Ridge Vineyards : Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

Characteristics and Tasting Notes for the Ridge Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2023

Tasting Notes

Appearance
The wine reveals a beautiful purple hue, deep and intense.

Nose
The aromatic bouquet opens with notes of blackberry and blueberry, accented by touches of mint and juniper berries. The whole is underscored by perfectly integrated woody and toasted nuances.

Palate
Generous and enveloping, the palate reveals flavors of black fruit, spice and coffee, enhanced by a subtle mineral undertone. The tannins, both firm and silky, bring superb tension that stretches into a long, elegant and complex finish.

Food and Wine Pairings
This cuvée will pair wonderfully with full-bodied meats, such as a slow-simmered beef stew, delicious grilled lamb chops or pork chops.

Serving and Cellaring
The Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 will reveal its full potential when served at a temperature between 16 and 18°C. With an excellent structure, this wine has an ageing potential of more than 15 years, allowing it to be enjoyed until around 2038.

The elegance of a great American Cabernet from the Santa Cruz Mountains

The Estate
Officially founded in 1962, Ridge Vineyards is a true institution in California. Although the site's history dates back to 1885, it was in the 1960s that the estate truly took off. Now led by John Olney and owned by the Otsuka Pharmaceutical group, the estate stands out for its pre-industrial approach and organic certification. Spread across the Santa Cruz Mountains and Sonoma County, the vineyard produces exceptional terroir-driven wines, combining respect for tradition with highly precise regenerative viticulture.

The Vineyard
The grapes come exclusively from the historic Monte Bello vineyard, located within the Santa Cruz Mountains appellation. Rising to an altitude of between 400 and 800 meters, this exceptional terroir is characterized by poor, clay-limestone soils. The vines, fully certified organic, benefit from a cool climate shaped by the influence of the Pacific Ocean, allowing for slow, optimal ripening of the berries while limiting their vigor to encourage excellent concentration.

The Vintage
2023 stood out for particularly abundant rainfall, well above the usual averages. The growing season proved noticeably cooler and later than the previous one, pushing flowering back to June. These climatic conditions imposed a very slow ripening pace, leading to a harvest spread out between September 9 and October 5, ensuring lovely freshness without any risk of overripeness.

Winemaking and Aging
For the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2023, the grapes are hand-harvested, carefully sorted and then destemmed. Fermentation takes place with whole berries, relying exclusively on native yeasts, followed by natural malolactic fermentation. This American wine then undergoes an extended aging period of 17 months in air-dried American oak barrels, 52% of which are new, in keeping with a resolutely low-intervention philosophy.

Grape Varieties
This wine is crafted from a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc.