The third part of the Geyserville retrospective featured the vintages from 1988 through 1995. The group was joined by a special guest - Eric Baugher, assistant winemaker at Monte Bello. He joined Ridge in 1994 and so had worked on three of the vintages that we tasted.

It quickly became evident that the eight wines poured were all remarkably consistent. There were no Late Harvest outliers, no tired vintages, no flawed wines. What we got were eight superb examples of rich, well crafted wines which evolved and blossomed in the glass. Trying to choose between them was futile; each had its charm and every one was a delight. In the end the tasters submitted their rankings, but the final results were so close that the differences were statistically insignificant.

1988 Ridge Geyserville (82% Zinfandel, 5% Petite Sirah, 13% Carignan) 

The nose was dusty and oaky; at first I thought I got a whiff of cork taint, but it didn't persist. The palate showed tart raspberry and ham; I ranked it towards the end but it finished 2nd overall.

1989 Ridge Geyserville (75% Zinfandel, 22% Petite Sirah, 3% Carignan)

Complex nose showing soy sauce, meat, smoke and dried herbs. Nice raspberry flavours, with smoky oak and a rich, long finish, becoming more earthy with time. I really liked it; it finished 3rd overall. 

1990 Ridge Geyserville (64% Zinfandel, 18% Petite Sirah, 18% Carignan)
Compared to some of the others the nose on this was faint; notes of bramble and camp fire. Flavours of waffles, liquorice and bramble, with tannins that had softened with time but were still very evident. A youthful wine perhaps not yet at its peak. Finished 4th.

1991 Ridge Geyserville (50% Zinfandel, 20% Petite Sirah, 30% Carignan)
Initially the nose seemed musty, with ripe fruit and wood emerging with time. Plenty of sweet loganberry, perhaps a touch more residual sugar than the rest. It finished 8th, despite being Eric's first choice.

1992 Ridge Geyserville (65% Zinfandel, 15% Petite Sirah, 20% Carignan)
Opening with fresh earth and dark raspberry, an unusual camphor note developed with air. On the palate it showed opulent raspberry fruit; the Petite Sirah seemed particularly evident in the blend. Nicely balanced with light tannins it was the overall first choice.

1993 Ridge Geyserville (60% Zinfandel, 12% Petite Sirah, 22% Carignan, 2% Mataro, 4% Alicante Bouschet)
Deep nose of berry, cigar and orange peel; lots of black fruit - boysenberry, bramble and currant. Some tannin evident on the finish. 5th place.

1994 Ridge Geyserville (68% Zinfandel, 8% Petite Sirah, 20% Carignan, 4% Mataro)
Nose showed tart cranberry; flavours of raspberry and oak. Seemed a lighter, simpler example of the style. Overall 6th.

1995 Ridge Geyserville (62% Zinfandel, 18% Petite Sirah, 15% Carignan, 5% Mataro) 

At first the nose showed berry and smoke, but a savoury shiitake mushroom note soon developed. In the mouth there was lots of black fruit, particularly black cherry, and more of that savoury mushroom. One of my top three, it finished 7th.



As I said at the outset, there wasn't much to separate these wines. The results reflected that; for every person that had a wine as their first choice another had put it as their last. This is testament to the overall quality; averaging 20 years old not one was fading or flawed. from the previous tastings only the 1980 and 1987 could have held their own; the 1968, 1977 and 1978 from the first tasting would clearly have been outliers.

At some stage there will be two further flights, covering the vintages from 1996 to the present; I hope to attend those too and will report back.

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Ross Bott's epic 5 part Geyserville retrospective continued on Monday evening with a look at the vintages 1980 to 1987. Starting in 1978 Ridge had begun blending a small amount of Petite Sirah. This trend continues in most years, with 1985 seeing the first addition of Carignan.

I found this round much easier to rank than the first. There were two clearly outstanding examples, two that were either dead or flawed, or possibly both, and the rest fitted reasonably well between them, with no outliers like the 'late picked' wines from the 1970s. The wines all stated their acohol content within a 2% range. The overall results were far more consistent, with most of the group in rough agreement on the preferred order.

1980 Ridge Geyserville (100% Zinfandel, 14.6%)
The nose at first seemed woody and simple, but gradually developed to reveal some nice dried fruit. On the palate there was a mass of mature, dark raspberry fruit and a long finish. This was my favourite and was the evening's clear winner, with almost everyone ranking it in their top three.

1981 Ridge Geyserville (85% Geyserville, 15% Angeli, 100% Zinfandel, 14.4%)
The nose showed notes of brett and leather; brett showed on the palate too; perhaps a little too much but not overpowering. There was enough dried fruit to back it up. 5th overall.
 
