1999 cabernets from Napa Valley

It's so interesting to talk about vintages. For me, a vintage can be great for various reasons, one of course because its wines are great considering their power and intensity and most likely their ability to age and develop a greater complexity, another reason because they are easy to drink and therefore great to pour at restaurants without further bottle ageing, and yet another because they are so highly rated (by Parker) so consumers can pour them to their friends and tell them what a great wine this is.

After working in the restaurant and wine business for three decades, the latter reason is unfortunately far too common. I just wish that consumers could depend on their own palates, rather than looking for 100 point wines. With that said, points are great references to understand the quality (or style!) of wine at the moment the taster tasted the wine.

The 1999 vintage in northern California was a bit unusual. After the cool El Niño vintage of 1998, the vines were programmed for another cool vintage, and so it was. Already in spring, 1999 was a cool year, and the flowering and fruit set was a bit later than average, followed by a slightly cooler growing season. Most wine growers I have talked to over the years (at least a couple of hundred of people), have told me they really liked 1999. "It was a winemakers vintage", I have been told. And I couldn't agree more. The praise in media didn't show.

For most Californians, the cooler vintages are not by definition the best ones, but for me as a, 1) sommelier and wine lover used to classic European wines, 2) a chef with the ambition to create great combinations with great food, and 3) a genuine lover of California and its wines, I need to find the perfect balance for my taste and purposes.

To me, 1999 is a much superior vintage than the highly acclaimed 1997, which was too warm to create perfectly balanced and elegant wines. In 1999, the wines came out in perfect balance, with a ripe and intense fruit in a style I call "neo-classic" (ripe but not sweet, intense but not overly powerful, elegant but not weak), with a fine acidity, a sense of place and minerality, and with alcohol levels I would describe as moderate and in balance. And, which I find to be a bonus, they seems to age with grace and now offers what I call a "Bordeaux like" complexity.

In a tasting with my wine club, I opened up a bunch of 1999s, and this is the result.

1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Kronos Vineyard / 91 p

Corison Winery
I've always loved the wines from Cathy Corison, they often have that kind of lovely elegance that seems to have been lost in Napa Valley in the hype of the cult wines of the 90s. Perhaps they lack som intensity when they are young, but the grace comes with age. This 1999 is a lovely example of that, even though it was a b it shy in the tasting I arranged. Twelve years old, it still offers primary fruit of good quality with a quite aromatic fragrance of cassis, but it also shows some mature nuances like lead pencil and cedar tree, and it's really deliscious. On the palate, it is elegant, the tannins have started to soften and the texture is almost velvet like. A good thing here, which several tasters indicated, is that alcohol (13.6 percent) is perfectly well integrated, and some tasters called the style "Pauillac like". I totally understand them! It's a deliscious wine.
   The wine is a pure Cabernet Sauvignon from vines planted in the early 1970s on the phylloxera resistent root stock St George (hence the age of the vines) in the 3.25 hectare Kronos Vineyard, right behind the winery off the Highway 29 in the heartland of Napa Valley.
Drink it 2012-2017

1999 Cabernet Sauvignon / 89-90 p

Jones Family Vineyards

The first vintage from Jones Family was 1995, then and still by famous winemaker Heidi Peterson-Barrett. I belive this vintage was made from 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from the 2.85 hectare parcell they planted in 1991 and 1993 at 180 to 240 meters altitude at the foot of Howell Mountain (it's in the St Helena appellation). Stainlees steel fermented and raised in new French oak barrels for 22 months, this is a serious wine that still offers some oaky flavors. Although the wine is rich with good concentration of dark berry fruit, it doesn't have that depth that comes with vine age, so it lacks a bit of the core I look for. I guess that's why I noted a slight bitterness in the finish. Still it is a good wine, especially with food (which will cover a bit of that hollowness), and I'd like to see it again within a few years. Just because I'm curious.  
   While most of the wines opened up with air, this wine lost a bit of its fruit and became even more bitter.
Drink it 2012-2015

Fay Vineyard

1999 Cabernet Sauvignon Fay / 92 p

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars
The legendary wine estate Stag's Leap Wine Cellars I a reliable source of fine wines that ages with beauty, and they tend to move towards fine Bordeaux's with age. This 1999 still offers a slightly sweetish fruit, quite aromatic and with fine cassis flavors. However, it is the first signs of maturity that impress me and makes me smile. I find notes of cedar, lead pencil and sous bois, as well as a whisper of coffee. On the palate, it is medium bodied with a vital och lively fruit, still with firm but not aggressive tannins and with a fine acidity to create a good balance. The 14.5 percent of alcohol is in good balance with the other components, and even though its higher than in most wines in this tasting, and the aftertaste is a bit dry (actually a bit closed), it doesn't stand out.
   The wines is good to drink today, but I would prefer to wait another year or so, to let the tannins soften a bit more and pave the way for a longer and more seductive aftertaste.
Drink it 2012-2019

1999 Cabernet Sauvignon John G Sullenger / 85 p

Nickel and Nickel
The first vintage from Nickel and Nickel, founded by the Nickel brothers who also owns Far Niente Winery, was 1998. I haven't taste any of the 1998s from them, but a few times wines from the much better 1999 vintage. Last time I was a bit disappointed, the wine I had in my glass had begun to fade away and it was also a bit oxidized. The grapes, exclusively Cabernet Sauvignon, comes from the almost 17 hectare John G Sullenger vineyard next to the winery in Oakville, and the wine was raised in French oak barrels, 65 percent new, and there's still a  touch of coffee from the barrels.

   My previous experiences of the 1999s from Nickel and Nickel stands, the wine does not deliver the energy, power and depths I expect. However there is a fine note of cassis and even a slight complexity, but overall it is mute and short. With that said, it should drink quite well with a meal, but don't expect greatness from it.
   I'd like to add, that I really enjoy the more recent vintages from Nickel and Nickel, to be honest I just love some of them (like the cabernets from Vogt Vineyard and Tench Vineyard).

Drink it 2012

1999 Cabernet Sauvignon / 93-94 p

Far Niente Winery
Let's stay in the family, Far Niente Winery is the older sibling, founded by Gil Nickel in 1979 on a great spot in Oakville, in the southern end of the historic To Kalon Vineyard, next to Martha's Vineyard (of Heitz Cellars) and just below the grand cru of Harlan Estate, and the more recent founded Futo, for which I predict a great future!
´  The Martin Stelling Vineyard, which this wine comes from, is located just a few miles south of John G Sullenger, but its older and the location and soil is better. Also, which I think may have played an important role, is that the Nickels and their winemaker Dirk Hampson knows every inch of this vineyard - this wines is totally superior to the team's wine from Nickel and Nickel. Here you find concentration, richness, depth, a dark and youthful fruit that evolves in the glass, cassis and blackberries, and, which I really like, some mature aromas of lead pencil and chocolate. On the palate, it's much more intense, fresh and lively, tannins are vital but a bit polished and the aftertaste is long with small notes of plums and sweet fruit in the finish.
   A few years ago, I poured this wine (from magnum) in a tasting of 20+ vintages from Château Mouton-Rothschild, including some very classic vintages, and we were all so surprised that this wine outclassed most of those vintages!
   I still needs decanting to open up, and I think it will evolve into something more complex over the next few years.
Drink it 2012-2019

1999 Signature Cabernet Sauvignon / 92 p

Chappellet Vineyards
The 20 minutes drive on winding roads up the Pritchard Hill, to come to Chappellet Vineyards is well worth the efforts. Although this is a historic vineyard, planted already in the mid 1960s with Philip Togni as the first winemaker in 1969 (thru 1974), far too few people knows about them. The vineyard covers 45.60 hectares, located on several blocks with various exposures on 450 to 510 meters altitude, on a volcanic and stony soil which add a certain mineralitet to the wines.
   This was one of the most elegant wines in the tasting, and even the true Francophiles around the table loved this wine for its purity, minerality, finesse and plethora of fine nuances. Thanks to the mountain climate, the flavors are cooler, more aromatic, slightly grassy, fresh and very elegant in a classic way, and the medium full body offers layers of flavors reminiscent of fine clarets. The two single details that kept it out of Bordeaux (if tasted blind), is a slightly higher alcohol (14.5 percent) and a mintiness, but also, at least for me, the volcanic minerality that is so typical for mountain fruit in Napa Valley.
   It's a gorgeous wine, and this is not even their "best" bottling. Still it compared very well with the other wines in the tasting. Good job!
Drink it 2012-2019

