Posts Tagged ‘2010 Lytton Springs’

Announcing the 2012 Ridge Vineyards Wine of the Year!

December 28, 2012

I cannot help myself; I’m in the Year-End-List spirit. I MUST make my Best-Ofs …

And for today’s canonically contributive endeavour, I am going to grapple into submission a task never yet set; I am going to attempt to name my Top Five Favorite Ridge Releases of the Year, and then from that, name My Number One Best New Ridge Wine Release of 2012!

Some things to consider:

–Flavor? Put simply, which wine tasted the best?

–Impact? Which release generated the most excitement/activity/buzz? Reviews, Sales, etc.

–The Most Improved Factor? Which wine ran against predictions, and emerged as an unexpected player?

–The Shock and Awe? Which wine just flat-out strafed the viticultural landscape with its awesome power?

–The Surprise? Which wine came seemingly out of nowhere to wow us all?

–Price Break to Quality vs. Overall Dynomiteness? Do you pick the best PBTQ offering, or simply the “best” wine? And are they in fact one and the same?

–Scale? Do  you vote in favor of cross-platform pleasingness, or niche-anchored exceptionalism?

And so forth and so on.

It is also very important to consider context; meaning, given that each wine has its own self-actualizing, self-realizing, self-completing parameters within which it can be judged, one has to find a way to balance contextual success vs. global success. 

For example, how do you handle/reconcile/balance the following: Monte Bello vs. Itself, and Geyserville vs. Itself,  versus Monte Bello vs. Geyserville?

Put another way, is it fair to compare apples and oranges? Do you compare apples only to other apples, and oranges only to other oranges? Or do you simply name the best fruit of all?

For example, the 2009 Monte Bello received 97 points from the International Wine Report, the Lytton Springs received 93 points. So which is the better wine?

And so forth and so on.

So, to begin, let’s first look at what was released in 2012:

  • 2009 Monte Bello
  • 2009 Estate Cabernet
  • 2009 Estate Merlot
  • 2010 Estate Chardonnay
  • 2010 Three Valleys
  • 2010 Lytton Estate Petite Sirah
  • 2010 Geyserville
  • 2010 Lytton Springs
  • 2010 Paso Robles Zinfandel
  • 2010 East Bench Zinfandel
  • 2010 Pagani Ranch Zinfandel
  • 2010 Ponzo Zinfandel
  • 2009 Jimsomare Zinfandel
  • 2006 Lytton Estate Grenache
  • 2009 Old School Zinfandel
  • 2007 Lytton Estate Syrah
  • 2009 Carmichael Zinfandel
  • 2010 Buchignani Ranch Carignane
  • 2009 Lytton Estate Zinfandel
  • 2008 Mazzoni Home Ranch Zinfandel
  • 2008 Lytton Estate Syrah/Grenache
  • 2010 Dusi Ranch Zinfandel

Ok, wow. That’s a lot of wine. 22 wines. Yikes. But that’s ok. I can do this.

But before I do this, let me announce unequivocally that there ain’t a dud in the bunch. That may sound like I’m playing it safe, and/or offering the party line. But it’s actually true. This was a VERY good year for our wine releases. So just because a wine doesn’t make my Top 5, doesn’t mean it ain’t groovy. It is.

But the algorithm is a complex one, and it incorporates many, many, many factors.

The algorithm. Formula 4488.

 Algorithm4488

 I’ve fed all the information in. All the customer compliments, all the point scores, all the sales histories, all the tasting notes, literally ALL the relevant data. Into the 4488 algorithm machine (see above). And the machine has churned, and smoked, and labored, and cycled, and processed, and processed, and processed. All the hanging chads have been un-hung, all the handwriting has been analyzed, all the recounts have been recounted. And the first results are in. What follows are my Top Five Ridge Wine Releases of 2012! In no particular order:

  • 2010 Lytton Springs Zinfandel
  • 2010 Paso Robles Zinfandel
  • 2010 Buchignani Ranch Carignane
  • 2009 Monte Bello
  • 2009 Estate Cabernet

There. It is written.