1982 Ridge Geyserville (95% Zinfandel, 5% Petite Sirah, 12.6%)

There was an odd note to the nose reminiscent of a Gueuze, the Belgian lambic beer; almost medicinal. Some tart cranberry fruit, quick finish. I was surprised that it finished 4th overall. 

1983 Ridge Geyserville (95% Zinfandel, 5% Petite Sirah, 13.4%)

It was clear from the start that this one was dead. There was some discussion as to whether it was corked or oxidised or both. Beyond the obvious flaws there was some menthol on the nose and a hint of fruit still discernable, but it was no big surprise to learn that this was the 1983 and it finished last.

1984 Ridge Geyserville (90% Zinfandel, 10% Petite Sirah, 13.4%)

Nose of black raspberry; tart red fruit flavours and a brine note to the finish. I liked it rather more than the group did; it finished 6th overall.

1985 Ridge Geyserville (85% Zinfandel, 10% Petite Sirah, 5% Carignan, 13.3%)

The nose had candy notes, with 'red vines' and caramel and some dried herbs. Nice flavours of tart raspberry but a quick, drying finish and it seemed to be fading. Overall 3rd.

1986 Ridge Geyserville (84% Zinfandel, 10% Petite Sirah, 6% Carignan, 13.2%)

There was a very odd note to the nose that reminded me of some kind of air freshener or lavatory puck. It was dry, leafy and tart, improving slightly with time. There was some discussion as to whether the bottle was corked but I didn't think so. A disappointing showing from what should have been a good vintage. 7th

1987 Ridge Geyserville (88% Zinfandel, 4% Petite Sirah, 8% Carignan, 13.7%)

Like the 1980, the nose was at first not very expressive; faint notes of leather and fruit. But then mature blackberry fruit exploded on the palate followed by a nice herbal finish. A wine that seemed way younger than its 25 years. Both mine and the group's 2nd.

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Leo and Evelyn Trentadue owned a fruit orchard in Sunnyvale, producing apples and cherries. In 1952 they purchased the abandoned Perrone winery and vineyards on Monte Bello Road as a peaceful retreat.
In 1959 the Trentadues sold their orchards and bought a 208 acre property in Alexander Valley with 68 acres of old vines, some dating back to about 1880. That same year the neighbouring Torre Ranch was purchased by a group of friends who established Ridge Winery.

As Ridge became well established they looked to expand, and saw the neighbouring Trentadue property, together with its old Perrone winery buildings as the obvious next step. Negotiation culminated in an agreement to purchase not just the Monte Bello property but also fruit from the Trentadue Ranch vineyard in Geyserville, and in 1966 the first Ridge Geyserville Zinfandel was produced. This wine soon established a solid track record for quality and ageability.

As was typical for vineyards of that era the vines are a "field blend", including Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignane (Ridge's preferred spelling) and Mourvèdre, which Ridge call Mataro.

Note the red foil on the 1968.

I recently joined Ross Bott's bi-weekly tasting group for the first in a series of tastings covering an almost complete vertical of Ridge Geyserville bottlings. As is usual in these tastings the wines are served single-blind. Participants rank the wines in order, and Ross computes the overall ranking, whereupon the actual wines are revealed.

Note the design of the 1970 cork

The wines were not decanted; they are left to stand for a few days and then opened and "Bott poured" into a small beaker with the minimum of agitation; the measure is then poured into each taster's labelled glasses. In this way the sediment gets disturbed as little as possible, and everyone gets an equal taste. All the wines are on the table at once, so it's up to each taster to decide what order to taste them. The tasting usually goes on for around an hour before the scores are tallied.

Despite the significant age of the wines and the fairly shocking state that most of the corks were in, it's impressive that not one of the wines poured appeared corked, oxidised or flawed in any way. Several tasters, myself included, commented on how difficult it was to rank the wines.


1968 Ridge California Zinfandel

Poured first; this wine had the lightest colour of the wines poured. That plus a lovely terracotta hue was the clue that it was the oldest; this was the only one in the line-up made by Dave Bennion prior to Paul Draper's arrival at Ridge the following year.
The nose was amazing; at first showing smoke and perfume before developing an Indian spice note (asafoetida?). On the palate there was initially sweet raspberry fruit backed by an earthiness. As time went on the fruit faded and became more herbal, with the earth and acidity showing more. By the end it began to tire, but at its peak it was stunning; truly sublime. Because of that peak I rated it my #1, but overall it ranked 4th.

