90POINTS
16½/20
Ridge East Bench Zinfandel 2020
Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, California, United StatesEast Bench is located on the benchland on the far Eastern edge of Dry Creek Valley north of the town of Healdsburg. The site has been growing zinfandel for a long time. The original vines were abandoned in the early 1900s, but many old areas have been replanted over the last thirty years. Ridge’s East Bench is produced from vines planted in 2000 and 2001 from specially selected budwood from four pre-Prohibition era vineyards on 80 million-year-old iron-rich clay loam with ancient river rock. This is a deliciously juicy zinfandel almost unrecognizable in the current milieu of this variety that rarely achieves this level of quality and precision. Red cherries and raspberries with a briary undertone with cloves run along a smooth finish. Just enough structure to set it apart from the crowd and still be eminently drinkable.Tasted: 10 October 2022Tasted by: Anthony GismondiPrices:BC | $59.99 | 750ml | select private retailers |
CDN | $54.00 | 750ml |
Grape: ZinfandelCSPC: 653451