1999 Cabernet Sauvignon / 91-92 p

Philip Togni Vineyards
On the other side of the valley, and even higher up (at 600 meters elevation) on Spring Mountain, is where you find Philip Togni. After he left Chappellet Vineyards, he bought a small estate with old wines and planted his own now 4.25 hectare vineyard. Since then he crafts some of the most classic and Bordeaux like cabernets of Napa Valley, known to be age worthy and delicious.
   There is always a kind of grassiness in the wines of Togni, since the site is 5-6 degrees cooler compared to the vineyards on the valley floor in St Helena. Another factor of importance, is that Togni doesn't harvest overripe grapes, he is trained in Bordeaux and lives by his classic palate, and the alcohol level in this vintage is 12.5 percent. There's also a lot cassis flavors, fresh and lively as it the wine was much younger, still in a classic fashion with notes of sous bois, leather and coffee, and there's also some notes of the oak. The tannins are still firm, as expected, it normally takes almost 20 years for the wines from Togni to soften. I really liked this wine, but some tasters found it to be a bit unclean.
   When I retasted it three hours after the tasting, I had soften a bit and was slightly more complex. I just think it need some time in the decanter.
Drink it 2012-2019

1999 Gravelly Meadow Cabernet Sauvignon / 93 p

Diamond Creek Vineyards
Terroir is the true definition at Diamond Creek Vineyards. Yet the late Al Brounstein had to fight for that and his ideas that his five vineyard blocks (totally 8.40 hectares) at his estate in Diamond Mountain gave totally different wines. Now we know, and we have known that for a long time. This year, its 40 years ago he harvested his first vintage.
   This wine, a one hundred percent cabernet wine, comes from the 2.00 hectare Gravelly Meadow Vineyard, planted at an elevation of 220 meters, which is the lowest of the vineyards on the estate, and since the gravelly soil is so well drained and doesn't hold water, it's a bit colder than the other vineyards, and the yields are also very small, normally 15-20 hectoliters per hectare.
   It's a lovely wine with a good density, dark and rich fruit with notes of cassis and blackberries that comes in layers with oriental spices, and a complex minerality of earth and crushed stones, and as always with the Diamond Creek wines, it has a huge structure. Yes, this is tannic, but the quality of the tannins is superb. Still I'd like to come back to this wine in a few years from now, my older references of the wines from this estate tells me that. For instance, I just love the wines from 1992 and 1994, they show just beautiful right now. This 1999 will join them in that, soon.
   Decant it at least 45 minutes before pouring it.
Drink it 2014-2024

Winemaker Chris Carpenter

1999 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon / 89 p

Lokoya
This was the last vintage of the first winemaker, Marco diGiulio, and his assistant winemaker Chris Carpenter took over after him and has been the winemaker since. With the right to select the best grapes in the now late Jess Jackson's vineyard lots in the mountain districts of Napa Valley, these two winemakers created one of the greatest wine estates in the valley, the Lokoya.
   I was totally surprised by this wine, I didn't expect it to be so elegant, so Bordeaux like, and with such a coffee note, and although it had some depths and concentration, it didn't really have that Lokoya thing. However it offered the typical minerality I so often find in the wines from Howell Mountain, also a slight herbaceous note which can be explained by the cooler growing season, and of course the firm tannic structure. I tried the wine later that same evening, and it showed a little bit less coffee toasted then, and even though I liked it, it still didn't impress me the way I expected. I very much more prefer the 1995, 1997 (although heavy weight wines) and the more complete 2001 and 2002 vintages.
   Drink it 2012-2017

1999 Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon / 94 p

Shafer Vineyards
This wine shows totally different from the others, it has that Shafer richness, the ripe and lush cassis, blackberry and dark cherry qualities, and still a slightly oaky touch. Compared to all other wines it appears to be several years younger, there so much more primary fruit flavor here, so much more richness, silkiness, intensity, and length. It's a pure Cabernet Sauvignon, predominately from the hillside behind the winery, and it's raised in brand new French oak barrels for around 34 months, which helped to polish the tannins. Style wise it's also the most powerful and the alcohol level touch 15 percent and is of course notable in the finish, but the overall balance is there and it's truly a delicious wine.
   Of all the wines tasted this evening, this was the one that won most of aeration. Even five hours after it was decanted, it tastes lovely.  
Drink it 2012-2022

More 2007 cabernets from Nickel & Nickel

Earlier this spring I tasted a quartet of 2007s from Nickel & Nickel (the old red barn above), and when I visited the estate some weeks ago, I retasted a few of them and four more. It seems like the 2007 vintage suited Nickel & Nickel very well, and their ambition to show the diversity of Napa Valley shows clearly when one lines up the wines from various vineyard the samt vintage.


2007 Cabernet Sauvignon CC Ranch / 91 p
The CC Ranch sits on a gentle rolling knoll next to Silverado Trail and Oakville Crossroads, not far away from the Frog’s Leap Winery. Of the 46.50 hectares, Nickel & Nickel farms 6.10 hectares, all planted to Cabernet Sauvignon in a weathered gravelly soil. The resulting wine is elegant with a bit more reddish fruitiness with nuances towards sweet cherries, but also darker notes like black currants. At this young stage, there’s also a slightly sweetish vanilla note from the oak, and a roasted touch as well. On the palate, it’s the overall balance that’s impressive, tannins are fine and well integrated in the quite intense fruit forward body, and compared to most of the Nickel & Nickel bottling, this one is most approachable already when young. However, it will develop with age, and it benefits from decanting.
Drink it 2012-2022

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Regusci Vineyard / 90 p
I have had the wines from Regusci Estate on several occasion, without ever been impressed by them. They seem to be a bit rustic, earthy and sweetish at the same time, with little distinction. I guess it’s due to their winemaking – their vineyards shouldn’t be too bad, it’s close to well known wineries such as Shafer Vineyards and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars – who makes some very fine wines. Also, the Regusci vineyard team also farms for other wineries, among them the Darioush further south on Silverado Trail, so I guess they are well respected.
This was the first time I tasted the Regusci bottling from Nickel & Nickel, and I felt some relations to my impressions of the estate bottling, yet so much better. However, it doesn’t have the same purity and aromatics as the rest of the line up from Nickel & Nickel, although the equally red and black fruit is quite fresh, but with some air, a lovely note of raspberries was revealed. On the palate, it’s quite silky, fresh and elegant, with fine tannins, some cedar notes and earthy qualities, and although it’s a bit lighter than the rest of the wines, it lingers for a while. It quite good, absolutely drinkable, but I don’t think it will evolve as good as the other wines in the lineup.
Drink it 2011-2021

