Ridge Geyserville 2003 Wine Review (NW)

Tasting notes:

Nose opens with air to show ripe berries, cherry, and plum with a sweet note
Rich but classy and well-structured on the palate
Elegant, balanced finish

This wine tastes well made. It has nice flavors, but is also elegant and balanced. A bit slow to open up, it remains reserved for Zinfandel. This seems to be the style of Ridge wines, in my experience. Instead of big, spicy fruit this wine delivers balance and harmony. In part, that's due to the blending. If you notice on the label above, there's a fairly significant percentage of Carignane along with Petite Sirah. The Carignane gives the wine some of it's backbone and structure.

You'll pay up for this style at Ridge, though. They have a terrific reputation and many of their wines are now $30 and up. This bottle cost $60 at a top restaurant, which isn't too bad considering it typically retails for around $25-30. Raise a glass!