1970 Ridge Geyserville
Nose showed prune and dried berry. Poured last, this seemed simpler than the rest with some nice raspberry fruit and some residual sweetness; I had it pegged as one of the 'Late' wines - presumably if Ridge had used that designation back then it would have applied. Seemed higher in alcohol; this turned out to be the case, coming in at 15.6%. Overall ranked 7th

1972 Ridge Geyserville At first this appeared darker than the rest, but that turned out to be mostly due to sediment. The nose was dusty, like cardboard or old books. On the palate there were tart cranberry flavours and it seemed somewhat acidic and unbalanced whan judged against the rest of the flight. My least favourite; it was placed 9th overall, despite receiving one 1st place and two 2nd place votes.

1974 Ridge Geyserville
The nose on this also had a musty cardboard note which initially made me suspicious that it was corked, but in the mouth there was plenty of fruit - bramble jelly with earthy notes and a long finish. Overall 3rd

1975 Ridge Geyserville Late Picked
The nose on this showed some funk; smoky and earthy. Perhaps a hint of brett; not enough to be unpleasant, just enough to spice it up. Initially I got lots of rich leather; as time went on the black fruit came out. I really liked it and rated it in my top 3, but some of the other tasters didn't and ultimately it came in 8th.

1976 Ridge Geyservill, Old Hillside Vineyards
The nose was light, showing some dried fruit. Nice fruity flavours of black raspberry and boysenberry, though it began to fade fairly soon. Very much in the middle of the pack - it was the only wine to receive no first place votes and one of three to receive no last place votes - overall it was ranked 6th.

1968 is on the left. The darkest G is mostly due to sediment

1977 Ridge Geyserville Late Harvest
We knew that one of the wines carried the designation 'Late Harvest' and this was the prime suspect. The nose was sweet and portlike; this followed through in the mouth with nice flavours of dried cherry and wild strawberry. Just a hint of residual sugar; certainly no more than some others, and it didn't show the heat as you might have expected. Clearly an outlier in this group, but very popular; it finished 2nd.
This was the first of the wines to indicate varietal composition - 100% Zinfandel.

1978 Ridge Geyserville Late Picked
The 1978 and 1979 labels both indicate that the blend included 5% Petite Sirah. Nose showed lots of toasted bread and earth, in the mouth there was lots of rich brambly fruit and leather notes. Surprisingly youthful, it continued to evolve with time and it wasn't much of a surprise to discover that this was from the excellent 1978 vintage. Finished 1st

1979 Ridge Geyserville
The nose was toasty and meaty, with gamey notes. The palate showed nice blackcurrant fruit and a longish rich, savoury finish. Overall it finished 5th.

I want to thank Ross for organising the tasting and sourcing the wines, Tom for hosting and Michael for generously providing the 1968. I'm very much looking forward to the next event covering the 1980s.

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The Heart O' The Mountain estate sits on a southwest facing slope on Mount Roberta near Scotts Valley, 1000 feet above Monterey Bay. It was originally established in 1881 when Pierre and Sada Cornwall purchased an 85 acre parcel for $500. Cornwall was a lawyer and a partner in the Coldwell, Cornwall and Banker real estate firm. He planted Cabernet Sauvignon and established the Santa Sada winery, which apparently continued producing until Prohibition forced its closure. Cornwall also purchased additional neighbouring land, bringing the total to 154 acres.

In 1940 the property was purchased by the director Alfred Hitchcock, who had recently moved from England. The vineyards were replanted with Riesling and the fruit sold to the re-opened Cresta Blanca winery in Livermore. Hitchcock lived there on and off for the next 30 years and was noted for hosting lavish parties attended by many Hollywood celebrities. When the Hitchcocks sold the property in the 1970s the vineyard was neglected and became overgrown. It was subsequently purchased in 1978 by the Brassfield family, founders of GNLD - a successful network marketing company that sold nutrition supplements.

The property is only reachable via a long, winding single track road. As you climb up the mountain there are some great views towards the coast, but it's only when you reach the top that you'll realise what Cornwall and Hitchcock saw in it. The Brassfield family have tried to preserve the property the way that Hitchcock kept it; they have a self-guided walking tour around the buildings and gardens.

When Bob Brassfield retired in 2000 he and his son Brandon decided to restore the property's viticultural heritage. Together with vineyard manager Jim Bauer they planted Pinot Noir, selecting five Dijon and Pommard clones. The first harvest was in 2004; just two barrels were made and were not released commercially. Of the 150+ acres in the estate a scant 6.5 acres are under vines. There are a couple of additional blocks that would be suitable, but the family don't have plans to extend beyond around 1,000 cases.

