95 Points – Zinfandel Chronicles

No winery embodies California wine better than Ridge—and no bottle captures their magic better than their Geyserville Zinfandel blend. Made for half a century and grown on Ridge’s oldest vines, Geyserville is a true icon, and the 2020 delivers exactly what has made it a must-have among wine lovers and collectors.

This is a marquee bottle from a winery of unmatched pedigree. Ridge has been named North America’s #1 Most Admired wine brand (and #3 in the world) by Drinks International, has earned a spot in Wine & Spirits Magazine’s Top 100 winery 20 times, and placed fifth at the 1976 Judgment of Paris—but took the crown at a re-tasting 30 years later.

Geyserville is Ridge’s longest-running bottling because the site has produced flawless Zinfandel year after year. Grown on vines over 130 years old—the oldest that the winery farms—the 2020 Geyserville is a field blend of 69% Zinfandel, 20% Carignan, 8% Petite Sirah, 2% Alicante Bouschet, and 1% Mataro. The grapes are intermixed in the vineyard and then co-fermented, a process that imbues the wine with a balance that defies purely scientific explanation.

Ridge’s famed Geyserville vineyard sits in the heart of Alexander Valley, where warm days are tempered by evening breezes and occasional morning fog. The property sits on a single strip of soil, a well-draining bed of deep, gravelly loam mixed with large rocks deposited by an ancient river, a fertile combination that vines love. Grapes from this excellent terroir yield bold and complex wines with dark-fruited beauty, muscular tannins, and powerful richness.

Elegant and broad-shouldered, the 2020 Geyserville carries on the tradition of one of California’s truly great wines.