Ridge Bloggers Tasting

 My first week in San Francisco I was invited to a bloggers tasting at my favorite California winery, Ridge - I couldn't have been happier! On Friday I headed south to the Santa Cruz Mountains region. Once I got to Monte Bello Road in Cupertino the only place to go was up - 4.5 miles up the mountain where Ridge's Monte Bello tasting room sits along with the Monte Bello vineyard, ranging in elevation from 1300-2700 feet above sea level. Ridge is most known for it's Monte Bello blend, a Cabernet Sauvignon focused Bordeaux blend with varying amounts of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, and for its Zinfandel blends, which also feature Carignane and Petite Sirah. Ridge focuses on wines with a sense of place, so all their wines are single-vineyard wines. The vineyard locations are appropriate for the grapes grown, and they practice sustainable viticulture. Yields are low, natural yeasts are employed, and the wines undergo natural malolactic fermentation in American oak, for the most part.

I was excited by the tasting, since I had not yet been introduced to many wines in the Ridge lineup. My limited but fantastic experience with the wine included 1989 and 1990 Ridge Monte Bello. I was excited by the Monte Bello vertical, as well as the Zins and Syrahs. The wines were accompanied by cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery - a nice addition.

To get things started we first tried their estate Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, grown on the Monte Bello property. I'm not a Chardonnay lover and I tend to prefer white Burgundy over new world Chard, but the Ridge 2009 Estate Chardonnay surprised me. I had never thought I would enjoy so much a California Chardonnay. Ridge's had a mineral, tropical nose and a creamy mouthfeel but also an incredible lightness that I would never expect from an oaked California Chardonnay. The acidity, fruit, minerality and body were so balanced, and it had a smooth, citrusy finish that was almost Champagne-like. Makes sense, since Monte Bello enjoys limestone soil, which is a soil characteristic of Burgundy and Champagne but not so much California. I will go so far as to say this Chardonnay is the best I have ever had! The 2008 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon was also very enjoyable. It had a bright nose of blackberry, spice, and lead pencil that carried through to the palate with a medium body and a smooth, comfortable lightness. It seems to me the limestone soil and microclimate at Monte Bello really are the perfect conditions for these wines.

Next we compared the 1999 and 2009 Geyserville Zin blends. Geyserville is located up north in Sonoma County. I hadn't had Ridge Zin before (or any Zin for quite a while) so I was looking forward to this comparison. The 2009 will be released in April. It is 74% Zinfandel, 17% Carignane, and 6% Petite Sirah. It had licorice, spice and some meatiness on the nose. On the palate it had some dark berry and spice flavors that continued to the luscious finish. I thought the body and weight were really balanced, and I enjoyed my re-introduction to Zin with this wine. The 1999 (68% Zin, 16% Carignane, 16% P. Sirah) was a real treat - it had a more vegetal nose that kept evolving as it sat, with some dill, warm baking spice, and dried red fruit coming through. On the palate there was an interesting mix of eucalyptus and mint with that dried fruit and spice. It was a bit more rustic than its younger self but super interesting - I loved it. I could see how Geyserville would be rewarding both younger and older.

Following was the Monte Bello 10-year vertical. This time we started with the oldest. The 1985 was incredible and the oldest Ridge wine I have tasted. The nose was complex, with dried cherry, nutmeg, clove, and a bit of corn chowder coming through. On the palate it still had a surprising acidity and good grip from the tannins, which had smoothed out but were still firm. It still had a lot of fruit and spice coming through and did not taste like a 25-year old wine. The composition was 93% Cab and 7% Merlot, and the alcohol was 13.1%. This is important to note because a lot of California wines have very high alcohols (15%!), and people like this. I prefer a lower alcohol wine, and Monte Bello has always been around 12 - 13%.  The 1995 Monte Bello was very interesting, with more brooding, dark flavors. It was richer and had more weight, with dark black fruit, leather, and spice. This one could definitely age another 10 years. The 2005 Monte Bello was very fruit-forward with a pretty vanilla spice character and good grip. I liked the spicy finish. This too will age for 20 years!

The next treat was a comparison of 2 small production Syrahs from the Lytton Springs vineyard in Sonoma. We were lucky enough to have one of the last available bottles of the 2004, so I didn't want to like it too much. It was blended with 10% Viognier and 8% Grenache from 50-100 year old vines. It was beautiful, with blueberry, chocolate, and cinnamon notes. I hoped the 2006 would be just as good - I have been on a Syrah kick lately so I am looking for favorites. The 2006 was the winner - and it is not even out yet so I know there is more where this bottle came from. Warm spice, cocoa, and a touch of that meatiness that I love about Syrah, plus only 14.4% alcohol. I loved the smooth chocolateyness of it and I was happy to like it even more than the 2004. When this is released in April I will definitely be looking for it.