Each of the clones is harvested, destemmed and vinted separately in small bins, with manual punch-downs. Yeast is added to most lots, though the winery occasionally experiments with wild yeast fermentations on small batches. Ageing is for around 18 months in French oak, with the Estate being blended just prior to bottling.

Initially the winery released a single Estate Pinot Noir; it's available at a few local restaurants and specialist retailers, such as Vinocruz and Unwined. As the vines matured and produced more fruit they began bottling some of the individual clones separately, beginning in 2006 with the Pommard clone - these are available to wine club members only.

The winery has no tasting facility due to its remote location, but holds occasional events for club members only. I was recently invited to the autumn release party.

2007 High Valley Winery Fume Blanc
From a winery in Lake County owned by Bob's brother, Dustin Brassfield.
Nose of citrus - particularly grapefruit - and some smoke.
On the palate it's very fruity and soft with notes of 'Starburst' candy. 84

2008 Estate Pinot Noir
Big, perfumed nose - spicy, smoky and ripe. Notes of cherry, strawberry and spice. Tannin and Oak shows on the finish 90

2008 Clone 828 Pinot Noir
Gamey, meaty nose with floral notes. Black cherry, herbs, cloves and dried orange peel. Dry, tannic finish. 90

2009 Wild Yeast Pinot Noir
Very fruity; cherry, cranberry, pear drops - this follows on the palate, adding white pepper. Ripe tannins. 90

2009 Clone 115 Pinot Noir
Earthy, cherry and smoke. Rustic flavours of cherry, herb, black pepper, clove and orange peel. 90

2009 Estate Reserve Pinot Noir
Bright nose of cherry and clove. Strawberry, cherry, orange and some spice. 91

2008 Roberts' Reserve Pinot Noir
Just half a barrel was made of this private blend.
Nose is smoky with cherry, pear drops, allspice and earth. The spicy palate shows raspberry, cherry, cinnamon and clove. 93

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Ascona Vineyard, Santa Cruz Mountains

Wine Spectator magazine recently published a series of reports on the 2011 vintage. Their report on California covers Napa, Sonoma and Paso Robles, but omits the area in between. So here is a provisional report on the 2011 vintage for the Santa Cruz Mountains and Santa Clara Valley.

Let's start by getting some boring science stuff out of the way.
Last winter saw one of the strongest La Niña events ever recorded. When this occurs the surface temperature of equatorial waters cools by several degrees, which in turn alters the path of the jet stream that crosses the USA. The effect usually fades in spring, but in 2011 it remained strong much later than usual. The jet stream remained farther south and blew more strongly. The effects were felt across the country, with many states experiencing near record highs or lows of temperature and rainfall.

In California the effect resulted in a spring that was colder, wetter and later than usual. The cold weather delayed budbreak, while rains during bloom affected 'set' - the formation of the grape cluster as flowers turn into berries. Yields were affected across the state, with many regions reporting 20% to 30% below normal, but the Santa Cruz Mountains vineyards were impacted more severely, particularly at higher elevations. Growers are typically reporting yields 40% to 60% below normal, with some vineyards being written off entirely.

Summer was long and cool without unexpected heat spikes; this increased risk of mildew - growers had to be diligent about spraying. Mary Lindsay of Muns Vineyard reported adding potassium to sprays to help boost vine health and encourage better and more even ripening throughout the vineyard. The cool weather did little to help the already late running harvest, and some light October rains brought an additional threat of botrytis. Paul Romero of Stefania Wine called it "a tough, unhappy year - 2010's work with 2008's yields ... larger berries than 2008 but close in quality [and] without the tannin issues".

On the positive side, the long, cool season and low yields rewarded those who had looked after their vines with crops of high quality fruit. Many growers report good balance of acids, fruit intensity and tannic structure, with full ripeness at lower sugar levels. Marty Mathis of Kathryn Kennedy Vineyards described their Estate Cabernet harvest numbers as "perfect as I have ever seen in my 30 vintages".
The expectation is for some elegant, balanced wines at lower alcohol levels. Bradley Brown of Big Basin vineyards said "Quality appears to be remarkable and for those who picked at the right time and maintained healthy vineyards, this could be one of the best vintages in a long time."

References:
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/feature/ENSO-feature.shtml
http://www.worldweatherpost.com/2011/06/14/u-s-had-most-extreme-spring-on-record-for-precipitation/#.TsfaBXKwXAg

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Ross Bott runs a tasting group that meets twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. The theme for this tasting was Ridge Zinfandels. There were two different wines from four vintages; 1978, 1983, 1985 and 1990. As usual the wines were poured blind, though we had a list of the wines beforehand. The wines were not decanted prior to serving.
The colours of the wines were all remarkably consistent; despite each one being at least 20-30 years old they still tended more towards garnet than brick.

A (1985 Geyserville) - Ranked 3rd overall, no first place votes
The nose was initially musty, though this faded with time. Notes of leather, with raspberry becoming increasingly evident as the mustiness faded. Nice raspberry fruit, with the tannin and acidity well balanced, and a dry finish. Was fading a little by the end.

B (1985 Howell Mountain) - Ranked 4th overall, though it did receive 2 first place votes.
Rich, brambly nose with a herbal note Bright red fruit - raspberry and cranberry, with an earthy 'old world' finish. Held up well

C (1978 York Creek)- Ranked 2nd overall, with 1 first place vote.
Nose showed matchsticks, mushrooms and leather. Mature with flavours of black fruit, coffee, cola and strawberry. Some leather, and a long finish.

D (1990 Geyserville) - Ranked 7th overall.
The nose wasn't great (I wrote 'stinky') - earthy and leathery. There was some debate as to whether it was corked, but it was certainly flawed in some way. Some sweet, ripe, pruney fruit and what I took for brett on the finish

E (1990 Lytton Springs) - Wine of the night; only 4 tasters did not rate it #1 which is almost unheard of at an event like this.
Ripe fruit on the nose, with floral notes. Palate shows loads of rich, sweet fruit - blackcurrant and raspberry - and a long finish. An awesome wine; easily 95+ points.

The last three wines were all a bit disappointing. Unsurprisingly 2 of the 3 were from the weakest vintage: 1983.

F (1978 Langtry Road) Rated 6th overall, despite getting one first place vote.
If I hadn't known that all these wines were Zinfandels I'd have called this as a Petite Sirah. It does in fact contain 30% Petite Sirah as well as 10% Carignane; I think labelling rules were more flexible back then. 
It had the darkest colour of all the wines; nose showed some barnyard and earth. There was some black fruit but this was dominated by some monster tannins. Somewhat unyielding initially, though it did soften a little as time went on.

G (1983 Park-Muscatine, Howell Mountain) - Rated 8th 
The nose was light, with floral, berry and smoky notes. On the palate there was some raspberry and bramble, but it was light, tart and tannic.

H (1983 Geyserville)
The earthy nose showed a 'porty' note. As with the previous wine (from the same vintage) it was light with some brambly fruit. Seemed a bit oxidized, though it still had some tannins left.

Afterwards we were treated to a delicious 1978 Dusi Late Harvest, with 10% residual sugar and 14.2% alcohol.
Colour of amber/tea. Great mature nose with raspberry and port notes. Great flavours of raspberry, coffee, cocoa, fig and dark chocolate backed by nice acidity. 94 points

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I read a post by my friend Jo Diaz, discussing the problems of how we as wine consumers can go about selling a bottle of wine that's in our possession. In her article Jo suggested two well known auction houses. I proceeded to write a detailed comment on her blog, which the capricious software elected simultaneously to reject and delete. Rather than spend the time typing it all in again there I thought I'd answer here instead.

As a private individual you are faced with two distinct problems: firstly, that it's typically illegal to sell wine that you own without a licence* and secondly that it's not simply illegal to ship wine, it is in fact one of only two ways that you as an individual can violate the US Constitution. The 21st amendment - possibly the most tersely worded piece of legislation since the ten commandments - section 2 states: The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.. Incidentally, if you're curious, the only other way that you can violate the constitution is to enslave someone. Of course if you get your slave to deliver the wine then by the legal principle of duos nefas correctum you're probably okay. But I digress.

The simplest, legal way to sell your wine is therefore to contact a local wine retailer who specialises** in such things. In the Bay Area, one such retailer is K&L Wines; they have an entire department dedicated to purchasing private collections. They typically prefer to buy entire cellars rather than individual bottles, so this may not be ideal for someone seeking to sell off a few extra bottles. You will also need to demonstrate provenance; that the wine has been stored appropriately and how you acquired it.

The other legal way its to use a licenced wine auction house. There are several around, but the best known among collectors is probably WineBid. You will need to ship or deliver the wine to them to be appraised; since they are licenced they will provide appropriate paperwork which means that it's they who are legally responsible for shipping (although you are the one who pays). Since it's an auction you can't negotiate a price up front, though you can specify a reserve. However if the wine fails to sell due to too high a reserve there may be a fee to pay. You will also pay a commission of around 15% to 25% of the "hammer price" when the lot is sold. As with retailers, many auction houses don't like to deal in small lots, so there may be a minimum amount that they will accept. It may also takes some weeks before you receive the money for your sale.

