Ridge Vineyards Pagani Ranch Zinfandel

Tasting note saturated ruby color. Boysenberry fruit plum skin toasted oak. Full entry sweet bramble fruit mineral earthiness. Layered with dense full-bodied tannins firm acid lengthy finish. Vintage notes a mild winter short on rain prompted an early growing season and all nine parcels ripened beautifully for a mid-september harvest. As usual the grapes arrived with naturally high acidity; rich flavors supported using more new oak than typical. Intense color and smooth tannins characterize this complex zinfandel which will be most enjoyable over the next eight to ten years. Eb (3/16) history since 1991 ridge has made zinfandel from the old pagani vineyard on the east-facing side of sonoma valley. All the vines were planted ninety to one-hundred-nineteen years ago. Pagani ranch is a fine example of what we look for in a vineyard: low-yielding old vines carefully tended by a quality-conscious family who in this case have worked the land for four generations. The vine