From a recent tasting of Ridge's wines put on by a local distributor:
2001 Chardonnay:
color: yellow-green
nose: toast, butter
palate: more toast and butter, moderately acidic *yawn*

2001 "Three Valleys" Red Wine:
nose: juicy berry fruit
palate: slightly tannic entry, more berry fruit, soft mouthfeel
notes: very attractive wine for near-term drinking (a "Rhonish" mixture
of 50% Zin, 15% Petit Sirah, 15% Carignan, 11% Mourvedre, 9% Grenache)
and almost reasonably priced at $17/bottle.

2001 Zinfandel Sonoma Station:
nose: berry fruit with slight cedary overtones
palate: moderately tannic entry, acids, eucalyptus, moderately fruity
with a tart finish
notes: never one of my favorite Ridge Zins, this one was too tight and
not deep enough to appeal to me.

2001 Lytton Springs:
nose: closed in, slightly cedary and hints of berry fruit peeking out
palate: moderately tannic entry, lots of red berry fruit and a complex,
tarry, tannic finish
notes: usually a favorite along with Geyserville, it didn't disappoint.
I got the impression that we caught it at an awkward time in its
development, but the ingredients are still there for future development.

'95 Lytton Springs:
nose: raspberry, minerals
palate: moderately herbaceous, with a decent core of fruit and a smooth
finish
notes: brought to the tasting by another patron (an ATP subscriber),
still in decent shape, but not as appealing to me as the bottle we had
last year. On its way downhill? Perhaps...

'96 Lytton Estate [ATP]:
nose: classic Zin berry fruit and a sense of tartness
palate: fruity entry, rich mouthfeel, a slight oaky presence in the
finish
notes: same source as the previous wine. Not as interesting to me as
it was several years ago, but not in any danger of expiring from old age
any time soon.

'92 York Creek Zin:
nose: hot with pencil lead notes
palate: rich mouthfeel, moderately fruity, cedar notes and a slightly
tannic (!!) finish
notes: The distributor still has a few cases of this wine, but at this
point I can't really see much reason to invest in it.

'98 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon:
nose: cedar, dark cassis fruit
palate: tart entry, pencil lead, moderately fruity, with an acidic
finish
notes: very nice example of a Ridge CS for a decent price ($28/bottle);
not as fruity as other years might be, but still a wine that will
develop nicely IMHO.

'98 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon:
nose: cedar, minerals, sulfury notes (that blew off with time)
palate: tart entry, pencil lead, deep fruit, tannic finish
notes: For their flagship Cab (at $120 per bottle) it didn't show that
much better than its lesser sibling. Certainly, it had a deeper sense
of fruit and will take more time to come around, but in this year I'd
take the Santa Cruz bottling as a better value [however, I still view
Monte Bello as one of the great Cabernets of CA]

With a later dinner, I also had a glass of:
2001 The Crossings Sauvignon Blanc:
nose: powerful notes of gooseberries, grass, grapefruit
palate: crisp entry, luscious fruit with grassy notes and an aromatic
finish
notes: From a Marlborough winery that was new to me, this was a great
find. It had lots of just what I look for in a New Zealand SB and was
still young and vibrant at 2.5 years of age (bottled under Stelvin? I
know not...)

Overall, a great night of wines

Mark Lipton

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Mark Lipton
Associate Professor of Chemistry
(765)494-0132
(765)494-0239 FAX
http://www.chem.purdue.edu/faculty/lipton/
************************************************** **********************

Sounds like a fine night. Even if not finest year, '98 Ridge Cabs were pretty
darn nice - wonder how other Santa Cruz area wines did?

Agree the 3 Valleys is a nice wine. And The Crossings, too.

thanks for notes!
Dale

Dale Williams
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