And of course, as soon as it is written, I have regrets. How could I have left off …?

But alas, one must narrow down. The Best Ofs are calling.

So these are it. The Five.

There are many, many, many things to recommend each of these selections. The astonishing price-break-to-quality performance of the Estate Cabernet. The ratings and reviews frenzy around the 2009 Monte Bello. The cult fascination with the Carignane. The sleeper success of the Paso Robles. The canon re-defining 2010 Lytton Springs. They’re all exceptional wines.

But in the end, by the totally arbitrary standards of the Best Ofs and the Top Fives, there can only be one. One wine that stands above the rest as The 2012 Ridge Wine Release Of The Year.

The 2012 Ridge Wine Release Of The Year is …

Drum roll

The 2010 Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs!

Put simply, this is an amazing offering, and it hits on every single cylinder possible. Consider the factors we looked at above:

–Flavor? This wine tastes flat-out incredible. It’s beautiful and complex and fun and sensual and inviting and delicious and delicious.

–Impact? One of the best-selling vintages of Lytton Springs ever, and certainly one of the best reviewed as well.

–The Most Improved Factor? Admittedly, this is a canon that’s hard to improve on — Lytton Springs has been a tremendous wine for decades — but it’s certain the 2010 will go down as one of the truly great vintages.

–The Shock and Awe? The Lytton Springs was a force. No question about it. It was omnipresent. Ubiquitous.

–The Surprise? As anyone who follows Northern California viticulture knows, 2010 was a DIFFICULT vintage. That this wine should be so good under these circumstances is all the more impressive.

–Price Break to Quality vs. Overall Dynomiteness? Do you pick the best PBTQ offering, or simply the “best” wine? And are they in fact one and the same? In this case, they’re one and the same.

–Scale? While the Lytton Springs is one of our largest productions, it still seems at times to be the red-haired stepchild to the Geyserville, and as such, this wine manages to achieve worldwide appeal while still appealing to the culties.

In short, this is a hell of a wine.

And with that I say, congratulations to all our releases! Together, they have made for a tremendous 2012′s worth of wines.

And then I say, congratulations to our Top Five Wines of 2012. You are truly wondrous things.

And finally I say, congratulations to the First Annual “4488: A Ridge Blog” Ridge Wine Release of the Year, the 2010 Lytton Springs!

You may take your place in the canon.

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Geyserville, History, Lytton Springs, Monte Bello, Press Reviews, Rhone varietals, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Viticultural Salmagundi, Wine Quotes, Wine Tales, Zinfandel | Leave a Comment »

Kisses Sweeter Than Wine

December 9, 2012

Dawdle around on the oldies stations long enough, and you’ll hear it. A pathos-laden and groovily roosty little slab of romantically dogmatic pop folklore; “Kisses Sweeter Than Wine.” Based on an old Irish folk song, re-interpreted by Leadbelly, and brought into pop form by Pete Seeger and The Weavers, it is the Jimmie Rodgers version I know best, and that is the version that came on this morning as I was driving up the mountain.

“Kisses Sweeter Than Wine.”

It’s a really coy and delightful song, and it swings, and it’s a beautiful narrative, and it’s hooky as all get out; in short, to borrow a line from the Bay Area’s own Greg Kihn, they don’t write ‘em like that anymore.

So I was listening to the song, and because mountain driving allows for a great deal of thinking and reflection, I was thinking and reflecting, and what I was first thinking about was, what exactly DO we taste when we taste kisses?

Well, if you’re married to an Italian girl like I am, it’s probably something like beauty, red wine, garlic, stubbornness, and molto dolce!

But seriously, there is, in pop folklore, a great deal of reference to the sweetness of kisses. Clearly the bards of our ballads were tasting a bit of sugar as they were top-side on their typers.

And then I started to reflect on the wine side of the equation. Kisses sweeter than wine. Which would seem to presume a preliminary state of some degree of sweetness in the wine; the better to make the comparison.

Meaning, for the romantic at heart, there is clearly something moving and important and significant about sweet wine, when it comes to the wooing.

