by Brian K Miller » Tue Sep 11, 2018 8:26 pm
A friend and I visited Ridge Geyserville on Sunday after a bicycle ride, and I was quite impressed. Always enjoy their wines, but they were even better in the current release lineup.
The Pagani Ranch 2016 was my favorite "zin". There was lovely acidity, almost crispness, in the wine, with deep berry and cherry fruit and a lovely floral note. This contrasts sharply with a previous vintage (2014?) which almost had a gritty sugary quality to it I found off-putting. The gentleman at the tasting counter let slip his opinion that there was a stuck fermentation that year???
The Geyserville was also lovely, with a rich licorice note.
The 2013 Syrah would be perfect with meat, being of the richer warm climate variety.
We also tried the 2015 Estate Cab, which is a little...edgy right now but full of "cabiness". I liked it more than Joe.
I paid for the upgrade, and we sampled the Montebello 2015. Wow. This is simply an amazing wine. Remarkably balanced, with richer fruit, still plenty of acid, earth, licorice. Just beautiful stuff.
A very nice tasting. They were a little bit understaffed, but everyone was warm and informative, so worth a visit!
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