Thursday in Saratoga we had a nice breakfast, then I bid Betsy goodbye while I had jumped into caravan to head to Ridge. Paul Draper himself was there to greet us and give the tour. He was even more erudite and informative than I expected. First he gave us a little geology lesson (pointing out the san Andreas fault below -interesting discussion of how limestone on Monte Bello side allowed winery to survive 1906 earthquake) and then we headed into the cellar. Lovely historic facillity. We barrel tasted the two most recent Monte Bellos. I don't have a lot of barrel tasting experience, the 2015 was very primary, the 2014 was of course more complete. I need to get on Ridge list, that's a wine I want to own.

After the delightful tour, we headed back down to the tasting room facility where Paul and Eric Baugher (current winemaker) joined us for an amazing tasting Mark had put together. Great setting, long table with plenty of room for dozens of glasses needed per person, and great company. Paul and Eric's ability to recall the details of every vintage (growing season, cellar decisions, challenges) was amazing. The Ridge staff did an amazing job.

1996 William Deutz Champagne
Toasty, rich, ready to go. B+

Nice portion of smoked salmon crostini

1973 Ridge Monte Bello Chardonnay
This didnt seem 40+ years old at all. A bit honied, but rich pear fruit and long finish. B+/A-

1997 Ridge Chardonnay (Santa Cruz Mtns)
I believe Eric said this qualified as a MB but they weren't using that for Chard at time. Sweeter, some oak shows still B

2004 Ridge Monte Bello Chardonnay
Big, some wood still showing, think needs time. For now B

1973 Ridge Occidental vineyard Zinfandel
No expectations as not a wine I know, but this was shockingly elegant for Zin. 12.7 abv. Red fruit, cedar, oregano, underbrush. My surprise of the day A-

1973 Ridge Geyserville Zinfandel
Bigger (14.3), plenty of fruit left, some oak, minty notes. B+/B

1974 Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel
Odd, we finally concluded corked as it aired out

1978 Ridge York Creek Cabernet Sauvignon
Elegant, earthy, mature, delicious. B+/A-

1990 Ridge York Creek Cabernet Sauvignon
Tannic, some green notes, others liked more than I did B-

Porchetta, broccolini, and parmesan polenta to accompany the main event:

1997 Ridge Monte Bello
Young, powerful, black fruit with clove and cinnamon, needs time. A-/B+

1991 Ridge Monte Bello
(apparently bottle Mark had sent was corked, winery replaced).
Cassis, coffee, full, rich. A-

1985 Ridge Monte Bello
Even better than previous bottle. Ripe but accented with bright green herbs, cedar, delicious. A-

1984 Ridge Monte Bello
Paul says this used to be a favorite vintage (that they were proud did much better than Cali as a whole). but I think this is fading a bit. Still a nice wine, with redder fruits than most of the MBs. B/B+

1978 Ridge Monte Bello
Great nose -black plums with espresso and spice. Complete and full on palate, great wine. A-

(somewhere in here a nice cheese course with some greens)

1976 Ridge Monte Bello
Soft, pleasant flavors but seems to thin in glass. B

1971 Ridge Monte Bello
Cassis, pencil lead, mint. Acids and some light remaining tannins give great structure. This is pretty much my ideal of mature California Cab. A

1971 Ridge Eisele Cabernet Sauvignon
Sweet and ripe next to the MB, but young and full of life. A real rarity (thanks Andy). B+

Stuart had brought the 1968 Ridge Essence but I didn't give it the attention it deserved as I needed to get in car service (Betsy had said fine that I was to be 1.5 hours late, but didn't want to make it 2). But it was nice with plenty of life.

One of the great tasting events of my life. Mark's incredible generosity didn't surprise me- I've known him too long- but his birthday was a gift to all of us.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

On 2/21/16 12:43 PM, DaleW wrote:

> Stuart had brought the 1968 Ridge Essence but I didn't give it the
> attention it deserved as I needed to get in car service (Betsy had
> said fine that I was to be 1.5 hours late, but didn't want to make it
> 2). But it was nice with plenty of life.
>
> One of the great tasting events of my life. Mark's incredible
> generosity didn't surprise me- I've known him too long- but his
> birthday was a gift to all of us.

What an incredible tasting, Dale! I'm insanely jealous, but thanks for
sharing. One thing that confuses me are the people involved: who is
this Mark who set the thing up, or Stuart? Just curious.

Mark Lipton


--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

On Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 12:40:11 PM UTC-5, Mark Lipton wrote:
> On 2/21/16 12:43 PM, DaleW wrote:
>
> What an incredible tasting, Dale! I'm insanely jealous, but thanks for
> sharing. One thing that confuses me are the people involved: who is
> this Mark who set the thing up, or Stuart? Just curious.
>
> Mark Lipton
>

Mark is a friend and member of my SOBER group who acts as a broker/consultant. He had organized a big Ridge tasting with Paul D in NYC, and came up with idea of celebrating his 60th at Ridge. Most of the wines were his (shipped in advance), a couple from winery, a couple furnished by Andy and Stuart (generous collectors). There were 10 of us (plus Paul and Eric) at tasting, 8 were from NY area who came for celebration (I can't usually travel just for something like this, but since I was able to visit stepson and MIL on same trip, seemed justified).