So I was thinking, and reflecting, and I got to thinking about Essence.

Essence.

A rare and wondrous type of wine that Ridge makes ever so rare and wonderfully. In the 50-year history of Ridge, there have not been many of them made. It takes a rather singular confluence of the viticultural stars to even propose the possibility, and even then, it’s a high-risk endeavor to commit to an Essence.

An Essence, put most simply, is a naturally sweet (read: vine-ripened) style of dessert wine crafted from grapes left on the vine for an extended-enough time that they build up acceptable levels of sugar to support the creation of a fine dessert wine, but not so long that the grapes raisin; the wine is meant to be devoid of the raisin-y/pruney-y notes that often bog down otherwise perfectly reasonable sweet wines, and it’s meant to still have some of the structural hallmarks of a proper table wine; acid, tannin, herb, etc. When made correctly, an Essence is quite simply one of the most exquisitely decadent, sensual, and refined wines one could ever hope to taste. They’re just extraordinary.

So I was thinking about kisses, and Essence.

Which reminded me of this: http://www.ridgewine.com/holidayfeast

RidgeHolidayFeast

This, is the Ridge Vineyards Holiday Feast Pack, a rather excellent and unprecedented contribution to our annual offering of Holiday niceties. It is a six-wine assemblage of wines most especially selected just for you; but beyond that, it is a six-wine assemblage of wines most especially paired with recipes for dishes most especially crafted to perfectly complement said six-wine assemblage. For example: the 2010 Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs paired with Bacon-wrapped Pork Tenderloin & Rosemary-Pomegranate Jus.

And beyond all THAT, is Wine Six. Wine Six, in the Holiday Feast Pack, is … an Essence. A 2003 Stone Ranch Essence. Which is a wine I have awaited the re-emergence of for some time. I had the great pleasure of briefly making its acquaintance back in August of 2009. An experience you can read about here:

http://blog.ridgewine.com/2009/08/31/the-essence-of-essence/

The 2003 Stone Ranch has returned again, as Wine Six in the Holiday Feast Pack, and I for one could not be more delighted. And the pairing? Romantic.

03Essence

One can only imagine the kisses that are sweeter than this.

Unless, of course, you’re married to a molto dolce Italian girl, as I am.

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in Food & Wine Pairing, Lytton Springs, Special Offerings, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Wine & Food Pairing, Wine & Music, Wine & The Holidays, Zinfandel | Leave a Comment »

98 point Monte Bello? Check! Wood-Fired Pizza? Check! Live Jazz? Check! When? This Weekend!

August 31, 2012

This is going to be a GREAT weekend; a weekend of celebrations, introductions, and reunions:

Celebrating 50 years of Ridge Vineyards!

Introducing the New Fall Releases!

Welcoming back Pizza Politana & Real Time!

–

That’s right, 50 harvests for Ridge Vineyards. Can you believe it?

–

That’s right, new Fall Releases! Can you believe it? Dig this!

2009 Monte Bello (just received 98 points in the new issue of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate!)

2010 Ponzo Zinfandel

2010 Pagani Ranch Zinfandel

2010 Lytton Springs Zinfandel (93+ points in the new Advocate!)

–

That’s right, the return of Pizza Politana and Real Time! Can you believe it?

You may remember Pizza Politana from a certain Fall Release Event last year (click here for more!) that happened to to be one of the greatest food & wine events in the history of food & wine. And you may remember Real Time from a certain April 2011 First Assemblage event (click here and here for more!) that happened to be one of the greatest wine, food, & music events in the history of wine, food & music.

Lofty claims, I know, but I’m telling you, these wines, these pizzas, this jazz; it’s gonna be digalatedly diggable decadence of the most delightfullated degree!

