2020 Geyserville Essence

Beautiful saturated ruby color with aromas of dark plum, blackberries, black cherries, raspberry compote, clove, sweet oak, crushed rock, and black tea. The entry is thick and viscous with dense weight. Jammy flavor profile with coating tannins balanced by tart acidity and a long, sweet finish. TG (1/23)

Ideal growing conditions in 2020 were critical to making this rarely produced wine. Extreme ripeness is required for essence to reach natural stability and retain its residual sugar. Thirteen months of barrel aging helped to balance tannin and acid profiles while enhancing flavor. This enticing essence will be enjoyable over the next fourteen years. TG (1/23)

RIDGE made its first Zinfandel Essence from Geyserville in 1966. Made only a few times each decade, growing conditions need to be just right for producing an Essence bottling: the vines must remain vigorous late into the season and the grapes must reach extreme ripeness for fermentation to stop at the point of natural stability that allows the wine to hold its residual sugar. Six years after our most recent vintage, growing conditions at Geyserville were, once again, ideal for producing an Essence. This late-harvest wine drinks beautifully upon release and typically ages well for 15-20 years.

Rainfall: 18 inches (below normal)
Bloom: Late May
Weather: Rains in March and April helped the vines get through the summer.

Harvest Date: 2 October
Grapes: Initial sugar at harvest: 34.2% by volume | Residual sugar in wine: 14.2% by volume
TA: 6.98 g/L
pH: 3.50
Fermentation: 100% natural primary and secondary fermentation; 100% floating cap.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (four, five, and six years old).
Aging: Thirteen months in barrel

All Geyserville estate-grown 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, 81 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.

See all food pairing recipes we have created specifically for this wine.