief in the face of hurt, danger, illness, age, and violence.

May your lives be full of things to be thankful for, and may you be thankful for the fullness of your lives. May you have a chance to stop, breathe, and appreciate. May you have lots of wine in your home, and lots of beauty to toast. May you use the word love in more than one context very soon. May you have a very happy Thanksgiving.

Posted in Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Chardonnay, Food & Wine Pairing, Geyserville, History, Lytton Springs, Monte Bello, Paul Draper, Rhone varietals, Ridge Memorabilia, RIDGE Staff, Santa Cruz Mountains Estate, Social Media, Tasting Rooms, Varietals & Blends, Vineyards and Oenology, Viticultural Salmagundi, Wine & Poetry, Wine and Jazz, Wine Blogs, Wine Tales, Winemaking, Zinfandel | 2 Comments »

Global Zinfandel Day Begins With The 2000 Geyserville!

November 19, 2010

Man, Global Zinfandel Day is starting with a bang ’round here! I’ve got lightning blots shooting out of my head, I’m so electric …

So, in settling on a back-vintage from the vaults to close today’s seated zinfandel tastings with, I got my heart pretty set on the idea of the 2000 Geyserville, and on a whim I decided to ring up to winemaker Eric Baugher’s office to get his thoughts on it, and as it turned out, he hadn’t tasted it in a while, so up to the winery I went, Ah So and Foil Cutter in pocket, 2000 Geyserville in hand …

Tasting 2000 Geyserville w/ winemaker Eric Baugher

 

It was unquestionably a difficult vintage, due to the wicked combination of a spring frost and scalding summer heat, and the selection process was accordingly notable for its intense scrupulousness; the final assemblage was comprised of a mere 20%!

That said, the wine was an absolute and total joy to taste; one of the more pleasant surprises on record; Eric had thought it would be distinctly advanced by now, but the wine was anything but; it was quite literally bouncing out of the glass with full vitality on full display…

Here is a quick look at what Eric scribbled down in the way of notes:

2000 Geyserville: Eric Baugher's Tasting Notes

 

I of course was doing a bit of scribbling as well, having left my typewriter back in my office …

CW at work on notes ...

 

But because my handwriting borders on the inscrutable, I am offering a properly typed translation instead …

2000 Ridge Vineyards Zinfandel

Astonishingly bright and vibrant color in the glass; rivulets of cranberry woven through a theater of rose and fuchsia … Aromatics rich with ripe, sweet, plummy fruit underlaid with a hearth’s worth of tobacco and dark herbs, evoking, amongst other things, a farmhouse high-tone pie lending sweet yeast and brown sugar … As soon as the wine hits the palate, the classic Geyserville mint is on display, a wickedly enticing herbaceousness that is almost wintergreen in character … a touch hot in places (14.9% abv), but barely noticeable amidst the endlessly buoyant acidity on display … the tannins are supremely smooth and reconciled and round, laying on the tongue like silk on skin … given the equitable distribution of carignane and petite sirah in the blend (17% of each) I’d say the carignane is leading the way, giving the wine an overall fruitier character, with high-tone cherry being the dominant note … all told, and in summary? Delicious!

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Posted in Carignane, Geyserville, Petite Sirah, Special Offerings, Tasting Flights, Tasting Notes, Tasting Rooms, Varietals & Blends, Zinfandel | 2 Comments »

2006 Mazzoni Home Ranch Tasting Notes

October 2, 2010

I am happy to announce that we’ve just now rolled out a new ATP release; the much-anticipated 2006 Mazzoni Home Ranch!

2006 Mazzoni Home Ranch

It’s shipping out to ATP Members in about a week, and will come available in the tasting rooms in November, but since we had the opportunity to taste it at yesterday’s First Friday event, I thought I’d share some early tasting notes:

Deep, deep — smoke-on-the-water-deep — purple in the glass, with a glisteningly luminescent raspberry limn and an impenetrable, near baroque richness and depth showing in the belly of the bowl … Strong blueberry and cocoa powder notes dominate the aromatics, with hints hints of cedar and balsa wood, and a fresh, possibly carignane-derived sense of clear creek-water creeping in … Tremendously vibrant and expressive acidity immediately at point-of-entry, flaring up and flaring out firework style, leaving in its glittering wake a resoundingly chalky minerality coating the full range of the mid-palate … dark berry notes continue to prevail, though progressively giving way to a tarter, more cherry and yellow-flesh plum tanginess … the finish is both primarily acidity-driven, and preposterously lengthy; mostly structure-dominated, with flashes of fruit still shining through … Overall; complex, unique, saturated and and expressive, destined for success at table, and with years of maturation still to come …

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Posted in Carignane, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Zinfandel | 1 Comment »

2007 Buchignani Ranch Zinfandel: Tasting Notes!

September 1, 2010

Here at Ridge, we’re literally counting down the days until the new ATP wine gets released; it’s the 2007 Buchignani Ranch Zinfandel, and I’ve just had the great pleasure of tasting it, and jotting down some notes.

