2008 Ridge Zinfandel Geyserville

The 2008 Ridge Geyserville, a blend of 72% Zinfandel, 20% Carignan, and the remainder Petite Sirah, and Mourvedre, exhibits great aromatics with complex notes of leather, a touch of game, loads of spice, and beautifully ripe blackberry styled fruits. There is solid ripeness here, but the wine stays fresh and very focused. Medium to full bodied on the palate, with a solid texture, good acidity, and plenty of length on the finish, this is very drinkable now, but should easily age for a decade or longer.

The 2008 Geyserville Proprietary Red (72% Zinfandel, 20% Carignan, and the rest Petite Sirah, Mataro, and Mourvedre; 14.8% alcohol) exhibits a dense ruby/purple color along with lots of glycerin, blue and black fruits, pepper, and incense. This rich, fleshy 2008 may turn out to be more juicy and succulent than the 2007. It should last for 7-8 years. (Not yet released) Ridge’s iconic Monte Bello Proprietary Red (no longer called Cabernet Sauvignon) is one of the candidates for the longest-lived Bordeaux blend made in California. Even vintages from the late sixties and early seventies are still vibrant wines. The winery owns just over 100 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon vines, and production varies enormously based on the mountain climate. With respect to this group of wines, the smallest yields were achieved in 2005, and the highest in 2007. The selection process here is relatively severe. For their Monte Bello, the flagship wine, 32% of the production was used in 2003, 38% in 2004, 49% in 2005, 39% in 2006, and 41% in 2007. These wines continue to be anomalies in the sense that the Cabernet Sauvignon component is aged in American oak, a somewhat contrarian procedure since most top producers long ago moved to French oak. The Santa Cruz Mountains cuvees, essentially a second wine culled out from Monte Bello, are also high quality efforts from Ridge. Each of the vintages I tasted reflects the vintage conditions in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Three 2008 barrel samples reveal a consistent, high quality style with slightly more elevated alcohol contents. Tel. (408) 867-3233; Fax (408) 868-1350