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Vogt Vineyard / 93 p
If you like firm, classic wines with serious structure, this is it! Over the years, I have always been a fan of the selection from Vogt Vineyard, a 5.65 hectare vineyard at 480-550 meters above sea level on top of Howell Mountain. In the poor, well drained and stony volcanic soil, the vines suffers and gives only low yields of small bunches with small, thick skinned grapes, which produces a dark wine with huge structure and intense fruit flavors. Of all wines, this is the wine that needs more aeration, at least 30 minutes in the decanter is recommended.
The nose is intense, deeply concentrated, yet a bit shy – it offers just the most elegant of its dense black fruit qualities, and you can tell they are born in a poor soil – there’s a super complex aroma of something reminiscent of gravelly and volcanic dust. I love that part of it. On the palate, you’ll get the first sweet kiss of the immensely concentrated fruit, but there’s no real sweetness whatsoever – it’s just an impression due to the fact the grapes were ripe, small and full of flavors when harvested. A second later, the tannins and lively minerality takes over, and that’s what together with the fruit aromas lingers for a minute or so.
Even though it’s not charming at all, I find this style very appealing. Give the wine some more years, and it will taste more elegant, as the tannins slowly start to polymerize and soften.
Drink it 2014-2025
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Witz End Vineyard / 92-93 p
Since the owners of the vineyard have started to make their own wine, this was the last vintage from Nickel & Nickel of this wine. Sadly, I have to say – this Rutherford wine is a classic styled wine, dark fruit scented with notes of blackberries, cassis, complex nuances of cedar tree, medium bodied with a very fine tannic structure, some mineral notes, a good towards lively acidity and a very complex, long and elegant aftertaste. It’s still young and a bit closed, but I noticed that it opened up in a very positive way during the tasting, to show a seductive note of wild raspberries to complement the darker berries first noted. As in all wines from Nickel & Nickel, the oak is very well integrated, and even though the wine is still very young, tannins are firm but perfectly ripe, therefore in full balance. It’s in all aspects a textbook Napa Valley wine, that show just how well concentration, finesse and terroir makes a good match here in the valley.
The vineyard itself is 2.25 hectares, located on a gentle slope with well drained gravelly clay soil in the southwestern end of Rutherford. Dirk Hampson told me once the grapes from this vineyard are very small, but with a great intense. Given the fact the vines were planted in 2001, it’s an impressive wine!
Drink it 2012-2027

Napa Valley diversity from Nickel & Nickel

Nickel & Nickel is a very interesting winery in the heart of Napa Valley, owned by the team behind the equally interesting and good, but totally different winery Far Niente. While Far Niente is based on the philosophy of an estate blend, just like a château in Bordeaux, Nickel & Nickel crafts their wines from single vineyards around Napa Valley (mostly), thus more like what’s done in Burgundy. Nickel & Nickel and Far Niente owns around 97.00 hectares of vines, among them the John G Sullenger Vineyard (17.00 hectares) close to Opus One next to the winery in Oakville, and the Stelling Vineyard (40.00 hectares) that surrounds Far Niente, just south of the famous To Kalon Vineyard and right below the great Harlan Estate. Further south in the valley, in the cooler Coombsville, they also own the Carpenter Vineyards, 10.50 hectares, in which the grapes for the Far Niente Estate Chardonnay is grown (the 2009 vintage of that wine is particularly good). This vineyard was previously partly planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, but since the site is so cold, these grapes didn’t ripen every vintage, so these vines were replaced with Chardonnay after the 2004 harvest.

Winemaking is overseen by co-owner and senior winemaker Dick Hampson, who has been with Far Niente since 1982, and at Nickel & Nickel since their inaugural vintage 1997. However, the everyday winemaking is since 1998 done by chief winemaker Darice Spinelli. She’s been working at Inglenook and Beaulieu Vineyards, and came to Franciscan in 1990, so her knowledge of the terroir in Napa Valley is deep. All wines are more or less made in the same way, but since the expression of terroir is the driving force at Nickel & Nickel, adjustments in viticulture as well as winemaking is done to enhance as much of each vineyards expression as possible.

“It may be that we harvest the grapes in the various vineyards at different maturity levels, ferment them at different temperatures, work with different length of maceration and oak ageing, and use different proportion of new oak for different wines, and different vintages”, Dirk says.

From making six different wines in 1997, the wine list has grown to around 25 different wines every vintage. “It’s a great challenge to understand all these terroirs, and making the best wines out of them, but that’s also to great fun about my job”, Darice adds. And she’s doing her job very well – the wines from Nickel & Nickel are very good indeed, and they shows the width, diversity and complexity of the terroir in Napa Valley. Production stretches from 25 000 to 30 000 cases per year, of which the 12-13 cabernets counts for around 50 percent.

