2023 Benito Dusi Zinfandel

Deep purple color, jammy raspberry aroma with notes of pepper and licorice. On the palate, medium-to-full bodied, supple tannins, plentiful red fruit balanced by ample acidity. JO (2/25)

The long growing season of 2023 provided ideal conditions to fully ripen the zinfandel at this 100-year-old vineyard. Always the last to be picked, the Canyon block, as the ripest, was selected for the Dusi Ranch. A wine of great intensity, it showcases the abundant red fruit that characterizes zinfandel. Twelve months in American oak adds spice and complexity. Enjoyable as a young wine, this opulent zinfandel will evolve further over eight to ten years. JO (11/24)

The zinfandel on this Paso Robles ranch was planted in 1923. The property 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.

Rainfall: 64 inches (above normal)
Bloom: End of June
Weather: Late and prolonged harvest due to consistently cool weather throughout the growing season.

Harvest Dates: 12 and 21 October
Grapes: Average Brix 24.2˚
Fermentation: Hand-harvested; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the naturally occurring yeast, followed by full malolactic on naturally occurring bacteria.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (15% new, 20% one year old, and 65% three, four, and five years old).
Aging: Thirteen months in barrel

Benito Dusi Vineyard grapes, hand-harvested; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 203 ppm over the course of aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.