Visting Ridge
As we drive through the gates of Ridge Vineyard's main tasting room, it is easy to see how the winery got its name. We are at the very top of a mountain in the Santa Cruz Mountain Range, technically in Cupertino, but far removed from the flatlands around Apple Computer which most people think of. At 2200 feet, a sweeping panorama shows us the surrounding hills as well as the southern end of San Francisco Bay and the large mass of Silicon Valley, all the industrial parks blending together into an indistinct blur, though some might argue that this happens even when amongst them at sea level.
The tasting room sits on the Monte Bello vineyard, but we are sadly not here to taste the wine produced from these grapes, Ridge's award-winning Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon. We are here for the Z-list tasting, a sampling of some of Ridge's highly regarded Zinfandels. The Z-list is one of Ridge's wine clubs, one which features just Zinfandels for those obsessed with the grape.
The air is pleasant, with an occasional breeze keeping it from being too hot. Because the weather is so nice, the winery has moved the tasting out to the vineyard itself, and so we have to walk up a slight hill to get to the umbrellas perched at the very top of the vineyard, nervously eyeing the many signs warning about rattlesnakes. It is a spectacular venue for such an event.
But first we must build our strength for the 15-second climb up the modest climb. A member of the winery's staff hands us each a glass of the 2000 Chardonnary Santa Cruz Mountains, a 100% Chardonnay made from grapes in the surrounding hillscape, one presumes. The wine is crystal clear with just a hint of yellow towards the middle. In the nose I get some smoke as well as the sulphurous smell I associate with a just-lit match. I find it a heavy wine, the alcohol adding a fair amount of weight to the palate, with just a hint of sweetness and little bit of yeastiness on the finish.
Once we're up the hill, we get our first Zinfandel, the 2000 Geyserville. It's 66% zinfandel, 17% carignane, and 17% petite sirah, and ends up being our little group's favorite wine of the bunch. So much so that we buy a bottle for dinner that night and Melissa later buys an extra bottle for us to enjoy in the future. It's a dark red-purple wine, the red starting at the edge and deepening to purple in the middle of the glass. Like all the wines today, it's got a fair amount of alcohol; most of the wines we had were in the 14-15% range. I get a bit of leather on the nose, as well as dark cherry. It's got a decent amount of acidity and a good long finish, which pairs well with the tomato sauce with ground turkey we eat later that night on spaghetti. Interestingly, coming back to it after we drink the others reveals a much fruitier wine than we originally noticed.
The third wine is the 2000 Pagani Ranch Zinfandel, which is 88% zinfandel, 9% alicante bousclet, and 3% petite sirah. This looks clearer to the eye, not as dark, and the color does not change much from the edge of the glass to the center. It has a substantial amount of leather on the nose, as well as cherry, and the only actual tasting notes I have comment on its heavy alcohol.
The final official wine in the tasting is a 2000 York Creek Late Picked Zinfandel, with 75% zinfandel and 25% petite sirah. According to the pourer, it was probably left on the vine about two weeks too long, which left it with a residual sugar of .7%. Not enough to register with my palate, but they want to be honest about what's in the bottle. It's got strong tannins, but blissfully they disappear off the palate fairly quickly.
While those are the only official wines in the tasting, the staff is also pouring "library wines," random bottles from previous years. I am astonished at the tannins in the 1981 and 1988 Geyservilles. Still vigorous now, one can't help but wonder what they were like on release.
Conveniently :), the winery store is open, so we decide to pick up some wine. I also join the ATP wine club, in which Ridge sells you a more random selection of wines from single vineyards throughout the year. I pick up the first two bottles, a Grenache, to try at some future point.
If you're in the area, I recommend stopping by on a weekend. While the Z-list tasting doesn't happen often, the winery is open for general tastings on weekends. They won't open Monte Bello at a regular tasting, but they make lots of other great wines, and bringing a picnic lunch would be a fine way to enjoy the spectacular view. And while it would have been a long way to drive if we were not also visiting with friends, there turn out to be a number of wineries in the area which make for a very satisfying day trip. Wine Spectator had an article a few issues back about just such an outing.
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