2020 Mazzoni Home Ranch

Rich aromas of tropical fruits, red licorice, cherry and sweet oak. A clean and lively entry with a light body that is balanced with a solid mid structure of rustic tannins. Fresh acidity carries the wine to a long and juicy finish. TG (1/23)

Ridge first made wine from the Mazzoni Ranch in 1996. The warm climate and rocky soils provide ideal growing conditions for the traditional field blend of zinfandel, carignane and petitie sirah. In 2020, zinfandel yields were higher and so make up a larger proportion of the final wine. This rich, rustic wine is approachable as a young wine but will continue to develop over the next seven to eight years. JO (2/22)

Giuseppe Mazzoni and his fourteen year-old brother-in-law, Abramo Trusendi, arrived from Italy in 1898 and went straight to work at the Italian Swiss Colony Vineyard Cooperative in Asti, California. In 1899, the two managed to acquire hillside acreage nearby, overlooking Alexander Valley from the west. By 1910 they had built a winery and began making wine. Except for the Prohibition years, the Mazzoni family produced wine there until 1978. They were great believers in the contribution each varietal in a field blend could make to the finished wine. Accordingly, their century-old zinfandel is inter-planted with carignane, which adds elegance and lively acidity, and petite sirah, which provides spice and depth. Mazzoni Home Ranch was purchased in 1988 by Niccolo and Flora Oltranti. They have replanted parts of the abandoned hillside, and in some years we will include a small amount from these younger zinfandel vines.

Rainfall: 18 inches (below normal)
Bloom: Late May
Weather: Rains in March and April helped the vines get through the summer. We were just starting harvest when the heat hit in August.

Harvest Dates: 20 & 21 August
Grapes: Average Brix 23.9˚
TA: 6.30 g/L
pH: 3.60
Fermentation: Full crush, 100% natural primary and secondary fermentation, 100% floating cap.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (20% new, 15% one year old, 15% two years old, and 50% four and five years old).
Aging: Eighteen months in barrel

All Mazzoni Home Ranch hand-harvested grapes; de-stemmed and crushed; fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on the naturally-occurring bacteria; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35ppm at crush, 86ppm over the course of aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

Wine & Spirits: 91 Points “Recent arrivals from Italy, Giuseppe Mazzoni and Abramo Trusendi planted this vineyard in the western hills of Alexander Valley in 1900. They worked with a mix of zinfandel, petite sirah and carignane, 9.6 acres of which are still producing today. Niccolo and Flora Oltranti purchased the property in 1988 and planted four acres of carignane and zinfandel in the 1990s. John Olney produced a savory and elegant field blend from Mazzoni in 2020, with plush red- and black-currant flavors that last. Smokiness brings a warm, brash edge to that elegance, with tomatillo notes. Available only to mailing list members.” -J.G. (April 2023)

Wine Enthusiast: 91 Points “This bold wine comes from a field blend of Zinfandel, Carignan and Petite Sirah grapes grown in rocky soil. Its ripe flavors and ample tannins will make a good counterpoint to pair with a good, fatty pasta or meat main course.” -Jim Gordon (November 2023)

Average Rating: 89.5

No. of Tasting Notes: 15

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