Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

What Goes on at Ridge?

Long-time readers know that I am a big fan of Ridge wines. They also know that I am not a fan of late harvest and late picked zinfandel wines, even when they come from Ridge. They are usually high in alcohol, with detectable levels of residual sugar, and, all too often, odd flavor notes. So I was dismayed when the Fall 2004 Z-List Club shipment arrived today. Three wines, two of which (the Pagani Ranch and the York Creek) were late picked. I can but reiterate something I wrote a few months ago:

Ridge sometimes veers off into strange directions, especially with its single vineyard Zinfandel-based blends. Usually I attribute such deviations to master winemaker Paul Draper's insistence on fully ripe grapes. Because Zinfandel often ripens unevenly and can spurt into over-ripeness with astonishing speed, Draper's Zinfandels can often end up as high alcohol monsters, with funky flavors and even some residual sugar, which is definitely not my cup of tea. The funky/sour off-flavors may also result from Draper's insistence on using the wild yeasts that come in with the grapes rather than inoculating the grape juice with tame yeasts that would produce more predictable flavor results. Finally, I frequently detect the sweaty saddle flavor and aroma typical of brett contamination (caused by the presence of wild Brettanomyces yeasts on the grapes or in the cellar). The 2000 vintage, for example, was plagued with all of these problems; In 2000, Draper produced a ton of wines plagued by residual sugar, funky/off flavors, and uncertain aging prospects.

I'd like to see Ridge become more flexible in its winemaking and vineyard management techniques, so as to produce a more consistent product; I'd especially like to see Draper rein in the alcohol levels and be more willing to inoculate with tame yeasts instead of relying on unpredictable indigenous wild yeasts.