2016 Technical Specifications
Alcohol 13.6%
pH 3.75
Total Acidity 6 g/L
Grape Varieties 100% Petite Sirah
Drinking Window Producer states that the wine will mature over fifteen years.
Region Spring Mountain District
Harvest Dates 14 Sep 2016 to 24 Sep 2016
Brix at Harvest 23.7°
Indigenous Yeast Yes
Maceration 5 days
Oak Details 20% First Fill New Oak
First Fill New Oak20%
Oak Types Air-dried American oak
Contains Added Sulfites Yes
Production Details Sustainably farmed, hand-harvested York Creek fruit was destemmed and partially crushed. Whole berries fermented under a floating cap with one pump-over daily before pressing after five days. The wine aged twelve months in 100% air-dried American-oak barrels: 20% new, 20% one-year-old, 30% three-year-old and 30% four-year-old. The producer records sulfur additions of 35 ppm at crush and 95 ppm cumulatively over aging; these are process additions, not presented as finished-wine free or total SO2 measurements. The York Creek property rises from 1,250 feet to above 2,000 feet, but the page does not assign an exact elevation to the harvested blocks. Ridge’s Fall 2020 brochure identifies this as the final York Creek Petite Sirah vintage.
Tasting Notes Dark and opaque; pepper, bacon fat and vanilla aromas; blackberry fruit, full body, firm tannins, mint and thyme.
2015 Technical Specifications
Alcohol 14.1%
Grape Varieties 100% Petite Sirah
Drinking Window Enjoyable at release and expected by the producer to improve for another ten years.
Region Spring Mountain District
Harvest Dates 13 Sep 2015 and 2015-09-14
Brix at Harvest 23.7°
Fermentation Vessels Tanks; half of the grapes went to tanks fitted with grids for submerged-cap fermentation.
Indigenous Yeast Yes
Maceration 6 days
Oak Details 15% First Fill New Oak
First Fill New Oak15%
Oak Types Air-dried American oak
Contains Added Sulfites Yes
Production Details Sustainably farmed, hand-harvested fruit was destemmed and partially crushed. Whole berries were pumped over a floating cap once daily; half of the grapes were placed in grid-equipped tanks for submerged-cap fermentation to moderate tannin extraction. The wine aged fourteen months in 100% air-dried American-oak barrels: 15% new, 20% one-year-old, 50% four-year-old and 15% five-year-old. Sulfur additions are recorded as 35 ppm at crush and 99 ppm cumulatively over aging, not as a finished-wine SO2 analysis.
Tasting Notes Dark and opaque; peppery blackberry aromas; black olive, chaparral and licorice; layered fruit, chalky tannins, mint and tobacco.
Critics Ratings 92
Sources: www.ridgewine.com ↗ · Compare this vintage
2014 Technical Specifications
Alcohol 15.1%
Grape Varieties 100% Petite Sirah
Drinking Window Best after five years of cellar age, with development expected over a further fifteen years.
Region Spring Mountain District
Harvest Dates 12 Sep 2014 to 13 Sep 2014
Brix at Harvest 25.3°
Indigenous Yeast Yes
Maceration 7 days
Oak Details 25% First Fill New Oak
First Fill New Oak25%
Oak Types Air-dried American oak
Contains Added Sulfites Yes
Production Details Sustainably farmed, hand-harvested York Creek fruit was destemmed and partially crushed. Fermentation was 100% whole berry under a floating cap with one pump-over daily, followed by draining and pressing at seven days. The wine aged fourteen months in 100% air-dried American-oak barrels: 25% new, 20% one-year-old and 55% two- and three-year-old. The intervention summary records 0.33 g/L tartaric but does not present it as total acidity or clearly distinguish addition from analysis, so it is retained only in context. Sulfur additions were 35 ppm at crush and 135 ppm cumulatively during aging, not a finished-wine SO2 measurement.
Tasting Notes Deep and dark; black pepper, brambly fruit and licorice aromas; blackberry and cassis, firm tannins, cocoa and mint.
Critics Ratings 94
Sources: www.ridgewine.com ↗ · Compare this vintage
2000 Technical Specifications
Alcohol 13.7%
Grape Varieties 100% Petite Sirah
Drinking Window Appealing at release, but the producer suggested waiting twenty years.
Region Spring Mountain District
Sites Upper Dynamite, Sonoma and Burger Hill parcels within York Creek Vineyard
Natural Yeast Yes
Production Details Fruit from Upper Dynamite, Sonoma and Burger Hill was destemmed, with roughly 40% retained as whole berries to moderate tannin extraction. Natural fermentation began after three days and took the wine dry within a week of harvest. The three lots remained separate through pressing, natural malolactic fermentation and barrel racking; they were combined after one year and then spent an additional year in barrel.
Tasting Notes Intense black raspberry fruit, black pepper spice and substantial tannins.
Sources: www.ridgewine.com ↗ · Compare this vintage
1996 Technical Specifications
Alcohol 13.7%
Grape Varieties 100% Petite Sirah
Drinking Window Expected to soften after one or two years of bottle age and continue developing for ten years or more; another passage gives full development in ten to fifteen years.
Region Spring Mountain District
Harvest Dates 12 Sep 1996 to 25 Sep 1996
Oak Details 5% First Fill New Oak
First Fill New Oak5%
Oak Types Air-dried American oak
Production Details Eighty-five percent of the grapes fermented with a floating cap and twice-daily pump-overs, while 15% used Ridge’s submerged-cap method. The page is internally imprecise about whole clusters: its vintage note says 10%, whereas the detailed winemaking section says 10–15% of the floating-cap tanks. The wine aged in air-dried American oak, with 5% new barrels, 20% one-year-old barrels and the balance older barrels, mostly two or three years old.
Tasting Notes Intense blackberry and boysenberry fruit, black pepper spice, substantial structure and chalky tannins.
Sources: www.ridgewine.com ↗ · Compare this vintage
1993 Technical Specifications
Alcohol 12.6%
Grape Varieties 100% Petite Sirah
Drinking Window Expected by the producer to develop fully over five to seven years.
Region Spring Mountain District
Harvest Dates 27 Oct 1993
Brix at Harvest 23.5°
Carbonic Maceration Yes
Production Details Half of the fermentation tanks contained equal portions of whole, uncrushed clusters and fully crushed, destemmed grapes. After a substantial part of the conventionally fermented wine was declassified for high volatile acidity, the final blend was approximately one-third whole clusters. The producer identifies this partial whole-cluster treatment as carbonic maceration and says it moderated tannins and increased fruit character.
Tasting Notes Very dark purple-ruby; cassis, boysenberry, raspberry jam, black earth, black pepper, peppermint and vanilla; bright acidity and a long, tannic finish.
Sources: www.ridgewine.com ↗ · Compare this vintage
1974 Technical Specifications
Alcohol 13.9%
Grape Varieties 100% Petite Sirah
Drinking Window The producer stated that the wine needed several years to show its full potential.
Region Spring Mountain District
Production Details Fruit came from the closely spaced old vines on Devil’s Hill. Ridge’s usual long fermentation produced dominant tannins, prompting light fining; the fining agent is not identified.
Sources: www.ridgewine.com ↗ · Compare this vintage
Producer Information
Website
Address
17100 Montebello Road, Cupertino, CA 95014-5435, USA
Phone
+1 408.867.3233
Owner
Private ownership (founding families)
Cellarmaster
John Olney (Head Winemaker & CEO)