by Dr. Bob Ouellette

 Compagnons des Bons Vins      Saturday, January 8, 2002

Comments on Ridge Zinfandels

 Coincidentally, there was a long article on Zins this morning in the New York Times that followed upon our horizontal tasting of Ridge offerings. Many of us looked forward to this and we were rewarded with some excellent wines. Before I get into that however, let me remind everyone that Zinfandels that we see now are not like those that we once saw in the 70’s. Those were “monsters “with alcohol levels of 15% and higher. In our tasting we did have a late harvest (which is not sweet) at 14.5%.

 The wines from Paul Draper , the winemaker par excellence of Ridge, are wines that are for the most part blended with several grapes. Most have obviously Zinfandel, but along with this grape you find good amounts of Petite Syrah, Grenache and even Mataro and Carignagne. It all depends on the vintage and the style that is Ridge. On the other hand at times you find 85-p100% Zinfandels -Pagani Vineyard etc…

 Looking at the scores, the 1991 and 1997 vintages were the highlights of the evening. Yet notice the consistency and the closeness of the wines tasted. Not one wine fared badly and that leads me to the question of aging of Zinfandels. Some have said that this variety does not age well. I personally have an opposite opinion having had Zins from the 70’s that still were quite appreciated. You will notice that here in our tasting we had one vintage that was 20 years old and garnered an excellent composite score of 90 from 18 tasters.

 Unfortunately, what’s happening to wines in California has struck Zinfandels. The price has soared to dizzying heights in part due to Mr. Parker who is now advocating the high alcoholic Zins that were once in vogue and now resurgent to the headlines v.g Truly, Storybook, Rosenblums, etc…at $60 for the first mention. Looking at the wines last night, we were paying less than $12 for the best from Ridge. Oh,well!

 For the next 2 months while I skip to warmer climates, my erstwhile friend, Julian Schultz will report on the forthcoming 97 Chianti’s and a comparison of 85 Bordeaux and California Cabs.  

drbob@oxfordwineroom.com