Ridge Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 1.5 Liter
(Santa Cruz Mountains, California) - [JD 90]

Winemaker Notes:

Vintage:

Late spring rains disrupted fruit set in the merlot and yields were likewise down in petit verdot. With less of these two varieties to work with, cabernet sauvignon makes up a larger proportion of this year’s wine. All the grapes were de-stemmed but left as whole berries for slower, gentler extraction during fermentation. After nineteen months of barrel aging, tannins are well integrated. This exemplary mountain-grown cabernet will develop more fully over the next fifteen years. 

94% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot

Winemaking: 

Harvest Dates: 17 September – 8 October
Grapes: Average Brix 25.3˚
TA: 6.72 g/L
pH: 3.55
Fermentation: Grapes destemmed, and sorted; 100% whole berries fermented on the native yeasts.
Selection: Eighteen of twenty estate parcels
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (55% new, 45% one year old).
Aging: Sixteen months in barrel

Hand-harvested, estate-grown grapes; destemmed and sorted; fermented on the native yeasts; full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; minimum effective sulfur (35 ppm at crush, 138 ppm during aging); four egg whites per barrel for tannin reduction; depth filtration at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

Tasting Notes:

Inky purple hues with dark plum, black cherry, cedar, cola and sweet toasted oak on the nose. A full-bodied entry with black berry, cocoa powder, brown spices and peppermint on the palate. Layered textures and focused tannins lead to a long finish.

Ratings & Reviews: