Introducing: Pagani Ranch Norma’s Block

Blog Post

New Single-Block Bottling from Historic Sonoma Vineyard

RIDGE produced its first zinfandel in 1964, from a small, 19th-century vineyard on Monte Bello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Since then, we have championed single-vineyard winemaking, searching California for those rare vineyards where climate, soil, and grape variety are ideally matched. Our newest zinfandel release, a single-block bottling from the historic Pagani Ranch, continues that tradition.

Pagani Ranch: Unique Blend with 19th-Century Roots

Pagani Ranch lies along Highway 12 in Sonoma Valley near the town of Kenwood. When Felice Pagani purchased it in the late 1880s, only a few vines had already been established on the western portion of the site. Felice planted additional blocks around 1922. Today, the site is tended by Dino Amantite, the fourth generation of the Pagani family. The vineyard’s long survival is proof of its merit and the family’s commitment to it.

Pagani Ranch has a unique place among California vineyards. The ranch’s turn-of-the-century vines consist principally of zinfandel and petite sirah complemented by minor amounts of mataro (mourvedre) and alicante bouschet. Alicante bouschet is a teinturier variety, meaning its flesh is dark red; the resulting wine brings a unique color and dark fruit flavor to the wine. The climate at Pagani Ranch is generally cooler, so fruit tends to set somewhat later and reach full maturity slowly. This is often one of our last vineyards harvested, producing a wine of increased complexity.

RIDGE has produced a Pagani Ranch bottling each year since 1991. These family-farmed 19th-century vines yield consistently high-quality fruit. Ridge’s Pagani Ranch is a zinfandel-based field blend that shows plum and cherry aromas, old-vine spice, and complex mineral notes. Its full-bodied bramble berry fruit is backed by elegant tannins and a lingering finish.

Norma’s Block: A Snapshot from the 1880s

The Norma’s Block bottling of Pagani Ranch comes from one of the original plantings on the ranch dating back to the 1880s. In addition to zinfandel, petite sirah, mataro, and semillon, Norma’s Block includes the unique teinturier varieties alicante bouschet, grand noir, and lenoir. Lenoir (also known as Black Spanish) is a hybrid grape variety originating in the Carolinas, a spontaneous cross between v. vinifera and native v. aestivalis that some enterprising farmers chose for its disease resistance. The vines are grafted onto St. George and lenoir rootstocks. When phylloxera overtook California vineyards in the 1880s, the earliest replants used lenoir, St. George, and several other French hybrids. St. George didn’t come into wide use until the 1890s. Dino Amantite, Norma’s son who has cared for the ranch since the 1990s, has meticulously replaced missing vines with the same variety, maintaining the mix in these historic vineyard blocks.

Norma’s Block is located on the western end of the vineyard, with a hillside slope that faces east. The hillside location is well-draining and less vigorous, as a result, the block is tightly spaced and farmed by hand. The soil type here is haire clay loam, the high clay content dries quickly during the summer months forcing the roots to dive deep for nutrients, helping produce more concentrated flavors.

About Norma

Norma Pagani Amantite is the youngest daughter of Charlie and Marguerite Pagani. Charlie was the winemaker for A. Pagani Winery and (the original) Glen Ellen Winery. His brother Louis managed the farming at Pagani Ranch, and in 1973 asked Norma, her husband Rich, and their family to move back to the ranch to help care for the vineyards. From that point on Norma has always been out in the vineyards, pruning, weeding, and worrying about the vines, the crop, and the weather. Dino Amantite, Norma’s son, began working on the ranch in 1973 as a 13-year-old and has been caring for the ranch since the 1990s. Norma’s Block is our way of paying homage to this remarkable woman. The grapes that go into this wine are from the oldest plantings at Pagani, right next to Norma’s house. She has pruned them every year for over 40 years.

“This wine is named for my mother, Norma. We are honored to have a vineyard that produces grapes of such high quality that we can place her name on a bottle of Ridge wine.”

-Dino Amantite

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2022 Pagani Ranch Norma’s Block

Vintage Notes

Assembled from the oldest and most prestigious blocks on the Pagani Ranch and named for the matriarch of the family. She lovingly tends these gnarly centenarian vines, some of which at six feet in height, tower above her. Zinfandel, petite sirah, and teinturier varieties give firm acidity, texture, and weight to the mid-palate. This beauty is enjoyable now and will age gracefully over the next fifteen years.

Winemaker Tasting Notes

“Nose of perfectly ripe strawberry, honeycomb, mint, and blood orange. Formidable structure and mid-palate weight with flavors that confirm the aromas.” SR (8/24)

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Produced Exclusively for ATP Members

2022 Norma’s Block will be released exclusively for ATP members as part of the 2024 Fall Shipment. Become an ATP member today to ensure access to this limited production bottling.