There is a second type of auction house which is unlicenced; the best known is WineCommune. This operates in a similar manner to sites like eBay; they simply connect buyers and sellers; they take no responsibility for the legality of the transaction. The benefit is greatly reduced commission fees (around 3% to 5%), but the trade-off is that there's very little comeback. Since selling without a licence is illegal you're breaking the law and there have been instances where the authorities have fined sellers, though these have apparently been people using the service extensively rather than casually.

The last option is a private sale on an online wine forum. There are many discussion forums (or fora, depending on your preferred level of pedantry) which include a commerce or trading area. The benefit of these boards is that you're likely to agree a price close to the real value of the wine without paying commission charges. However it's a good idea to establish yourself as a member of the board before offering wines for sale; the boards can be suspicious of (and merciless to) brand new users posting lists of wines for sale.

If you choose to use either of these latter approaches you hit the second snag: it's illegal to ship the wine without a shipping licence once you've sold it. Carriers won't even accept a shipment if they believe it contains alcohol. So unless you have a contact with a shipping licence you need to be creative. A common approach is to label the package as containing some other liquid, such as Olive Oil; another way is to disguise it using boxed previously used for some other purpose. Either way, rather than taking the package to a carrier's office it's generally considered safer to leave it to be picked up, especially if you work for a large company that has a daily collection. Even so, there have been instances where packages have been intercepted and destroyed, so be aware, particularly when shipping to states with more draconian rules.

So there you have it. You can either pay huge fees, accept a fraction of the wine's value or become a criminal.

* I'm British. That's how it's spelled. And wile we are on the subject, there's a U in Colour.
** See previous. It should be a S not a Z***
*** Which is pronounced "Zed" like "bed"

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Recently I was invited up to Ridge's Lytton Springs facility for their quarterly bloggers' tasting. Although the post count may have slowed to the point where I barely qualify as a blogger any more I wasn't going to let that stop me from going - neither was the weather, which was starting to suggest that summer was almost over and done with.

Lytton Springs is just off the 101 in Dry Creek Valley - my favourite Zinfandel region overall. The site was originally a Victorian spa and hotel, with the first vineyards being planted from 1901 to 1910. Around 15 additional acres were planted in the 1950s. Ridge has made wine from the vineyard for 40 years and has owned it since 1991. The old vines are head pruned and are a field blend of mostly Zinfandel with small quantities of Petite Sirah, Grenache, Carignane, Alicante Boushet, Mataro (Mourvedre) and others. We tasted through a vertical of the Lytton Springs Zinfandel blend on our visit last year; this tasting would focus on the Rhone varieties. In recent years several blocks of Syrah have been planted to the West, together with some Viognier and Grenache. The latter are typically blended or cofermented with the Syrah, though occasionally they are bottled on their own. The wines are typically only available to members of the ATP list or at the tasting rooms.

Before the tasting Chris took us on a tour of the facility. The recently constructed winery and tasting room is very impressive and eco-friendly; the wooden frame is insulated with blocks made from local straw and clay; and the facility is almost entirely solar powered. The last time we visited the tasting was held on the crush pad, but with harvest in full swing we we assembled in the barrel room. We began the tasting with two Grenache blends.

2002 Grenache
78% Grenache, 13% Petite Sirah, 9% Zinfandel
This wine is a field blend, sourced from some century-old blocks that contain a high proportion of Grenache, plus some younger vines planted in 1991
The nose shows musty caramel and blueberry. There's nice black fruit up front; good rich concentration and plenty of structure. Grenache is typically drunk young since they have a tendency to age fairly rapidly, but this still seems very youthful; perhaps due to the age of the vines and the blended components, I'd say it still needs another 3 - 5 years. 92+

2003 Grenache/Syrah
50% Grenache, 50% Syrah
A softer, fruity nose than the Grenache with more floral character. Unfortunately it shows rather a lot of oak. There's nice black fruit but it's somewhat overshadowed, particularly on the finish. 89

Richard Jennings had brought a mystery wine, and Chris presented it now, blind. He asked us to guess the grape and the vintage. Light in colour, with a meaty, gamey nose suggesting bacon or sausage. On the palate there was tart cranberry, with light tannins and a medium finish. I accidentally caught a glimpse of what looked like a zero on the cork, so guessed 1990. For variety I thought it seemed like an Italian; I don't know what Italian varietals Ridge has made, but we've tasted Sangiovese in the past from that era, so that as my guess. Close, but not good enough; it was in fact a 1990 Rancho Pequeño Barbera.

