Food & Wine’s Top Wines of 2019

Food & Wine Magazine

December, 2019

Food & Wine Executive Wine Editor Ray Isle recently published his annual review of the top wines of the year and named East Bench among the best bottles he drank in 2019.

“Every month in the print edition of Food & Wine, I publish a short column called ‘What Ray’s Drinking.’ It’s a snapshot of what I’m particularly intrigued by or find impossible to resist at that given moment in the year. As a result, this isn’t the typical best-of-2019 story—it skews more toward momentary passions, and, thankfully, an abundance of fairly affordable bottles…it’s a short portrait of my year in bottles, and also (I hope) a great guide for some last-minute holiday shopping.”

2016 Ridge East Bench Zinfandel

I retasted this seductive Sonoma County red not too long ago and was reminded once more that California’s premier Zinfandel specialist really does make killer Zins. This one bowls you over with wild blackberry, dark chocolate, and spice notes, yet it somehow never seems too big or too ripe.