To finish, a fellow blogger had brought 2 mystery wines. I think most people expected them to be Ridge, but I tried to keep an open mind. I had just met these people so I didn't know how they liked to play. The first wine seemed at least 10 years old and had a funky nose of mushroom and sweat. Not attractive, I know. I thought it could be Italian - it seemed very old world. The next one also looked like it could be about 10 years old, but it smelled hugely different, almost fortified, with a confectionary nose of dried fruit and creme brulee. On the palate it had surprisingly grippy tannin and raspberry jam taste. I was stumped - and they both turned out to be Ridge Dry Creek Sangiovese from 1997 and 1998. I was right about their ages, and Sangiovese is a grape of Italian origin so I had that going for me. Ridge no longer makes Sangiovese; the vines had been pulled out.

A very interesting conclusion to a fantastic lineup of Ridge wines. I feel very lucky that I was able to participate in this tasting and meet so many other Ridge enthusiasts. I am looking forward to my next Ridge experience!

Check out these other blogs from fellow tasters:

www.givemegrapes.com
www.NorCalWine.com
http://bartonorchard.blogspot.com/
http://batonnage.net/

And Ridge's own blog:
http://blog.ridgewine.com/

Take a Napa

It's been raining since I got to San Francisco, which I really cannot complain about since New York just got another snowstorm. I thought maybe if I went up to Napa the weather would be better, but it was the same, rainy and gray with flooded vineyards. They get most of their rain in winter (and early spring apparently), and then the rest of the year will be sunny. Part of my quest for what's next involves sampling the region's wines. After all, how can I determine which winery I would want to work for if I haven't sampled their wines?

First I went to Darioush, which looks like a Persian palace. Impeccable customer service awaits as you view their stainless steel tanks overlaying a blue tile floor and press pad overlooking their estate vineyards. Despite the lavish decoration, you can still see a working winery. Here I learned that a lot of wineries in Napa harvest at night, when the grapes have cooled off from the intense sun. Darioush then sorts the grapes first thing in the morning, first the clusters as they go into the crusher/de-stemmer and then the individual berries as they come out. Their 2009 Viognier was floral and pretty, with good acidity. I was surprised by the alcohol - 14.8% - because I didn't really notice it. I really enjoyed their 2008 Russian River Pinot Noir, which had some great spice overlaying the cherry and tobacco notes. It had good body and structure but a comfortable lightness. The 2007 Merlot was very bright, with raspberry and baking spice flavors. The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon was the best of the tasting - remember that I normally don't like young Cabs, but I loved this one! It was so smooth, with delicious blueberry, currant, chocolate and spice, balanced by great acidity. This is their best seller and their largest production at the winery with 7,000-10,000 cases made per year. It goes for $80 a bottle!

At Signorello, their wines are nicely balanced and elegant. They spend a lot of time in the vineyard, keeping yields low, allowing a small amount of fruit to battle for nutrients. They have 42 acres and produce only 5500 cases. I'd probably want to cellar most of the reds for a few years. The 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon was my favorite, smooth with chewy cocoa and spice and nice acidity and tannin.

My last stop was Far Niente, where I toured the property, which includes an acre of underground caves where they store their wine in barrels. It is the perfect temperature and humidity for wine storage and aging. They only make two wines, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. We had 2 Cabs, one from 2000 and one from 2008. I liked the older one better, but the 2008 had some great fruit and spice, with good grip from the tannin; I could see how it would age well. They also have another label called Dolce, which is a sweet Sauternes-like dessert wine made from Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. This was a beautiful wine. They did a great wine and cheese pairing, which was a really nice way to finish the rainy day.

Chardonnay is Queen and Cabernet Sauvignon is King out here, so my education of these two wines continues...

A Fond Finger Lakes Farewell

After working 2 harvests with Hermann J. Wiemer and getting involved in all aspects of winemaking, I am taking this great experience to California in search of new skills to add on. My Finger Lakes family bid me a memorable goodbye with a fantastic wine tasting of 16 wines from around the world. The theme, as usual, was to try to stump everyone. Points were given for accurate guessing of varietal(s), origin, vintage and price. I won first place, but I think it was rigged.

The lineup was extremely varied, and without really planning it we ended up with an interesting comparison of wines from around the world.

 Riesling from Germany and Ohio:

 Gewurztraminer from Hungary and Chile:

Pinot Noir from Germany, France, and Oregon:

 Red blends from Bordeaux, South Africa, and Languedoc:

My favorite was the Chassagne Montrachet from Burgundy, France. I was excited by the 2005 Prieure-Lichine from Bordeaux because my FLX family got me a bottle for my birthday last year, and after trying theirs that night and the day after (1 day of aeration helped a lot - it is still very tight) I am looking forward to aging mine another 10 years.

Thanks to everyone for the wines, the lessons, the fun, the experience.

Be sure to follow my adventures in California, as soon as I figure out what they will be!

Act 2 of the Final Act, if that exists

Last week we dosed and disgorged our 2006 Cuvee Brut, the bulk of our sparkling wine output for this winter. This is the 3rd disgorging of 2006 Cuvee Brut, with additional time of the lees than the previous 2 disgorgings. The additional time gave it some really nice toastiness and complexity - this bubbly is a beauty. It was a larger bottling than the Blanc de Noir from a few weeks ago - 1700 bottles versus 300. So it was a long day! The bottles are now all corked and caged and ready to go. Go Team Wiemer!