–

First off, the wines. As but one sample, dig this review from Antonio Galloni in the new issue of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate:

2009 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello, 98 points
The 2009 Monte Bello ,72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot is simply magnificent. Layers of dark red fruit, flowers, spices and graphite are all woven together in this utterly impeccable wine. The 2009 is an especially huge, intense Monte Bello, yet a sexy, silky core of fruit lies within its imposing frame. Everything comes together in this glorious, radiant wine. Last year the 2009 had some pretty stiff competition from the 2010, but today it is simply firing on all cylinders. Eric Baugher describes 2009 as a year with cold weather early on, followed by heat in early June and July. The fruit was brought in on October 12, just before an intense downpour swept through the region. There is a purity and silkiness supported by structure in the 2009 that is impossible not to admire. Simply put, this is another utterly magnificent, towering masterpiece from Ridge.

(To read all the new reviews, please click here.)

–

Next, the pizza. Here is what the very great Pizza Politana will be serving:

Our suggested pairings? Dig this!

2010 PONZO ZINFANDEL
(suggested pizza pairing: Housemade Pork Sausage, Broccoli Rabe, Mozzarella, Fresh Tomato Sauce)
-
2010 PAGANI RANCH ZINFANDEL
(suggested pizza pairing: Smithfield Ham, Fromage Blanc, Arugula & Nectarine)
-
2009 MONTE BELLO
(suggested pizza pairing: Fennel Salami, Mushroom,
Smoked Mozzarella & Parmesan)

–

Next, the band.

If you know me at all, you know I’m a tad opinionated when it comes to music, and particularly, to jazz. Suffice to say, I dig Real Time.

–

And that, folks, is this weekend’s event. For more, and to purchase tickets (Saturday is already sold out, but there are a few spots still open for Sunday!), please click here.

Tags:, , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Cabernet Sauvignon, Events & Photographs, Food & Wine Pairing, History, Lytton Springs, Monte Bello, Paul Draper, Press Reviews, Social Media, Special Offerings, Tasting Flights, Varietals & Blends, Viticultural Salmagundi, Wine & Food Pairing, Wine & Music, Wine and Jazz, Wine Quotes, Zinfandel | Leave a Comment »

New Release Tasting Notes & a Live Virtual Tasting!

August 24, 2012

As we speak, the Ridge Vineyards winemakers – Paul Draper, Eric Baugher, John Olney — are engaged in a Live Virtual Tasting …

… sharing their impressions of four new releases: the 2010 Ponzo Vineyards Zinfandel, the 2010 Lytton Springs, the 2010 Lytton Estate Petite Sirah, and the 2009 Monte Bello.

This is something we do with our wholesale community twice a year; around the Spring and Fall Release cycle. For more information about this very unique event, please click the link below:

http://www.ridgewine.com/News/Default.aspx?cat=Trade&

And to review my tasting notes from this morning’s wine preparations, please read on!

 

2010 Ridge Vineyards Ponzo Zinfandel

Sprightly bright and fresh on the nose; summertime-ripe and playful. Lifted, lambent, and luscious at front-of-palate, with sprigs of sparking acidity flashing down the middle. Short and aphoristic on the finish, with a lingeringly mouthwatering saporousness. In short; delightful as a summer dress flapping in the sun, delightful as bluegrass by a lakeside picnic, delightful as evening rain.

 

2010 Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs

A mammalian sensuality drenches the aromatics with a near-feral eroticism, taunting the palate’s yearning concupiscence with its promise. The entry is crisp, linear, and forceful; no mysterious withholding here; the muscularity of its embrace is delineated with a sculptedly structured choreography and architecture. The voice blackens as the fruit develops, from authoritative and focused to a low throaty back-of-throat purr. One of the more savagely charismatic  Lytton Springs offerings in years, this is a wine that will pursue your sensorial memories many ensuing evenings.

 

2010 Ridge VineyardsLytton Estate Petite Sirah

Le Vin Noir. This is Bogey in his office, gravitas in vintage black and white. Curls of smoke twining through an atmosphere heavy with the constantly enacted reconciliation of faith and cynicism. This is a philosopher’s wine; a philosopher of the streets, from the streets, for the streets. This is smoke and tar and mystery; the low keys on the piano; the low shots of clicking hills on mist-cloaked cobblestones. This is a wine of conviction, for a drinker of conviction. This is for those who take their fruit black, their tannins firm, and their meals hearty.

