Thursday, November 24, 2005

2002 Ridge "Geyserville" (Alexander Valley Zinfandel)

A really fine, but atypical Geyserville. Tastes more like an old style fully-extracted Napa Valley cabernet or a new style Amarone than an Alexander Valley Zin. Black ruby/violet color. Unbelievable but non-traditional nose of sweet graphite, prunes, blueberries, chokecherry brandy and scorched earth. Rich, tannic mouthfeel, with inky, Amarone-style fruit. Long, rich finish. Wow! 92. $22.50 at Spec's Warehouse on Smith. Would be amazing with a mesquite-grilled Porterhouse.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Tom, cousin Hank here. Great site. Truely enjoy reading your blogs. I have tried a few of the wines you've written about my favorite being 04 Carchelo bought at Whole Foods. I have recently getting into Pingo Noirs and wondering if you have any suggestions that won't break the bank but impress. Hope all else is well. Hank

Anonymous said...

Sorry for the terrible spelling; wanted to say pinot noirs.

Tom Casagrande said...

Hey Henry -- thanks for the note. Although I haven't had it in about a year, Cartlidge & Brown is a solid producer of reasonably priced California wines, including a pretty tasty Pinot Noir. Should be about $9 a bottle, give or take. Also, there's a winery that calls itself Leaping Lizard that makes a good $10 bottle of PN, usually from fruit from the Carneros region in the south part of Napa. Getting a good value Pinot Noir is a difficult task. There simply arten't any good values in Pinot Noir from France, and, although I've heard that New Zealand is making great strides in their Pinots, I haven't had one in a couple of years.