Interestingly, that 2020 Geyserville is one case in which the 2020 has less acidity than the 2019, and spent more time in newer wood.
Opened a '20 Paso tonight out of curiosity. I donât get smoke taint. Just a young and unsettled wine that probably wonât be that great once itâs a mature and settled wine. I think what youâre picking up are just tannins and oak but I understand why youâre tasting that as a slight acrid note towards the back of the palate - for me that went away as the wine opened up. For me the biggest sin is jammy fruit on the cloying side of jammy.
1 Like
Thank you for your comment, Jim. Hopefully my other bottle will show better than the first.
1 Like
I attended the same tastingâŚand can understand some of the comments/perspective. I found the subtle differences refreshing and attributed it to the continued development of the Ridge palette. Specifically, I found the '20s to be somewhat softer (tannin-wise) and more polished in a âNapa Zinâ fashionâŚperhaps a lesser Oak influence, or perhaps different extraction handlingâŚwhatever the case, I found the wines to be more elegant than usual, yet still with great structure and balance. And the MB Chard is superb - but Ridge kinda screwed up as the MB Chard was the first wine to be tasted before our palates were awakeâŚmethinks many folks may have missed the nuances of this beauty.
1 Like
I wonder if more changes will be coming to Ridge over the next few years. The head winemaker changed in 2021. John Olney Named Head Winemaker - Ridge Vineyards (ridgewine.com)
There maybe some changes coming to Ridge but I believe most of what people are tasting is dealing with the challenging 2020 vintage. The 2021 vintage will be the first vintage where JO was in charge of the whole vintage. It will be interesting to see how the wines coming out of Lytton Springs turn out under Shauna Roseblum.
2021 will be the only vintage that Olney was fully in charge of Monte Bello and Lytton Springs. One could say the same for 2020 as Eric Baugher left in Jan 2021 so other than being there for crush, he wasnât there for blending and other milestones. Trester Goetting was hired in Feb 2022 as Monte Bello winemaker.
I took home an opened, but full bottle of 20 LS home after the Fall Release event. I drank it over a couple of days. I didnât detect any smoke taint.
1 Like
We missed the Fall Release event over the Labor Day weekend, and have only had the 2020 Geyserville, amongst the 2020 reds. We have had it several times, at the winery and also from purchased half bottles and there was no smoke taint, to our palates. The flavor profile is different than the previous two vintages, with a little less intensity. More along the lines of the '17 Geyserville. I am looking forward to trying the 2020 Lytton.
My Z-list shipment has not yet arrived, so I havenât yet tasted any of the new Fall release. That will change next week at the SFW&CF event.
The Ridge Zins have been evolving over the last 5 yrs or so. The signature Ridge oak has been being reduced to my judgement. This, in turn, as allowed the expression of each vnyd to come more to the forefront. Furthermore, the lesser vnyds, like Nervo/Ponzo/Mazzoni/Buchanghi/Esola have been showing a step up in their quality. Sometimes. Theyâre not just⌠ho-hum⌠just another Ridge Zin.
Just my take, anyway. But, then, what would I know!!
Tom
2 Likes
It would be nice if we had someone a bit more experienced in this stuff chime in, but thanks for your thoughts too @TomHill 
Over the weekend I popped open a 2020 Benito Dusi Zin - a bottling that I have typically not liked much at all. I was debating about telling Ridge to sub something else in, but I am glad I didnât.
To my surprise, it was great. I really hope this is the direction Ridge is going. It wasnât overripe fruit (like I got with many previous vintages). It wasnât an American Oak bomb (which is where many of the ATP wines end up). I felt much more of that vineyard presence in this, but the American Oak has taken more of a supporting role. Currently debating if I want to buy more of this!