Ridge Geyserville Sonoma Red Wine 2004 750ml

75% Zinfandel, 18% Carignane, 7% Petite Sirah. Bottled April 2006. A warm spring, mild summer, and a lack of spring rain brought ripeness early throughout Sonoma County. Small clusters of small berries reduced tonnage, but produced great intensity and unusually rapid extraction of color and tannin. Full, daily circulation over the cap was quickly reduced, to achieve a sensuous structure. The twenty-six vineyard parcels provided thirty-eight separate lots; all fermented on their natural yeasts. As natural malolactic finished, we blind-tasted to select the finest and most typical of the vineyard for this wine. As usual, both old carignane blocks were included, as well as a limited amount of petite sirah. After ten months of barrel aging, we added some very rich, spicy zinfandel from a parcel initially held out. The wine spent a full eighteen months in barrel, rougly four more than is customary bringing the tannins and frim acid into balance. This superb, opulent Geyserville will be enjoyable within a year, and develop fully over the next ten.