Just a quick note to let you know, in case you haven’t checked in on our website recently, that there is a brilliant “From Our Reserves” web-only offer on the 1994 Geyserville that’s just gone live! (You can find the info by clicking here).
I had the opportunity to taste this Vintage from the Vaults fairly recently, so I thought I’d post some tasting notes, in case you were on the fence about considering this wine:
1994 Ridge Vineyards Geyserville
Notable for having the least alcohol of these first three vintages (I tasted this wine alongside 1992 and 1993 vintages), yet showing comparatively slightly more heat, or should I say warmth, essentially in the form of a long, warm, chest-filling finish. Not obstreperously so, not by any means, and I think I probably wouldn’t have noted it at all, save for the fact that I was tasting in context. But again, I did notice it as a structural component. As to the other architectural contributants, I would say that tannins have receded to a point of extreme subtlety, dare I say, gentleness, while the vibrancy on offer from the acidity is still youthfully prevalent; quite pleasantly so, in fact. And as is often the case with Geyserville, I find that the fruit is taking somewhat of a comparative backseat here, with the aesthetic emphasis being more on the secondary and tertiary layers of herbs, spices, and a fundamentally tempered rusticity . Overall, this makes for a slightly leaner, more elegant offering than either the ’92 or the ’93, but conversely, this vintage also begs for food pairing in perhaps a more insistent fashion than do either of the other two vintages; higher-fat-content dishes in particular will benefit from pairing with this wine: cheeses such as triple cream Bries or Goudas, cream or butter-based sauces, meats such as duck or sausage, or coconut-milk-based curries.
