1999 Dusi Ranch Zinfandel

Bright cherry fruit, hints of strawberry, spicy oak. Velvety texture, with defining tannins and lively acid. Drink over the next year or two.

We set aside the south block of Benito Dusi’s eighty year-old vineyard for this Advance Tasting Program bottling. Harvested in October, these grapes were even riper than those in the other blocks; for full extraction, we held them entirely submerged during fermentation. The wine was aged in air-dried american oak barrels, ten percent of which were new, fifty percent two years old, and the rest a well-tempered three to six. Spicy oak and layered berry fruit are beautifully integrated—most appealing in this rich wine. It will be at its best over the next five years.

The zinfandel on this Paso Robles ranch was planted in 1923. It was purchased soon after by Sylvester and Catarina Dusi, who raised three sons there—Guido, Dante, and Benito. When Guido and Dante went to war in 1944, vineyard cultivation was left to Sylvester and young Benito—eleven years old at the time. Beni, as his many friends call him, maintained the vines from then on. Ridge’s long relationship with Beni and the Dusi vineyard began when Dave Bennion— scouting the area in 1967—knocked on the Dusis’ door and asked to buy five tons of grapes.

Average Rating: 89.5

No. of Tasting Notes: 11

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