 

2009 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello

A volume of poetry one comes back to year after year after year; dog-eared pages turned to again and again; shared with friends, bequeathed to children, unearthed in trunks. This is the timelessness of language in liquid form. In its astonishing panoply of components — earth, spice, fruit, herbality, root, mineral — one finds metaphor for the spectrum of human feeling: love, hope, faith, spirit, soul. But this is not a poetry of obfuscation or irony, not a poem of internality, this is language as giver of new life; a poetry of passion and inclusion. This is the folk wisdom of Ted Kooser and the living, breeding, scalding honesty of Sharon Olds; this is the impassioned ignition of Amiri Baraka and the natural-life return of Mary Oliver; this is the jazz of William Matthews and the pathos of Wislawa Szymborska; the dignity and heartbreak of Hsu Chao and the quiet elevation of Han-Shan. This is a fascinating wine in every sense and stretch of the word.

 

 

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Bordeaux varietals, Lytton Springs, Paul Draper, Petite Sirah, Social Media, Special Offerings, Tasting Flights, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Zinfandel | Leave a Comment »

An Early Tasting Of The New Fall Releases: Lytton Springs, Ponzo, Pagani Ranch & Monte Bello …

August 7, 2012

This time of year is both exciting and bemusing; ripe with anticipation, and fraught with perplexation. The new Fall Releases are on their way, and we’re beginning to taste them with some degree of regularity. But we don’t really know them yet, whereas their precursors are near-woven into the veritable chains of our collective palate DNAs. Meaning, give me a 2009 Lytton Springs, and I’m like a mood ring wrapped around its finger; I know if it’s happy, or if it’s sad; if it’s excited, tired, or bored; if it’s loving or detached. But the 2010 is still a stranger to me. I watch it’s face; was that a smirk or a smile? Is it teasing me, or did it mean that? Am I boring it? Is it listening to me? What is it trying to tell me? I left a message, why won’t it call me back? Wow, it held my hand!? Should I try and kiss it? And so on …

So, yesterday, I had a chance to taste them again; the new Fall Releases. The 2010 Lytton Springs, the 2010 Ponzo, the 2010 Pagani Ranch, and the 2009 Monte Bello. And I wrote tasting notes, for no other reason than to give me something to compare against when, six months down the line, I’ve established some rapport. Then I can look back, and review my initial impressions. It’s like reading the letters you wrote your soon-to-be-fiancee back when you were still courting. Sure, some of the initial giddy euphoria will have worn off, but in its place will be a maturing love that rests on a far sturdier rock.

And with that in mind, I present my giddy love notes. And giddy they are, and in love I am. Full disclaimer, I am really loving these releases. I know, I know, puppy love and mash notes. But still, I’m in love!

2010 Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs

I’m looking at the varietal spread, and I’m smiling already: 67 zin, 23 petite sirah, 7 carignane, 3 mataro. That’s a mix after my own heart. Let the tasting begin!

Beautiful dark hues in the bowl; rich purple, dense magenta, penetrating garnet, with a gorgeous ruby limn lifted by dark fuchsia highlights … Interesting structure to the legs; they’re fairly thick and viscous, but they run down fairly quickly …

Very strong boysenberry and blackberry notes to the nose, with a hint of cranberry, toast, brioche, and caramel balanced against some higher-toned strawberry and raspberry aromas, which are somewhat uniquely wrapped up in an interlacing of crème de menthe tones …

Mouthfeel is big and plush and full and instantly Dry Creek in character; brambly and spicy and racy and rich and flavorful and strong and eminently delicious. The low-tone black-fruit presence of the petite sirah comes on pretty strong, and those grippy tannins hang on well into the finish …

The finish is still a tad taut at this young age, and the carignane and mataro don’t seem to be making much of a play for sensorial attention yet, but the wine’s already complex opulence should mean that things will only continue to get more interesting …

Even without the singular challenges of the 2010 vintage, this would be an astonishingly self-possessed, ebullient, focused, and powerful wine. That it emerged from such demanding conditions makes this offering all the more impressive.