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon John G Sullenger / 93-95 p

This wine comes from the estate vineyard John G Sullenger in the heartland of Oakville, where the soil is dominated by clay with some gravel. This is quite often one of the most complex and finest in the line up of cabernets from Nickel & Nickel. As all four wines in this tasting, it’s youthful and a bit closed, even though the nose is quite intense. Dark ripe berries such as black currants and blueberries, lead pencil and cedar tree dominates the aroma profile, and with some air the typical Bordeaux like complexity start to show. With that, one finds the first signs of the great classic complexity so often found in this wine, with a few more years of bottle age. The oak, the upbringing took place in 43 percent new French oak during 16 months, is very well integrated, and just adds complexity and some structure. There’s a good mouthfeel, it’s rich and intense with loads of dark berry fruit, but it’s fresh and elegant rather than full bodied and cloying, I would say it’s concentraded with a great classic complexity, and the taste lingers for a minute or so, with a fine but still youthful tannic structure and a lively acidity. It would benefit from a few more years of bottle age, but the way to enjoy this wine is to keep it for at least ten years. This count for all cabernet wines from Nickel & Nickel.

Drink it 2013-2027

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon CC Ranch / 91-92 p

The grapes for this wine comes from a 6.10 hectares fraction of the CC Ranch vineyard, which covers 46.50 hectares on gentle rolling hills in the easter part of Rutherford, very close to Frog’s Leap vineyards. The soil is dominated by weatheres gravel. This wine is a bit more dense, fruit intense and sweetish than the John G Sullenger, therefore (at this stage of maturity) it doesn’t show the same finesse, range of nuances and complexity. Still, it is delicious, almost impressive, and based on the evolution in the glass (during the 15 minutes I tasted the wine), it will evolve into something more elevant over the coming years. As with most wines from Nickel & Nickel, the oak (in this case 16 months in 46 percent new French oak) is well integrated, therefore in full harmony with the fruit. On the palate, its medium towards more full bodied, rich and although with a young and relatively firm tannic structure, almost silky thanks to the glycerol like fruit texture, and inte the long aftertaste there’s abundant of ripe and lush blueberry like fruit, fine tannins, a hint of oak as well as a energic touch of minerals. Although it’s the best today drinking wine of the quartet, I’d love to come back to it in a few years time to taste the beauty that’s today a bit covered by the lush fruit. An hour in a decanter would help the wine to find part of that already today.

Drink it 2011-2025

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon State Ranch / 92-93 p

For some reason, this was the first time I tasted a wine from this vineyard, so my knowledge of is is close to zero. However, it was a great first taste – love at first sight! Looking for a very fine wine with a neoclassic and true Napa Valley expression, this wine may be a one to look after. It offers a relatively open and expressive nose with dark, ripe fruit with cassis flavors as well as black olives, lead pencil, ceder tree, tobacco and just a fine fragrance of the new oak (43 percent new, for 17 months) that may be described as a cup of coffee being served in the room next to where you stand. On the palate, it is medium bodied with intensity and a good depth and length, but the tannins and minersality still holds the fruit body back, making the wine firm and a bit closed. It took around ten minutes to really get the flavors free flowing, then the wine tasted just glorious. The alcohol, around 14.5 percent, gives the wine a warm aftertaste, but I guess that’s just because the lushness and body is a bit closed due to the firm structure. With some air, aromas of cedar tree, tobacco and lead pencils shines through the taste, especially in the aftertaste, and I really enjoy that. It’s a true example of the greatness of Yountville. I’d keept this wine for several more years.