2007 Buchignani Ranch Zinfandel

For those of you who are members of our ATP program, you’ll be getting this wine in the mail in about two weeks, or alternatively, you’ll be joining us for either First Friday (this Friday!), or at the ATP After-Hours on September 18th.

And of course, in about a month, this wine will be available in our Lytton Springs and Monte Bello tasting rooms.

And now, some tasting notes:

Right away, this wine presents nearly text-book Northern Sonoma zinfandel aromatics; perfectly ripe fruit, with loads of berries, briar, and spice … the spiciness intensifies on the palate, introducing wild carignane-derived acidity, and making for a lean yet vivid early mouthfeel … Predictably enough, given its youth, the movement from front to back of palate is still a little discordant; the wine is pleasantly and even surprisingly supple at point-of-entry, yet shows a tad angular on the back end … the finish is both elegant and muscular, in the way of an Olympic skater perhaps, the acidity flashing bright blades of flavor across the wide rink of your palate, a small yet powerful spectacle of beauty and athleticism … to carry the rink metaphor even further, my culinary zamboni, if you will (i.e. palate cleanser) was (unintentionally) in this case the seemingly inappropriate incongruity of rich Thai peanut sauce. Oddly enough though, the wine actually matched up quite well spice-for-spice, but in the end, the stridency of the acidity structure in the zin was a bit much for the dish in question … truth be told, despite its comparatively lighter mouthfeel, this is (at least currently) a wine seemingly destined for pairing with heartier, higher fat content pairings; I’m thinking a round of Redwood Hill Farms Camellia (a goat-milk camembert) would be wonderfully appropriate … hmmmm, I think I’ll have to have that very, very soon …

Redwood Hill Farms Camellia

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Posted in Carignane, Events & Photographs, Food & Wine Pairing, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Wine Clubs, Zinfandel | Leave a Comment »

Zinfandel: The Art of the Blend!

August 21, 2010

If you’re anywhere in the area of either our tasting rooms today, and if you have any interest in Zinfandel, I think we may have a little something special on offer for you. It’s the third edition of our Summer Wine Series for 2010, and for today’s theme, we’ve selected “Zinfandel: The Art of the Blend.” And what we’ve put together for a tasting flight, is, I think, a rather uniquely educational opportunity to experience the full range of what this oft-misunderstood varietal truly has to give.

What we’ve done is put four wines together, and staged them as a progression of blending varietal expressions; meaning, the first wine is solo-varietal zinfandel, the next has one varietal in the blend, the next two, and the next three. The specific wines we’ve selected are as follows:

2008 Paso Robles
—Zinfandel—

Vines ripened uniformly, and we harvested all three parcels within a week—a record.  Primary fermentation was carried out by natural yeasts. Juice was pumped over the cap twice daily until pressing—day eight, on average. Uninoculated secondary fermentation took forty days. The finished lots were blind-tasted for assemblage; for once, all could be included. Exotic barrel spices complement the vineyard’s ripe bramble fruit, and this year’s intense color is striking. Integrated and enjoyable now, this excellent vintage will develop over the next five to seven years. EB (8/09)

2008 Ponzo
—Zinfandel & Petite Sirah—

Cool spring weather delayed budbreak, but flowering and fruit set were complete by early June, and a warm summer ripened the grapes fully by early September. The grapes all fermented on their natural yeasts for twelve days, on average. After natural malolactic, we racked the new wine to american oak barrels, fifteen percent of which were new. Rich and full-bodied, the 2008 Ponzo is nonetheless elegant—a zinfandel to be enjoyed over the next five to seven years.  JO (11/09)

 

2007 Lytton Springs

—Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, & Carignane—

After a dry winter and spring, budbreak came early. A warm August ripened the fruit earlier than expected, and we harvested the thirty-four parcels as flavors developed fully, fermenting each separately on its natural yeasts. Aged for fifteen months in air-dried american oak, this classic Lytton Springs is remarkable for its richness, balance, and elegant texture. It will soften and gain complexity over the next ten years. JO (11/08)

2008 Geyserville
—Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane, & Mataro—

In tank, color and tannin extraction was unusually rapid, as were uninoculated primary fermentations. We reduced pump-overs and pressed early, avoiding harsher tannins. Zinfandel and carignane showed exceptional quality, and form the core of the blend. (Wines from the petite sirah parcels were too tannic; the six percent included comes from a field-blend.)  Twenty percent new oak adds exotic spice. Superb concentration and firm acid will allow this fine zinfandel to develop over the next ten to fifteen years. EB (11/09)

And if that wasn’t enough, we’ve capping this tasting with a sample of our 2006 Monte Bello, and our 2007 Geyserville Essence!

