I first discovered Ridge Geyserville at a Wine Society Committee meeting in 2006. These meetings were invariably frustrating affairs – like a kind of parish council meeting writ large. And yet, the pain was (nearly) always eased by great food provided by the caterers at RIBA and awesome wines chosen by The Society’s fine wine guru Shaun Kiernan. The 2005 was also the wine that I gave as a gift to my best man this year (hope you enjoyed it Big Man).
Ridge Vineyards make some of the best wine in America and arguably the world. It may come as a surprise to British readers (exposed mainly to the terrifying volume of brands of Gallo and Blossom Hilll) but California produces some of the worlds leading fine wines and for me the wines produced by Paul Draper at Ridge stand tall amongst the best.
The Best Man's Bottle -With Photograph taken by the Best Man Himself
Ridge was established in 1885 was when Osea Perrone a doctor who became a prominent member of San Francisco’s Italian community, bought 180 acres near the top of Monte Bello Ridge, producing the first vintage under that name in 1892. The link to the current incarnation of the vineyard came in 1969 when Paul Draper, a Stanford graduate in philosophy joined the business, after travels through Europe and the creation of a small wine enterprise in Chile. He is known for his crafting of fine cabernets and chardonnays from the Monte Bello estate vineyards, and as a pioneer in the production of long-lived, complex zinfandels.
And he’s also known for phrases like this:
“Wine’s link with time connects it to the human, It has its birth, youth, its maturity, its old age and its death…”
Questions of Taste – The Philosophy of Wine ed. Barry C Smith
Ridge made its first Geyserville in 1966, from nineteenth century vines growing on the western edge of Alexander Valley. The quarter mile strip of vines follows the old San Francisco & Northern Pacific Railway right-of-way. The wines are predominantly Zinfandel blended with Petit Sirah and Carignane. The alcohol is big and the taste full of black fruit and smoky pepper. Drunk with the right food it can come across as liquid chocolate with a cherry glaze. Ridge have prepared onlne video content on some of the wines and here’s Draper’s guide to the Geyserville Zin.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh-Sv4ZR4Uc]
How Much and Where to buy?
The Geyserville retails at approx £25 a bottle with discounts on cases from BBR and The Wine Society.