Drink it 2013-2027

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Branding Iron / 91-92 p

Branding Iron is a 1.60 hectare vineyard on a gentle slope inbeteween the famous Martha’s Vineyard and Harris Vineyard in the western part of Oakville. It’s truly a great location – the vines are exposed to sunshine all day long, therefore the wine often gets a ripe fruit flavor. Still, it’s often a very elegant wine fashioned in a classic way, but compared to the wine from State Ranch it’s (as expected) richer, slightly more fruit driven and almost sweetish. There’s also a bit more oak spicyness here, although the oak regime is the same (43 percent new French oak, for 17 months), but I find it common that oak flavors tend to taste more obvious in riper wines, as if the fruit sweetness enhances the oak tannins and flavors rather than cover it. This doesn’t make the wine lesser interesting, just different, and for me ripe fruit and spicy oak (well, it’s not that spricy) tells me I have to wait a few more years before the wines true complexity reveals itself (for instance, I found many Napa Valley cabernets from 1997 to be too sweet and too oaky in the beginning – now many of them are fabulous). The lush fruit gives the wine a richer and fuller body and a more silky texture, which I find very attractive rather than complex, and also makes me wanting to serve this wine to richer dishes. Still there is enough tannin and fine acidity for making the wine keep in the cellar for a long time. Drinking it today, which is also recommended, I’d give it an hour in a decanter to let the wine open up a bit.

Drink it 2011-2025

2005 Zinfandel Ponzo Vineyard two styles

Russian River Valley is home to many fine zinfandel wines. The slightly cooler climate, compared to that of neighboring Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valley up north, results in a slower ripening process with more intense perfumes and a fresher acidity, and quite often a more elegant and lighter colored fruit flavor. The Ponzo Vineyard is situated off the Old Redwood Highway, just south of Healdsburg, and it’s owned and farmed by the Ponzo cousins, Phil and Bob. The vineyard was originally planted in 1900, and there’s still around 4.25 hectares of vines from that year. Later on it was expanded with more blocks and it survived through the prohibition thanks to the admittance of making 200 gallons of wine per year and household over the country. Later on, some vines were replanted, and new blocks were planted, almost four hectares in 1985 and five hectares in 1999 and 2000. In the older blocks, some Carignane and Petite Sirah vines are planted mixed with the Zinfandel wines.

2005 Zinfandel Ponzo Vineyard from Ridge Vineyards / 90-91 p
This blend of 97 percent of old vines Zinfandel and three percent Petite Sirah comes from three distinct lots within the vineyard, the Old Vine Block, Triangle Block and Back Block. This may be one of the reasons for being so different from the Nickel & Nickel selection. Another reason is the different oak philosophy – at Ridge all wines are raised in American oak barrels. For the old time winemaker Paul Draper, it’s crucial to make the wines to be age worthy, and therefore they always show a good balance and a great structure. Compared to the previous wine, this wine offers a deeper and more concentrated body, not that it is sweeter, it just slightly more ripe and intense. Still it’s a bit closed compared to what I expected. Using American oak may often result in a sweetish and vanilla like flavor in the wine, but there are no such flavors here, which I find positive. Tannins are present but ripe, so there’s no bitterness whatsoever. To be a Ridge wine, alcohol is quite high – 14.9 percent – but it is very well integrated. As always with these wines, they need time to open up and show all their glory, and even if it’s good to drink today, I recommend just a few more years of cellaring for this particular wine.
Drink it 2012-2025.

2005 Zinfandel Ponzo Vineyard from Nickel & Nickel / 89-90 p
Nickel & Nickel are more famous for their Napa Valley tier of cabernet wines from various vineyard of interesting terroir, and they are also the ones to really look after. For this wine, they lease and work since 1997 with a 4.45 hectare block of dry farmed vines planted in 1920 in the Ponzo Vineyard (this is one of only two zinfandels they make. Compared to the Ridge wine, this is a bit lighter and less concentrated, and it also shows a bit more red fruit. Ripeness is most likely more or less the same, at least both wines are dry and both have the same level of alcohol (in this wine, 15.0 percent). The main thing that separates these two wines is the tannic structure, that in the Nickel & Nickel wine is much more marked, and therefore it seems to be a bit younger. Also the acidity is slightly higher, and the oak – French in this case – is actually a bit more present, especially in the aftertaste. All these characteristics corresponds pretty much to what is expected from Nickel & Nickel – their philosophy if a bit more French in that sense. It’s a good wine, but not great, and I suspect it to be a bit more elegant in a few years from now.
Drink it 2012-2020.