2012 Mill Zinfandel

Black cherry, plum, dark chocolate, and hint of allspice on the nose. Blackberry and rose petal on the palate. Med-full body with chalky tannin and bright, fresh acidity. Well-balanced with a nice long finish.

Ridge has long produced a single zinfandel from York Creek. In 2012, however, two parcels—Mill and Kite Hill—were so distinctive that we bottled them separately. “Mill” derives its name from the small log mill that still stands at the base of the block. After fermentation, we added petite sirah from a neighboring parcel for depth of color. The wine’s sumptuous fruit and firm structure is typical of mountain-grown zinfandel. It will evolve fully over the next five years. JO (1/14)

The Mill is a parcel on the York Creek vineyard which is located high on Spring Mountain, overlooking St. Helena and the Napa Valley from the west. Ridge has produced zinfandel from York Creek since 1975. The four-acre vineyard block sits at elevations ranging from 1600 to 1800 feet. The vines were planted in 1990 on well-drained gravelly loam soils, with the 2012 vintage giving us just over three tons per acre. The wine is very well balanced with rich black cherry and plum aromas alongside hints of dark chocolate, allspice and rose petal.

Rainfall: Twenty-four inches (below average)
Bloom: Mid-May
Weather: A warm spring and a long, mild summer

Harvest dates: 25 September
Grapes: Average brix 26.4°
Fermentation: Grapes destemmed and crushed, pumped over a floating cap and pressed at six days.
Barrels: 100% air-dried american oak barrels (20% new, 40% one and two years old, 40% three and four years old).
Time in barrel: Fourteen months

York Creek Vineyard grapes, hand harvested; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; 0.8 grams/liter tartaric acid added during fermentation; 3.4 % water addition; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 286 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.

The International Wine Report (October 2016): 93 Points – “The 2012 Ridge ‘Mill’ Zinfandel has 25% Petite Sirah blended in. The wine has lovely weight and texture, as the wine glides through the mid-palate with flavors of red cherries, sagebrush, wild blackberry and black plum all take shapw in the glass. Like the other Ridge Zinfandel’s the structure of this wine is stunning. There is some wonderful aging potential with this expressive Zinfandel. (Best 2016-2025)” – (OB)

Average Rating: 89.8

No. of Tasting Notes: 48

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