1981 Ridge Zinfandel Dry Late-Picked Angeli Vineyard

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 95 points

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  2/4/2017 - HandmadeHomemade Likes this wine:

  Popped and poured and drank over an hour and a half.
  
  Opens initially with deep red fruits, fennel, and leather. There is a dominating hot alcohol note to the wine that I find a little distracting. The wine is full bodied, with an aged amarone aspect to it, maybe it's the late harvest? The wine constantly evolved over the short time we had it open, floral, spice, fruit evolved, came and went- sort of of impossible to describe. At the end of the night the wine was drinking more like a port than it was a traditonal wine, though the wine isn't tradtional at all.

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  5/27/2015 - andtheodor wrote: 92 Points

  Big, spicy nose of red vines, cherry candy, some volatility, licorice, and a nosehair singeing whiff of alcohol. Palate shows a vivid "red hots" cinnamon candy aspect, licorice, strawberry, menthol coolness on the finish. Comes off fairly sweet and paired well with sweet/sour components in the food rather than just the meat. An interesting drink.

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  5/9/2010 - sawira wrote: 98 Points

  ATP wine. 31 barrels produced. "Initial Sugar at Harvest - 25% by weight. Residual Sugar in the Finished Wine 0.11% by weight." (From the label). Mahogany/amber color. Complex nose of soaring esters, leather, molasses, burnt sugars, caramel, furniture polish, prunes, and apricots all wrapped up in each other. Very enticing and intellectually stimulating. Quite a 'warm' nose. Like walking into your grandmother's old-furniture-aromas-laden home a week after she canned a huge amount of jams. On the palate, the wine is rich, bright, slightly sweet, with a nicely balance acidity/fruit/alcohol/tannin profile. The dry-farmed aspect is noticeable as a concentrated fruit leather backbone, around which a multiplicity of flavors and aromas emerge. There's also a funky, bottom of basement, deep, sweet and sour component, like old, ripe but very yummy, warm jam. Really delicious, but also an oddity. Not sure what food to serve this with, except maybe one of Mario Batalli's lamb and prune dishes, with which it would be excellent. Not a dessert wine at all, but certainly not like anything I've ever had before, totally different from the old Mayacamas Late Harvested Zins of the 60s and 70's. Like a 100 year old Bordeaux, with deep, fine fruit. Unique. Some alcohol beginning to emerge at the half-hour mark as it warms and gets even better in some ways. Deepening and mellowing, with the pent-up 29 years potentiating. Like an Australian Muscat in many ways, but not as sweet and much more refined. Buller & Son Calliope Rare Muscat meets 1900 Margaux! At the 1 hour mark the nose is explosive with Grandma's sexy jam-laden furniture polish. Big, warm, proundly delicious funk. Brilliant! On the downhill slide for sure, I'd say if you have this rare beast, drink up, and enjoy! One of the most unique and enjoyable wines I've ever tasted. Bravo Paul! This hints at the potential greatness of California old vine Zinfandel and brilliant, creative, outside the box winemaking. Breathtaking. 98 pure quality, 100 personal preference and enjoyment.

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