TN; 2018 Ridge Geyserville

[Dave_McIsaac]

$55 is a really nice restaurant price.

I joined Columbus’s Athletic Club back in February. It is the only restaurant my wife and I will go to indoors. All of the wine on their list is pretty much retail plus $10. They have a fair amount of hard to get wine too. Saw three different Saxums. But those don’t tempt me a bit.

Who knew the Promised Land was in Ohio, the land of fixed pricing? Retail plus $10 is astounding.

Yeah, but retail pricing is wholesale plus a minimum of 50% mark-up

[stewart_lancaster]

retail pricing in Ohio sucks… Never discounted and always higher than PA.

[Bryan_Price]

Loved the 2014 and 2016, and loaded up on this vintage as well.

[Glenn_L_e_v_i_n_e]

I saw this in a bottle store today for $48.50.

[Pat_Martin]

Just picked up a 6-pack of this, thanks to this thread!

[jond]

dup

[jond]

Popped a bottle last night. Now my goal is to find more at a good price. Wine Access and wine.com both had this south of $30 (with various discounts applied), but both appear to be sold out.

2018 Ridge Geyserville - USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley (12/21/2020)
Interesting wine. Over the course of an evening, we tasted ripe and fresh fruit, smoked meat, vanilla, and yeasty bread, and the profile seemed to change every hour or so. Sturdy structure to support this complexity. Young tannins but not unpleasant.

Medium-bodied and balanced. Clearly new-world, but old-new-world not new-new-world. Blackberry and blueberry and umami with a long finish. Very good, especially if you appreciate class over size.

[Uli_K]

Does anyone have a read yet on how 2018 and 2019 compare? 2019 being the wetter and slightly cooler year?

[David_Bu3ker]

Does anyone have a read yet on how 2018 and 2019 compare? 2019 being the wetter and slightly cooler year?

A couple of 2019s just arrived in my Ridge club shipment. Will try one relatively soon.

[larry_schaffer]

Was just gifted a half bottle of the 18 - will open on the year anniversary of my dad’s passing in a few weeks in honor of him (he loved that wine).

Cheers

[John_Morris]

Agree this is an excellent vintage of a great wine. Quintessential back-up-the truck wine, since it drinks so well now and will age well. Buy more than you will drink young, and don’t feel any pressure to keep your hands off them.

+1

This seemed tauter than most years — more closed up young — and the acid showed itself more than usual. But the Geyserville berries are there. I loved it and bought a bunch at $32. I think this will be a classic, with a very long life. Probably should have bought more.

[Larry_Stein]

I brought home a 375 of 2019 from the winery a couple of weeks ago. I drank it over 3 days. I think this will give 2018 a run for its money. Day 1 was all fruit, day 2 it turned more savory, and the structure came out on day 3. I would love to taste it and 2018 side by side.

[Ed_Steinway]

Larry Stein wrote:
I brought home a 375 of 2019 from the winery a couple of weeks ago. I drank it over 3 days. I think this will give 2018 a run for its money. Day 1 was all fruit, day 2 it turned more savory, and the structure came out on day 3. I would love to taste it and 2018 side by side.

Thanks for the note on the 2019. We are going to go to Healdsburg sometime next month to visit and hope to try it.

Ed

[Ed_Steinway]

Larry Stein wrote:
I brought home a 375 of 2019 from the winery a couple of weeks ago. I drank it over 3 days. I think this will give 2018 a run for its money. Day 1 was all fruit, day 2 it turned more savory, and the structure came out on day 3. I would love to taste it and 2018 side by side.

Thanks for the note on the 2019. We are going to go to Healdsburg sometime next month to visit and hope to try it.

Ed

[Pat_Martin]

Love all the buzz on the ‘18, but I do wonder a little if we’re getting jazzed about the latest vintage just because (I bought the 18, but have not tried yet).

