2022 Ridge Zinfandel East Bench

Sourced from Funsten Ranch in the Dry Creek Valley, the 2022 Zinfandel East Bench is a big, purple monster with a sour citrus base and a bouquet of lifted florals. There’s exuberance and concentration here, but also quite a bit of focus. You’d never guess that this clocks in at 14.9% alcohol, as the depth of fruit soaks it right up. The fine tannins are almost chewy, and the finish is long and broad. Well done.

Red, blue, and black fruits, flowery incense, leather, and subtle peppery, underbrush, and cedary notes all shine in the 2022 Zinfandel East Bench, a beautifully textured, medium-bodied, ripe, balanced Zinfandel.

Full bottle 1,213 g. 100% Zinfandel from Funsten Ranch. From the wonderfully detailed label, 'Bottled 12/2023. In iron-rich soil atop the benchland overlooking Dry Creek Valley, this vineyard is planted solely to Zinfandel. For the third year in a row, the vines set a smaller crop and ripened quickly. Blocks 2 and 7 were ready first on August 19. The six remaining blocks were picked by August 23 ... ingredients: hand-harvested, organic grapes; indigenous yeasts; naturally occurring malolactic bacteria; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective SO 2 .' Medium verging on deep purple in colour. Crushed stones and black-cherry juice on the nose and palate. Rocky gum-climbing tannin more evident than any other Zinfandel in Ridge’s 2022 line-up. Fresh acidity drives straight through the finish. One to age. (SCJ)