2023 East Bench Zinfandel

The 2023 Zinfandel East Bench comes from vines planted in 2000 from Geyserville cuttings. Matured for 14 months in 14% new air-dried American oak, the nose is bursting with compelling layers of wild berry fruit, prosciutto, fennel seed, tobacco, sage and lavender. The full-bodied palate is highly concentrated and spicy. It’s framed by chalky tannins and vibrant acidity and has a very long, lifted finish.

Full bottle 1,225 g. 100% Zinfandel from Funsten Ranch planted in 2000. Full crush. Both primary and secondary (malolactic) fermentations are completed by ambient yeasts and bacteria. Aged 14 months in 100% air-dried American oak barrels (14% new oak, 10% one-year-old, 10% two-year-old and 66% five-plus-year-old barrels). Minimum effective SO 2 for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 112 ppm over the course of ageing); pad-filtered at bottling. pH 3.64, TA 6.1 g/l.  Medium verging on deep purple with a bright pink rim. Bold and ripe with black-cherry preserves mixed into yogurt with a bit of nutmeg. Sandy tannin that tugs at your gums a bit and a wash of acidity. Lengthy dry finish with a touch of black-walnut bitterness. (SCJ)

A 100% Zin from a single-vineyard estate of organically grown grapes in iron-rich soils, the 2023 Zinfandel East Bench is one of the producer's only 100% Zins, and it is special at that, with mind-blowing structure. Medium-bodied and remarkably light on its feet, it has classic brambly berry fruit, dusty tannins, and seasonings of baking spice, a fantastically elegant representation of the appellation when in the right hands. Enjoy now through 2033. Set in the Santa Cruz Mountains with a second winery and vineyard acreage in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley called Lytton Springs, Ridge made its first Monte Bello in 1962 (the Monte Bello Vineyard dates back to 1885) and is devoted to single-vineyard winemaking, what it calls “pre-industrial winemaking,” organic and sustainable farming, and full transparency; it is one of the few wineries to list ingredients on its back labels. Winemaker Paul Draper joined in 1969. The winemaking team today consists of head winemaker John Olney, who has been on the team since 1996, Lytton Springs winemaker Shauna Rosenblum, and assistant winemaker Michael Bairdsmith. It remains one of the great names in California wine, celebrated for making ageable wines.