2010 Ridge Vineyards Ponzo Zinfandel

I am always excited about any Ponzo that emerges from a cooler growing season, as the 2010 does; the Russian River location of this wonderful old-vine property seems naturally to play into the cooler-climate model, and when Ponzo really sings, it does so when it can display in full flower its freshness, its brightness, its enervative and evocative playfulness and sophistication …

Running all points along the plum-tone spectrum, the wine is just plain pretty in the bowl, and the quickly-slip-sliding legs bespeak all the elegance I’m hoping for upon tasting …

The nose is exotic to the point of surprise at first sniff; hard to place the almost unsettlingly beguiling mix of spices on offer; what are these aromas? It’s almost a curry profile, full of multi-shaded peppers, herbs, and ground spices. I’m completely entranced, and utterly confused … Digging deeper into the bouquet, I can definitely find the red and black cherries I would expect to be present, as well as some sweet vanilla and oak, and even a touch of chocolatey herbaceousness …

A light but still decadent mouthfeel that manages to be both refined and tarty; a sort of quiet sentimentality is on offer here; hints of a deep well of emotion corseted in elegantly teasing outer layers …

The acidity and high-tone fruit are the selling points here; this is a light and lifted offering that still manages to deliver the joyful decadence of proper zinfandel; cool-climate perfect, Russian River delicious.

2010 Ridge Vineyards Pagani Ranch Zinfandel

Ah, the Alicante Bouschet. 16% with this vintage. I am happy.

Notably dark in the bowl, it is almost impenetrably purple-black at the core, working its way outward concentrically through hoops of barely lightening hues, finally finishing at a limn of glistening magenta …

The aromatics are every bit as distinctive as one would expect with a Pagani offering; good lord, what all am I smelling in here? On one side: bark, chicory, pipe tobacco, and mint chocolate ice cream; on the other side: potpourri, sesame cucumber salad, sesame seed and seaweed, pomegranate, and cardamom. Good lord …

Right down the pipe with this one; not a great deal of in-the-cheek activity, but a great dose of both fruit and acidity instantly going slip-sliding down center palate; mostly red-fruit in character, with a hint of tartness, some utterly quenching tannin architecture, and a nice dose of blood-orange/ruby grapefruit citricity near the back end of the palate trip …

The finish is actually slightly sweet, and the mouthfeel rounds out considerably at the close. A very interesting reconciliation of an overall smaller feel with a firmer architectural touch, this 2010 Pagani enacts a bit of an inversion of sorts, in that it speaks loudly, but wields a smaller stick …

Put another way, it packs a lot of complexity, finesse, and incomparability into a streamlined and eminently potable package, with an absoutely archetypical mix of entrancing spices in the bouquet topping off the profile.

2009 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello

A varietal trio shapes this vintage — Cab/Merlot/PetitVerdot. To date, the 2009 edition of Monte Bello has (in internal tastings) already shown itself to be one of those true “crowd pleaser” versions of itself; if the spectrum that Monte Bello can run goes from the very rustic, earthy, spicy, acidity-driven and herbaceous, to the very rich, lush, succulent, concentrated and fruit-driven, then this definitely skews to the latter; meaning, it is beyond generous with its bounty, and accordingly, it’s a wine you want to spend a great deal of time with. Literally, it pleases the crowd; any crowd, every crowd, with pleasure …

Purpley, plush, and blackly dense in the bowl, with a lovely magenta halo and thin but purposeful legs …

Aromatics rich with cherries sweet and sour, loads of cocoa, coffee, and cedar, and a healthy dose of minty eucalyptality …

Expansive, eruptive, and seductive on the palate, there is literally almost too much information here for one mouth to handle; there is everything from the highest-tone fruit and the brightest acidity, to the lowest-tone earth and the blackest of herbs. This is, quite literally, a mouthful. A mouthful of mouthfeel.

Tags:, , , , , ,
Posted in Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Lytton Springs, Mataro, Merlot, Monte Bello, Petite Sirah, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Zinfandel | 3 Comments »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 140 other followers

%d bloggers like this: