2021 Ridge East Bench Zinfandel
- Nich Cossey
- Dec 31
- 2 min read
Last week we opened a bottle of 2021 Ridge Zinfandel East Bench. You've probably seen the Ridge label before as this is an old winery and it's Monte Bello Cab placed 5th in the Judgement of Paris in 1976. Ridge makes a lot of different wines and despite being a fairly large outfit they are still very quality minded and very beloved. This East Bench Zinfandel was, for me, a reminder of just how great California Zin can be.
Zinfandel is a bold, rich red wine that excels in California. Other than Cali, it's most commonly encountered in Italy but is called Primitivo there. Zinfandel got a bad wrap because in the 1970s and 1980s California started producing a lot of white wine from the grape and it became almost commoditized and many producers made terrible quality wines with lots of sugar added and a lot of wine aficionados turned away from it. Also, I believe that Zinfandel has a tremendous range of quality and so it's easy to pick up a bad example of one, even from good producers. However, Zinfandel is a little like Syrah in that it is very terroir driven and two Zinfandels from two different sites just a few miles away can taste like completely different wines. It can be rich and smooth and decadent all the way to savory and peppery and everything in between. And, if you get a Zinfandel grown in a climate that's too hot it can have extremely high alcohol levels and have a lot of bitter bite at the end. So, basically, if you're interested in trying Zinfandel, commit to buying several from different sites and don't let one or two bad experiences dissuade you. Bedrock Wine Co, Carlisle Winery, and Ridge are all great wineries that make really good, high scoring Zinfandels that are affordable.
So, how was the Ridge East Bench Zinfandel? It was beautiful. Black and red fruit, black tea, and a light hint of earth and tobacco on the nose that were confirmed on the palate. But, I think it's the texture of this wine that's so lovely. It was dense and concentrated and just coats your mouth with intense flavor. The tannins were very fine and well integrated and this was too easy drinking for such a big wine with big alcohol. I gave it 96 pts.
Comments