Tried this last night whilst I was baking Susan's BD cake:
1. Ridge Calif SonomaCnty ThreeVllys (76% Zin, 8% PS, 7% Syrah, 6% Grenache, 3% Carignane; 14.3%; Bttld: Aug'08; Drk: 6/08-6/12-6/13: JO/EB) 2007: Very dark color; strong blackberry/spicy/Zin light smokey/oak bit pungent/peppery fairly concentrated nose; tart bit tannic/hard strong blackberry/spicy/Zin slight earthy/pungent/peppery light pungent/oak flavor; med.long rich/lush rather blackberry/peppery/spicy/Zin/raspberry some tannic/hard light pungent/oak finish; this is serious Zin at a seriously great price (even at the overpriced WholeFoods figure); easily the best 3Vllys yet. Needs a yr or two to round out the tannic edge. $23.00
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Ridge has a long & glorious history of making an affordable/bottom-end/restaurant Zin...going back to the early '70's. CoastRange, LyttonStation, Sonoma, 3Vllys...I forget all the names. Back in '74 (by crackey), the RidgeCoastRange Zin was $3.49/btl up at the LiquorMart in Boulder and I hauled nearly 75 cs down from Boulder in a rented U-Haul for my group. I was gifted a btl of that '73 by a friend a bit over a yr ago and it was still holding its own...a lovely gentle old lady of an old Zin.
The later ones, like the LyttonStation and such, have been pretty little Zins but nothing I've felt compelled to try or drink in a restaurant. Ridge started the 3Vllys Zin (now a trademarked name like LyttonSprings and Geyserville) about 3 yrs ago I recall. I thought it was a weak effort for Ridge, a pretty/simple raspberry-scented Zin but just that. And, as I am wont to do, relayed that opinion to DonnReisen. He, of course, gave me a raft of $hit about how I didn't know anything about Zin and even questioned my manhood.
So I tried this wine w/ pretty low expectations. Man...was I totally wrong on this yr's version. Head & shoulders above previous 3Vllys. This is a serious Zin that speaks more of RussianRvr than anything. More peppery/fruit-driven and less DraperPerfume than their other Sonoma Zins. Worth tracking down.
Sigh....I wish I could send this TN to Donn and let him know that Ridge got this one right. He'd just snort & harumph and congratulate me on finally figuring out what good Zin really is after all these yrs.
Tom