Wine Tasting Notes

ON THE NOSE:

Strawberry, cherry, some leather, with strawberry aromas coming through the strongest. This nose is rather sweet, but also throws off some of Mom’s perfume, jack fruit, and a dirty underarm odor. All in all this is a nice blend on the nose.

ON THE PALATE:

A nice blend here of these five grapes which somehow and for some reason reminds me of a new suit that is just a little tight, and a little too stiff! The taste is not too bad right out of the bottle, (something Darcey and I always partake of as we simply cannot help ourselves, PLUS it’s so fun to see how the wine changes over time) with plums dominating, but the acidity is too high, something we assume will mellow some after a few hours of its new life in the air. Shy tannins. here, with nothing much of a grip, but a bright mid-palate is pleasant enough to make this wine enjoyable, and good with food (just straight organic potatoes for us tonight, but this wine went quite well with this simple fare), with a definite pepper characteristic on the finish that helps the food along nicely. The finish is medium-long and sweet, leaving a taste of watermelon candy in its wake.

This was a very interesting blend, though not spectacular by any stretch. The novelty, however, was worth the price of admission (this time!). If you want something a little left of center then this Ridge offering may find a place in your heart. On the whole, however, this wasn’t a wine to beat the band, and will likely never again grace our table.

(Click here for an explanation of our ratings ...)

Our Rating: 87

Would we drink it again?

Probably not, though we wouldn't pass it up if offered.

Would we buy it again?

No, the price-point is too high for what it offers. There truly are so MANY good wines out there at $20 that this blend, though interesting, is not something we would spend this amount on ever again.

Winemaker's notes

"Three Valleys" is the Ridge proprietary name for its only wine blended from multiple vineyard sites. To make it, we select softer, more accessible lots from our single vineyards, combining them to create the character we think will be most appealing. Younger vines on the Lytton Springs Vineyards in Dry Creek Valley provided roughly half the fruit; a third came from Geyserville, Mazzoni, and Stone Ranch Vineyards in Alexander Valley; the balance is from Pagani Ranch in the cool Sonoma Valley. The wines fermented on their natural yeasts, were pressed, on average, after eight days, and finished a natural (uninoculated) malolactic within four weeks. Enjoyable now, this spicy, beautifully-defined zinfandel blend will develop fully over the next four or five years.

About the Winery: Ridge Vineyards

The history of Ridge Vineyards begins in 1885, when Osea Perrone, a doctor who became a prominent member of San Francisco's Italian community, bought 180 acres near the top of Monte Bello Ridge. He terraced the slopes and planted vineyards; using native limestone, he constructed the Monte Bello Winery, producing the first vintage under that name in 1892. This unique cellar, built into the mountainside on three levels, is Ridge's production facility. At 2600', it is surrounded by the "upper vineyard." In the 1940s, William Short, a theologian, bought the abandoned winery and vineyard just below the Perrone property; he replanted several parcels to cabernet sauvignon in the late 1940s. From these vines—now the "middle vineyard"—new owners Dave Bennion and his three partners, all Stanford Research Institute engineers, made a quarter-barrel of "estate" cabernet. That Monte Bello Cabernet was among California's finest wines of the era. Its quality and distinctive character, and the wines produced from these same vines in 1960 and '61, convinced the partners to re-bond the winery in time for the 1962 vintage. The first zinfandel was made in 1964, from a small nineteenth-century vineyard farther down the ridge. This was followed in 1966 by the first Geyserville zinfandel. The founding families reclaimed the Monte Bello terraces, increasing vineyard size from fifteen to forty-five acres. Working on weekends, they made wines of regional character and unprecedented intensity. By 1968, production had increased to just under three thousand cases per year, and in 1969, Paul Draper joined the partnership. A Stanford graduate in philosophy—recently returned from setting up a winery in Chile's coast range—he was a practical winemaker, not an enologist. His knowledge of fine wines and traditional methods complemented the straightforward "hands off" approach pioneered at Ridge. Under his guidance the old Perrone winery (acquired the previous year) was restored, the finest vineyard lands leased or purchased, the consistent quality and international reputation of the wines established. Cabernet and zinfandel account for most of the production; syrah, grenache, carignane, and petite sirah constitute a small percentage. Known primarily for its red wines, Ridge has also made limited amounts of chardonnay since 1962.

About Sonoma County

Sonoma County is a very important California wine-producing county situated north of San Francisco and west of the Napa Valley. Although the neighboring Napa Valley has dominated the region in terms of recognition and attracting many major wineries, Sonoma has made tremendous progress since the early 1970s and has now carved out significant recognition in its own right. Sonoma's winemaking history goes back to the 1820s, when the Sonoma Missions vineyards were planted by Franciscan monks. Unfortunately, they planted mission grapes, which don't produce high-quality table wines. In the 1850s and 1860s, Agoston Haraszthy (who established the original Buena Vista Winery in 1857) expanded the effort by trying to determine which varieties did best in various California areas. To this end, he imported thousands of cuttings of about 300 different grape varieties. He planted many of these in Sonoma County and sold the rest to others around the state. Like much of California, the influx of phylloxera in the 1890s and prohibition from 1920 to 1933 severely curtailed the growth of Sonoma County's wine business. It wasn't until the Napa Valley boom started in the mid- to late-1960s that Sonoma County was reenergized as a top winemaking region. It began converting from grapes that had been used primarily for jug wines — like alicante bouschet, carignane and petite sirah — and now leads Napa County in acreage for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel. Sonoma has built a solid reputation for wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel. In 2000, there were over 55,000 planted acres, almost 65 percent to red varieties. Cabernet Sauvignon is the most widely planted red followed by Pinot Noir, Merlot, and Zinfandel. Chardonnay makes up over 80 percent of the white variety acreage. Sonoma County is quite large and has diverse climate areas ranging from Region I to Region III). Numerous AVAs have been established here since 1978, some sharing the same geographic area. In addition to belonging to the huge north coast AVA and having its own appellation Sonoma County contains the following AVAs: Alexander Valley, Carneros, Chalk Hill, Dry Creek, Knights Valley Northern Sonoma, Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma County Green Valley, Sonoma Mountain and Sonoma Valley. A number of wineries are permitted to use any of five or six different AVA designations for the same wine. The Northern Sonoma AVA begins around the city of Sebastopol in the south and goes up to the Mendocino County line in the north and covers the smaller viticultural areas of Alexander Valley, Chalk Hill, Dry Creek, Green Valley-Sonoma, Knight's Valley, and Russian River Valley. Sonoma County has over 175 wineries, which ranks it second only to Napa County in the United States for number of wineries.

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Ridge 2004 Three Valleys