Comments on: The Great Ridge Zinfandel Line-Up: Or, Yet Another Reason Why California is the Best State http://vinicultured.com/2010/02/04/the-great-ridge-zinfandel-line-up-or-yet-another-reason-why-california-is-the-best-state/ Tasting notes and anecdotes from a budding neo-oenophile Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:46:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: vinicultured http://vinicultured.com/2010/02/04/the-great-ridge-zinfandel-line-up-or-yet-another-reason-why-california-is-the-best-state/#comment-611 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:22:33 +0000 http://vinicultured.com/?p=428#comment-611 Thanks Shea! This was one of the more enjoyable tastings I conducted.

As for the Monte Bello vertical, I’ll call you–in 30 years.

]]> By: Shea http://vinicultured.com/2010/02/04/the-great-ridge-zinfandel-line-up-or-yet-another-reason-why-california-is-the-best-state/#comment-610 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:13:07 +0000 http://vinicultured.com/?p=428#comment-610 Joon,

Great writeup and experiencing the full range of Ridge zins side by side is an experience every wine drinker should have!

I love these wines because they are not all about being ball-busting high-scoring hedonism-fests. They actually require a little thinking to appreciate and they confound those looking just for simple quaffability or likeability. That and their aging potential make for some great wines.

Let me know when you do a Monte Bello Vertical ;)

]]> By: vinicultured http://vinicultured.com/2010/02/04/the-great-ridge-zinfandel-line-up-or-yet-another-reason-why-california-is-the-best-state/#comment-603 Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:57:53 +0000 http://vinicultured.com/?p=428#comment-603 Thank you for stopping by my blog, Christopher! When I think of Zin I think of Ridge. Keep up the great work!

]]> By: vinicultured http://vinicultured.com/2010/02/04/the-great-ridge-zinfandel-line-up-or-yet-another-reason-why-california-is-the-best-state/#comment-602 Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:56:54 +0000 http://vinicultured.com/?p=428#comment-602 YES. Although if it were really heaven I think there’d be a bottle or two of Monte Bello Cab in there as well!

]]> By: christopherwatkins http://vinicultured.com/2010/02/04/the-great-ridge-zinfandel-line-up-or-yet-another-reason-why-california-is-the-best-state/#comment-600 Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:34:54 +0000 http://vinicultured.com/?p=428#comment-600 Wonderful article, and wonderful tasting! Thank you so much for your attention to our wines, and of course, should you ever be in the vicinity of Ridge, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a visit!

Regards,

Christopher Watkins
Tasting Room Manager/Ridge Monte Bello
Host: “4488: A Ridge Blog”

]]> By: Marco http://vinicultured.com/2010/02/04/the-great-ridge-zinfandel-line-up-or-yet-another-reason-why-california-is-the-best-state/#comment-599 Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:54:31 +0000 http://vinicultured.com/?p=428#comment-599 Is that what heaven looks like?

]]> By: vinicultured http://vinicultured.com/2010/02/04/the-great-ridge-zinfandel-line-up-or-yet-another-reason-why-california-is-the-best-state/#comment-598 Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:03:22 +0000 http://vinicultured.com/?p=428#comment-598 Reading back what I wrote–yes, that’s right! Paul Draper was hired a bit later by the founders. Thank you for pointing that out.

Schneider’s–the place I went to get most of the wines–had for a while a number of Ridge Zins from the mid- to late- 90s but, of course, they had sold out before I got there. It would be great to do a vertical or two and see how the wines develop!

]]> By: Wes Barton http://vinicultured.com/2010/02/04/the-great-ridge-zinfandel-line-up-or-yet-another-reason-why-california-is-the-best-state/#comment-597 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:55:48 +0000 http://vinicultured.com/?p=428#comment-597 Paul Draper wasn’t a founding partner, but joined later. Here’s a highly interesting oral history interview with him – truly amazing: http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/roho/ucb/text/draper_paul__w.pdf

A few of their wines, Lytton Springs especially, can really tighten up and appear monolithic in their youth. These wines to lay down for a decade or more. Other ’07s are drinking great already, such as the Pagani and East Bench I tried recently.

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