2010 East Bench Zinfandel

Ridge’s 2010 Zinfandel East Bench is strikingly beautiful. It is 100% Zinfandel, so varietal nuance is at the forefront. Sweet red cherries, freshly cut flowers and spices waft from the glass in this gorgeous offering. The tannins are still quite firm, but this will be a great wine once the tannins soften. Crystalline notes add a fabulous element of purity on the finish. If anything, the August heat spikes were a help rather than a hindrance here. At $28 a bottle, the East Bench is one of the great values in American wine and a true standout at any price. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2020. Indiana Jones and I have one thing in common – a fear of snakes. That is why every time I see the sign in the Ridge parking lot that reads “Beware of rattlesnakes,” I get a little uneasy. So it’s quickly into the tasting room for me. Winemaker Eric Baugher and his team have prepared a great tasting covering all of the Ridge classics, plus a few smaller-production bottlings I am tasting for the first time. This is a sublime set of new releases from one of this country’s greatest heritage wineries. It’s hard to know where to start, but the highlights are the 2009 Monte Bello, followed by the 2010, which will be released this year, plus some of the Zinfandels and Zinfandel-based wines. The 2010 harvest was not an easy one. The summer was very cold, as it was throughout California. Ridge was severely affected by August heat spikes that were crippling for Zinfandel. The wines that were bottled are the result of a severe selection of the best fruit that survived the heat. Tel. (408) 867-3233

Opaque violet color. Cherry-vanilla and blueberry aromas are complicated by notes of mocha, cola and peppery spices. Broad, fleshy and sweet on entry, then tighter in the mid-palate, offering sweet black and blue fruit qualities and a suave floral pastille nuance. Youthfully firm tannins add shape and grip to a long, intensely perfumed finish.