We then tried several vintages of Syrah in pairs. The newer wines are designated Lytton West, the older ones Lytton Estate; the vines are the same, it's purely a branding thing.

2003 Lytton West Syrah
91% Syrah, 9% Viognier
The nose shows ripe black fruit and some white flowers from the viognier. On the palate there's good rich fruit balanced by some nice tannins. A lot of oak shows on the finish. 90+

2005 Lytton West Syrah
91% Syrah, 6% Viognier
Bright floral nose with notes of pepper. Again there's ripe fruit - lots of blueberry and bramble with some liquorice and a floral note, leading to a long finish. 93+

2002 Lytton Estate Syrah II
76% Syrah 22% Grenache 2% Viognier
In 2002 there were two lots of Syrah; both were blended with Grenache but neither lot really worked. As an experiment one lot got a small amount of  Carignane added,the other got a similar amount of Viognier. Those small additions made all the difference, and both wines were released.
Nose is smoky and meaty, with floral notes. There's plenty of black fruit backed by fine tannins and soft acidity. A medium length finish with a note of white flowers. Very tasty. 92


2001 Lytton Estate Syrah
99% Syrah cofermented with 1% Viognier.
A really gamey, salami, smoky note. The black fruit really pops; plum, currant and berry notes, some liquorice and black pepper. There's a good smooth finish; the tannins are mostly resolved. It's drinking great right now. 93


2000 Lytton Estate Syrah
99% Syrah cofermented with 1% Viognier.
Nose is very faint in comparison with the 2001. This was the first wine that is starting to show some nice secondary characteristics; black fruits with leather and a touch of old-world rusticity. Good finish. 94
 
1999 Lytton Estate Syrah
Smoky, musty nose Assertive fruit and bright acid; seems to have more acidity than previous vintages. Good fine grained tannins. A hint of leather, not as much as in the 2000. 94

1997 Lytton Estate Syrah
Talk about saving the best until last. The nose was smoky, with some chinese 5 spice, The nose is constantly evolving; come back 5 minutes later and notice something new. Rich, unctuous fruit, endlessly layered. Soft and velvety; a delight. 95
A second bottle showed slight variation; a slightly rustic, barnyard note. 94


A great tasting; as you can see, the wines just seemed to get better and better. Huge thanks to Chris and everyone at Ridge for thsi opportunity, and to Richard for the Barbera. Everyone knows that Ridge make great Zinfandels, but the Syrahs and other wines from the ATP series can be just as good, if not better. As I noted at the start these wines are usually only available at the tasting rooms, but are well worth seeking out.

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In 1977 Marilyn Clark and John Otterman bought a 10 acre property off Hecker Pass Road. They planted 7 acres of Chardonnay and named it Sarah's Vineyard. The first Estate vintage was made in 1983. The winery quickly established a reputation for wines of richness and depth with good aging potential. The winery stood apart from its neighbours, at a time when most of Santa Clara valley was producing cheap 'jug' wine. No expense was spared; even the labels were reportedly printed on stock normally reserved for wedding invitations, printed by a company that produced banknotes using a custom die made by an engraver from Smith & Wesson. However as time went on the price increased drastically while the quality became more variable. By the late 1990s the Estate Chardonnay cost $45 or more a bottle, but was only getting 80 points when reviewed by Wine Spectator.

In 2001 the winery was purchased by Tim Slater, who set about revitalising both the vines and the brand. The estate vineyards were replanted or retrellised, the buildings were renovated and extended, and a stack of brand new high-tech equipment was installed including a neat compact bottling line and a small but sophisticated laboratory. The winery currently produces Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from their estate vineyards and the Santa Cruz Mountains. They also source a range of Rhone varieties from the nearby Besson Vineyard, itself notable for providing Grenache to Bonny Doon's Cigare Volant for over 20 vintages.

The good news is that the 2007 Sarah's Vineyard Estate Chardonnay is far more reasonably priced than it would have been 10 years ago - $30 at the winery, but I've seen it as low as $20 at retail. It shows lots of toasty oak on the nose; On the palate there's apricot, lemon, cream and vanilla, with a rich, almost oily mouthfeel. The oak is very prominent on the finish. Despite its youth this bottle was already starting to show some mature notes; given the low acidity I wouldn't plan on holding it for more than another year. 88

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The Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association runs an annual Commercial Wine Competition, open to all of its members. This year's competition was held last Monday at Ma Maison restaurant in Aptos, and I was  invited to be a judge. The judging panel is made up of both trade professionals - restauranteurs, sommeliers, wine buyers etc., and consumers.

Judging Table. 8 judges each tasting a different set of wines.

I arrived in Aptos at 9:30 and was greeted by the chilly grey morning skies that help to make the western side of the mountain such a great place to grow Pinot Noir. I signed in at the main desk and was assigned Flight #5 - Pinot Noirs. When everyone had arrived we were led into the restaurant and told to sit at any table, in front of our particular number.

Each table had 8 judges, with every judge tasting a different flight. The purpose of this is so that you can talk to your fellow judges without worrying about affecting the results. The wines were laid out on the table in front of us, with each glass labelled only with a 4 digit code number. We were also given a sample of a white wine (a rather pleasant New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc at a guess) as an introduction.

The organisers gave some basic instructions on evaluating the wine. We were to score on the 100 point scale, with 90+ indicating a gold medal, 85-89 indicating silver and 80-85 indicating bronze. We were advised that around 20-25% of wines typically fall into the Gold category and around half fall into the Silver category. Very few get no medal at all. This seemed reasonable; in my personal scoring system anything below 85 isn't worth buying, anything below 80 is not worth drinking. On this scale 70-79 is supposed to indicate an 'average' wine, so I take that to indicate the mass of sub-$5 supermarket plonk.

As with most blind tastings the wines were poured in the same order for everyone. I typically go through the wines in order and smell them, to get a first impression. I then taste them in an order based on those impressions; if a wine seems odd or unbalanced I'll leave it until last. After tasting them all I'll go through them again to confirm my decisions.

The first flight. Each wine is identified by a 4 digit code number

The first flight was fairly straightforward. There were 7 wines, 2 of which I gave Gold scores to. They turned out to be 2008 Clos LaChance Santa Cruz Mountains and 2008 Sonnet Muns Vineyard. I gave good marks to the 2008 Domenico Santa Cruz Mountains and 2008 Black Ridge Estate.

The second flight had one wine that I found particularly unusual. It had almost overpowering notes of white pepper and spice. After trying it a couple of times I decided that it worked and awarded it a Gold - it turned out to be the 2008 Beauregard Santa Cruz Mountains. Another Gold went to the 2008 Santa Cruz Mountains Vineyard Branciforte Creek, and an honourable mention to the 2008 Ahlgren Veranda Vineyard.

The final flight was unusual in that the first and last wines seemed very strange; I left them until the end and declared them both to be not medal worthy. My favourite turned out to be the 2008 Woodside Estate, with 2008 Muccigrosso and 2009 Soquel Estate also scraping Golds.

We then had a pause while the administrators tallied up the scores to determine the top 10 wines. While we were waiting there were some snacks including some delicious rillettes on mini croissants.

Finally the top 10 wines were revealed. We were told the variety in each case, and they were presented in order of lightest to heaviest, so I sampled them in that order. I was suprised to see that the winning Pinot Noir was not on my tasting list. It turned out that there were so many entrants that a fourth flight of Pinots had been given to a different set of judges, who had also been tasting the 'mixed' reds and blends. Frankly I wasn't overly impressed by their choice; there seemed to be a lot of sulphur evident, with the nose showing struck match and the fruit muted.

One of the judges analysing a wine.

Picking a favourite from 10 completely diverse wines is tough; ranking them in order is tougher still. Of the reds I particularly liked the Cabernet Sauvignon which was revealed to be the 2007 Woodside Estate; they also were awarded the best Zinfandel. I correctly guessed that the Petite Sirah was from Sones, though I thought it was probably from French Camp. The Soquel Chardonnay was very good and well balanced, and the dessert wine - a 2004 Angelica from Picchetti - was in a class of its own in more ways than one.

But in the end the top award went to Martin Ranch for their delicious 2009 Thérèse Vineyards Malbec. What's even more impressive is that Martin Ranch also scooped the top honour last year for their 2007 Lester Family Vineyard Syrah. Congratulations to Dan and Thérèse Martin!

Top 10 wines (Santa Cruz Mountains AVA unless noted)
2009 Martin Ranch Thérèse Vineyards Malbec Santa Clara Valley, Dos Ninas Vineyard
2010 Soquel Chardonnay, Ben Lomond Mountain, Meyley Vineyard
2009 Black Ridge Viognier
2007 Byington Pinot Noir Block 4
2008 Martin Ranch JD Hurley Merlot, Santa Clara Valley
2008 Sones Petite Sirah, Lodi
2008 Bargetto Syrah, Nelson Vineyard
2007 Woodside Cabernet Estate
2007 Woodside Zinfandel Estate
2004 Picchetti Angelica of Chardonnay

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