The prices are the purchase prices I paid. Since Zinfandel
prices don't inflate that much (everybody KNOWS that you drink Zins "young"
and that they don't age), these wines would probably sell in the $25-$45
range I would guess. What strikes me most is these (my purchase prices)
are only about half of what the current releases sell for. Ridge is one
of the very few wnrys that, I feel, have been modest about raising their
prices. It sure leaves you w/ a nice warm fuzzy feeling for those folks
up on Monte Bello Ridge!
The "Drink" recommendations are Paul Draper's recommendations from the
label for peak maturity for the wines. If find his recs are pretty accurate,
if a bit on the conservative side. If he says the wine needs 10 yrs to
come around.... you darn well better believe it!!
I was (and have been) a big Ridge fan from my first exposure to a Ridge
Zinfandel around 1973. These wines are mostly from a period when I was
becoming a bit perplexed/disenchanted w/ the Ridge wines. In the late '70's
thru early '80's, Ridge was battling a bad brettanomyces problem. Many
of the wines were very stinky/barnyardy/horsecollary/ very funky wines
I felt were rather out of control. My interest started to wane & I
bought the wines only because it was the "right" thing to do. What really
struck me about these wines is that very few of them showed any signs,
here 15 yrs down the road, of those problems from their youth (hey....
maybe there's hope for my Beaucastel after all!!). Then, with the '84 vintage,
Ridge got all those problems cleaned up and it's been, by and large, a
continued string of successes, going from strength to strength, ever since.
Make no mistake, the Ridge wines almost always have brett in them (they
monitor the presence w/ lab analysis very very closely), but very much
under control.... there only as a complexing component.
The Geyservilles have always been Ridge's flagship Zinfandel. In some
yrs, I prefer the Pagani; but, by and large, it's the Geyserville I always
go to. Because of the cepage from this vnyd, they always have a slightly
funky/ strange character.... the wines don't show a great deal of Zinfandel/
varietal purity.... which makes for a more complex and cerebral Zinfandel.
After tasting thru this set, I'm not quite sure I can identify a unique/
distinctive "old Geyserville" character in them. Need to take more data
points, I guess.
The Late Harvests: These LateHarvests all seemed to be quite young wines.
Paul's recommended drinking periods seem to be way on the conservative
side for them. Those of you lucky enough to have the Ridge Heart's Desire
(now there's a big marketing screw-up on Ridge's part!!); hang onto 'em.
You'll get the kind of wine you see above.
Ridge & Amador Zinfandel: In the '70's; Ridge made some terrific
AmadorCnty Zins; some of the best ever made. The first two wines show what
happens when you make 12%-13% Amador Zinfandel.... some things are not
meant to be. Ridge had a lot of problem w/ the ripeness (over-ripeness)
in the Amador grapes (from Esola and Eschen vnyds) and Paul finally threw
up his hands in frustation about '82 and quit making Amador Zinfandel.
What a shame; there are some really beautiful/old vine vnyds up there capable
of making great (perhaps LateHarvest... so be it) Zins. Since there will
probably be no more PasoRobles Zinfandel Essences, they really ought to
go back to Amador & go ahead and make these over-the-top LateHarvest/Essence
wines again. IMHO.
