2011 York Creek Zinfandel

Aromas of wet stone, dry herbs, sweet rosemary and sage. Soft and well-integrated tannins with notes of red fruit, vanilla, and a hint of spice. (2/21)

Uneven spring weather reduced yields considerably at this Spring Mountain vineyard, but a mild summer allowed long hang time and full flavor development. We began sampling in mid-September, and picked on October 1, just before the onset of heavy rains. After a natural-yeast fermentation, we chose roughly equal amounts of zinfandel from Mill and Kite Hill blocks to make up the 2011 York Creek. As the wine aged, we re-tasted, and decided, as we often have, to include petite sirah from the vineyard for greater definition and complexity. This structured—yet elegant—zinfandel will be at its best over the next five to six years.

York Creek Vineyard, situated high on Spring Mountain, overlooks St. Helena and the Napa Valley from the west. Ridge came here in 1971 for the old-vine petite sirah. We first harvested York Creek zinfandel in 1975, and have made the zinfandel in every vintage since.

Rainfall: 40 inches (above average)
Bloom: Late May
Weather: A wet spring reduced yields, but despite an unusually cool summer, a mild fall ripened the grapes before the heavy rains in early October.

Harvest dates: 1 October
Grapes: Average brix 23.1°
Fermentation: Grapes destemmed and crushed, pumped over a floating cap and pressed at nine days.
Aging: 100% air-dried american oak barrels (30% new, 20% one year old, 50% two, three and four years old).
Time in Barrel: Thirteen months in barrel

York Creek Vineyard grapes, hand harvested; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; 0.35 grams/liter tartaric acid added during fermentation; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 83 ppm over the course of aging); oak from barrel aging; pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

Average Rating: 89.9

No. of Tasting Notes: 43

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