2023 Geyserville Zinfandel

A blend of 70% Zinfandel, 18% Carignane, 9% Petite Sirah and 3% Alicante Bouschet, the 2023 Geyserville is dark and brooding. Virile and intense, this is a monster wine that's only at the very beginning of its evolution. So impressively articulated, the 2023 somberly marches from the glass with dark shadings of tobacco, inky black fruit, cracked pepper, sage, turned earth and pine, building powerful minerality with aeration. The 2023 will need several years to come around. It's a sleeping giant today.

The 2023 Geyserville is a blend of 70% Zinfandel, 18% Carignane, 9% Petite Sirah and 3% Alicante Bouschet that matured for 16 months in 15% new air-dried American oak. It has youthfully dense aromas of blackcurrant, tar, violet, mint, turned earth and squid ink. The full-bodied palate is powerfully styled with highly concentrated, mineral-driven flavors. It’s framed by muscular, grippy tannins and juicy acidity and has a long, latent finish. It should be long lived in the cellar.

Full bottle 1,222 g. 70% Zinfandel, 18% Carignane, 9% Petite Sirah, 3% Alicante Bouschet. Full crush. Both primary and secondary (malolactic) fermentations are completed by ambient yeasts and bacteria. Aged 16 months in 100% air-dried American oak; 15% new, 10% one-year-old, 10% two-year-old, 30% three-year-old and 35% four-year-old barrels). Minimum effective SO 2 for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 70 ppm over the course of ageing); pad-filtered at bottling.  Medium verging on deep purple with a bright pink rim. Baked earth and blue fruit – more subtle than most of Ridge's Zinfandels while still being quite ripe. Tannins are firm and grippy and balanced by fresh acidity. A whisper of vanilla oak flavour on the finish. (SCJ)