Bob Paulinski, Master of Wine discusses Ridge Vineyards, a classic California winery that offers an excellent range of Zinfandel based field blends that cellar very well. The wines are often sourced from very old vineyard sites, many planted pre-prohibition. The beauty is the wines typically drink very well while young as well. Within the Zinfandel based wines are a range of field blends often sourced from very old vineyards. The wines tend to concentrated, with a strong sense of place. While the price of many California wines have steeply increased, the Ridge field blends have remained comparatively excellent values. Within this video, a '99 Lytton Springs from Dry Creek is tasted. It'll provide a good indication of what you can experience by cellaring away some of the current releases.
Posted below are some of the current Ridge releases that are well worth searching out. Also provided are some other options. Prices noted are CA retail costs.
2020 Ridge Three Valleys $25 - 5+ years aging potential
2020 Ridge Lytton Springs $43 - 10+ years aging potential
2020 Ridge Pagani Ranch $40 - 10+ years aging potential
2020 Ridge Geyserville $45 - 10+ years aging potential
2021 Seghesio Sonoma $26 - 5+ years aging potential
2021 Seghesio Old Vine $40 - 7+ years aging potential
2019 Seghesio Cortina $50 - 10+ years aging potential
2020 Dry Creek Vineyards Heritage Vines $28 - 7+ years aging potential
2020 Dry Creek Old Vines $45 - 7+ years aging potential
2020 Pedroncelli Mother Clone $25 - 7+ years aging potential
For those living outside of the US, Zinfandel is often not the easiest to find. Over the years, I've found Wente Zin in some export markets, such as Australia and Malaysia. They've built an excellent export trade, perhaps better than any other winery in California. The wines are sourced from Livermore, just east of San Francisco. It's one of the oldest wine regions within CA. The Wente Zin is a solid example. Prices will vary by market.
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