Stephen Brook: Very deep red. Ripe, sweet cherry-andraspberry nose, with no trace of jamminess; oak gives a vanilla lift and a light smokiness. Medium-bodied, sleek, and intense, with quite high acidity; red fruits. Lean but not pinched, tight and less fleshy than many Zins, elegant but a touch tame and frankly a lighter style, but none the worse for that. Good length 17

Alex Hunt: This wine shows too much oxidative influence for me, with a baked-fruit character and a lot of cidery aldehydes on the nose. It’s a pity, because there is evidence of good depth. The palate suffers similarly, though to a lesser extent, with booming raisiny fruit, slightly shrill acidity, and a lack of real punch in the middle. [NB: I don’t feel this bottle was representative. I drank the same wine in April and found it fresh and delightful. Oddly enough, that was a replacement for a corked bottle of Geyserville 2007—which together with today’s results gives me cause for concern. Out of four bottles of Ridge I’ve had this year, three have been out of condition. Either my bad luck or time for them to change cork supplier…] 13