Summary provided the host Steve Smith:
The 3/18/2017 tasting of 8 Ridge Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignons from 1983 – 1986 succeeded beyond my wildest dreams! It is now my favorite tasting out of the 30+ I have hosted for the Cellar Society and it tops any tasting I have done for any other group.
All of the wines except one tasted very “fresh” as if they were 20 years younger than they actually were. The aromas of all of the wines were dominated by fruit character and this carried over to the taste. The wines were all well balanced and most had interesting nuance in both aroma and taste.
It is clear that these wines are aging gracefully with the best of them are probably on a fairly level plateau; I think their quality has not dropped very far since they hit their peek probably over 20 years ago. Please note that, at the time of their release, the Wine Spectator only rated one of them over 87 points. I think that proves the point that superior wine making and good vineyard sources produce wines that will outshine their initial scores when they are aged properly.
To make sure that the wines were good, I tasted each one as soon as I opened it. This allowed me to identify bad bottles and determine if any needed to be decanted so they would open up.
Of the 8 wines I planned to open, only one of them was corked; I had 6 backup wines ready to open, so I picked the 1985 Merlot to use in its place. The Merlot was the only wine I was not happy with because it was oxidized and it was ranked in 8th place. I had another bottle of that wine a few months ago that was not oxidized and was probably the best 25+ year old California Merlot I have ever had. That bottle surely would have ranked much higher if it had been in the tasting.
I decided not to decant any of the wines. They were opened about 45 to 60 minutes before they were tasted and I think that was enough exposure to allow the aromas and flavors to peak while we were tasting them.
Four of the wines were from the great 1985 vintage, but only one of those was in the top three. I think that shows that, for California Cabernet, certain vintage differences are erased as the wine ages. It also shows that great wines are not necessarily from great vintages and, as was the case with the Merlot, old wine always suffers from bottle variation even if the bottles were stored in the exact same place.
The late wine writer Harry Waugh said: “There are no great wines, only great bottles.” He was referring to the fact that bottle variation affects any old wine, even First Growth Bordeaux and Grand Cru Burgundy from great vintages. However, I am not sure that he was aware of the corollary that we experienced at this tasting: “A great bottle can come from a poorly rated wine in an off vintage!”
Here are the Wine Spectator ratings when the wines were released:
1984 Jimsomare – 69 points
1985 Jimsomare – 87 points
1983 York Creek – 73 points
1985 York Creek – 92 points
1983 Santa Cruz Mountains – 84 points
1985 Santa Cruz Mountains – 64 points
Final tasting results: 2017-03-18 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Tasting Results.pdf
TASTING ANNOUNCEMENT
We will taste 8 Ridge Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignons from the mid-1980’s from the cellar of former member Suzanne Biggs. These wines may be past their peak, but the bottles Steve has had recently are rich and balanced with lots of nuance. This is a very rare opportunity to taste some classic wines at full maturity.
The wines are from 3 different bottlings:
1) “Jimsomare”, Monte Bello Ridge, Santa Cruz Mountains
2) “York Creek”, Spring Mountain, Napa
3) “Santa Cruz Mountains”, Mt. Madonna, Santa Cruz Mountains
Steve has the 1985 of all 3 bottlings. The other 5 wines will be from 1983, 1984 and 1986. I will pre-taste all of the bottles before they are poured. If there are any bad bottles, I will have several comparable Ridge wines ready that can be substituted if needed.
The pre-tasting will probably include some more recent Ridge wines. The cost will be $35 to $45 depending on how many pours there are. A delicious catered dinner will follow the tasting.
The tasting will be limited to 20 pours and 25 total people. If you are a preferred guest, or you want to bring guests, please RSVP ASAP to get on the waiting list. The tasting will be opened to non-members on Saturday, March 4.
Cellar Society of San Francisco 