I ask mainly because aren’t all vintages of Geyserville great? I’ve been drinking Geyserville vintages back to the late 80’s. I haven’t had them all, but I can’t think of a dud in the bunch. Maybe I’ve been lucky. Perhaps the 03-05 (which I’ve not tried in ages) were a relatively lackluster run? Or maybe the 18 stands out like, say, the 02, 07, 09, 13 and 16 do — just even better than the norm?

[Wes_Barton]

Love all the buzz on the ‘18, but I do wonder a little if we’re getting jazzed about the latest vintage just because (I bought the 18, but have not tried yet).

I ask mainly because aren’t all vintages of Geyserville great? I’ve been drinking Geyserville vintages back to the late 80’s. I haven’t had them all, but I can’t think of a dud in the bunch. Maybe I’ve been lucky. Perhaps the 03-05 (which I’ve not tried in ages) were a relatively lackluster run? Or maybe the 18 stands out like, say, the 02, 07, 09, 13 and 16 do — just even better than the norm?

Yes. I’ve done extensive vertical tastings and have tried most vintages at least once. Not a dud yet. This just seems like one of the very best. No reason to not gladly buy a bunch of any vintage. There’s quite variation between vintages. For me, some drink exceptionally well young, while others are obnoxious and need time to settle down. They all age well.

[Cris_Whetstone]

Love all the buzz on the ‘18, but I do wonder a little if we’re getting jazzed about the latest vintage just because (I bought the 18, but have not tried yet).

I ask mainly because aren’t all vintages of Geyserville great? I’ve been drinking Geyserville vintages back to the late 80’s. I haven’t had them all, but I can’t think of a dud in the bunch. Maybe I’ve been lucky. Perhaps the 03-05 (which I’ve not tried in ages) were a relatively lackluster run? Or maybe the 18 stands out like, say, the 02, 07, 09, 13 and 16 do — just even better than the norm?

This wine is quite good in most vintages. Which is why you see people taking extra note of a very good vintage. Especially when you consider this wine does not see pricing fluctuations due to vintage like say in Europe or even pure escalations in CA. That’s the thing about the '18 Geyserville to is that it comes off like a good vintage for a Strong European wine. It’s not just bigger like a lot of '18’s I’ve tried so far are. It’s a more complete or all around wine.

If it were a wine that was consistent year to year then it wouldn’t be of interest to drinkers on this forum anyway. It can be good every year while also being different.

[Pat_Martin]

Good to know and just the feedback I was looking for (except for the wine-buying-freeze part of my brain… a very small, malnourished part). I definitely have vintages of Geyserville I prefer over others (though not by a lot), as the vintage conditions change year to year, the cepage changes from year to year (eg the year 07 is only 58% Zinfandel and Carginane makes up a whopping 22%), the size and age of the vineyard has changed through the years, and over longer time periods, the wine maker has changed several times as well.

But for all those interannual sources of variation, there are far more vintages of Geyserville that are just plain terrific than those that are less so (especially in the run since 07), which has started to make it feel like Geyserville is always good and we should just buy every year. But this thread a good reminder that this can shine brighter in some years and the 18 sounds like a vintage for those of us with a Eurocentric palate (like me).

[Cris_Whetstone]

FWIW, I think the '07 is pretty strong. Seems like it’s coming later to maturity than other vintages. At least my recent tastes showed a wine that was barely coming into its own. I know the chorus on CT doesn’t necessarily agree but I’m guessing all that Carignan makes some difference. I’ve been sourcing some here and there in the auctions.

[Bob_G1]

I thought I would offer up my TN on this wine from last month. Tasted over several nights from a Coravined bottle.

2018 Ridge Geyserville Tasted on 2/8/2021 - My rating: 93 points
Dark, black - purple color. Scent of French vanilla, mocha, plum and a touch of oak. Big, smooth and silky in the mouth. Ripe black fruit hides the structure of the wine right now. Very nice balance on the long finish with a bit of a French kiss - that creamy, vanilla, wood and catnip type flavor that drinks so tasty and finishes long on its supple tannins. Good balance to this wine. Drink now for its pure pleasure and cellar a few bottles for long term development and complexity.