2006 Monte Bello

Summer was unusually warm; picking began on September 18, ahead of schedule. Though a cool October slowed ripening, all parcels were harvested within five weeks, and natural yeasts started the primary within three days. Uninoculated secondary began in tank; eighty percent of the thirty-six lots were racked to barrel for completion. Thirteen were selected for the first assemblage in late January. Additions of petit verdot and cabernet franc contributed depth. Balanced and elegant now, this exceptional vintage has the structure to carry it for twenty-five years or more. EB (3/08)

2007 Geyserville Essence

We made our first Zinfandel Essence from Geyserville in 1966. To produce an essence, the vines must remain vigorous late into the season, with green leaves for photosynthesis. To intensify color and concentrate sugar, the grapes were left on the vine for three additional weeks; they co-fermented on natural yeasts. To our delight, the initial Brix reading was beyond the hydrometer’s ability to measure. It took five days for the yeast to begin fermentation, another five days to stop naturally—fully stable. The wine aged in air-dried american oak barrels; clarity was achieved through careful racking. Opulent and full-flavored, the 2007 Essence can be enjoyed now and over the next twenty years. EB (9/08)

So, if you can, come join us!

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Posted in Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Events & Photographs, Geyserville, Lytton Springs, Mataro, Monte Bello, Petite Sirah, Special Offerings, Tasting Flights, Tasting Notes, Tasting Rooms, Varietals & Blends, Vineyards and Oenology, Winemaking, Zinfandel | 2 Comments »

Food & Wine Pairing

August 20, 2010

I have had, on a number of occasions of late, the rather exquisite opportunity to experiment with, and subsequently present, taste, and enjoy, Ridge wines in a variety of food pairing constructs, and I thought I’d share some of the pairings I was particularly fond of.

To begin, my absolute favorite pairing for our chardonnays in general, and the 2006 Monte Bello Chardonnay in particular …

… is the one and only Haig’s Hummus.

If you’re a reader of this blog, then you’ve certainly heard me wax beautific about Haig’s before, and if you’ve tasted wines with me in a wine and food pairing situation, then you’ve probably heard some variation on my feelings for this hummus; that either it, or all other hummus, needs  a name change, because Haig’s is simply so much better that it is accordingly a linguistic disservice to both to link the two.

Moving on from Chardonnay, I usually like to pour one of our single-vineyard zinfandels, and preferably, one of the more elegant, subtle, and less weightier offerings; a zinfandel that expresses herb, spice, and acidity over muscularity of structure and opulence of fruit. The 2008 Geserville is just such a wine …

 

… and I recently took a bit of a gamble, and paired this with bruschetta topped with a dollop of chevre, and served with crostini …

 

I say “gamble,” by the way, because I actually  find fresh tomato dishes somewhat challenging to pair with red wines (you can see more on this here), but in this case, the pairing was delicious!

Moving on, were we to consider this a proper tasting flight, I would probably go with another zinfandel, something with a tad more muscularity, and perhaps a wine that introduces a touch of rusticity, earthiness, even shades of umami savoriness. One particular pairing caught my palate recently, the 2007 Carmichael Zinfandel (also Alexander Valley in origin, but a very limited-production, winery-only offering) paired with a delicious spread composed primarily of eggplant, garlic, and fefferoni peppers …

 

I quite like the combination of ingredients in this dish; the eggplant adds just a hint of smokiness, without being oppressive, the garlic brings a bit of bite, while the peppers add a nice blend of sweetness & spice; perfect with an Alexander Valley zin!

From here I would traditionally make a turn towards the Rhone; I’ve been pouring our 2008 Buchignani Ranch Carginane in the #4 spot quite often lately, and a particularly favorite pairing of mine for this wine is chevre topped with a sprinkle of dried basil and a drizzle of olive oil …

 

… I find that the acidity of the Carignane is a nice counter-balance to the fatter, fleshier side of the chevre’s flavor profile (enhanced by the olive oil), while the herb & spice component of the wine blends nicely with the chevre’s tanginess, and the dried basil draws just a touch of rusticity from the wine.

In the tasting room, I find I am often deploying the Buchignani Carignane as a set-up for the 2007 Santa Cruz Mountains Estate Cabernet/Merlot; something about these two wines in this order seems to really serve both well.

So, as to a food pairing, one of my favorite pairings for our Cabs is one of our truly favorite cheeses around here, Cypress Grove’s Humboldt Fog, a goat’s milk cheese with a washed rind and an ash thread …

 

This is truly a magic pairing; funky, fruitful, lascivious and luscious!

The #6 spot in a 6-wine flight invariably goes to something with some huskiness, muscle, and depth, and in this case, I’m going to mention another of my favorite pairings, our 2004 Lytton Estate Syrah (co-fermented with viognier, and winery-blended with two small blocks of old-vine grenache), with an olive tapenade …

 

This pairing is all about dark, deep, rustic, earthy, fleshy flavors, and a great way to end a flight crafted to achieve a trajectorial experience in which the movement from lighter to heartier flavors is the key architectural determinant.

So there you go, a small sampling of some of my favorite recent pairings. How about you? Any particular pairings for Ridge wines that you’re particularly fond of? I’d love to hear about them!

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Posted in Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Chardonnay, Food & Wine Pairing, Geyserville, Grenache, Merlot, Rhone varietals, Santa Cruz Mountains Estate, Syrah, Tasting Flights, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Wine Tales, Zinfandel | 3 Comments »

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