2022 East Bench Zinfandel

Strawberry, dark chocolate and garrigue on the nose. Well-coated tannins, present acidity and structure with notes of blackberry, cherry, black olive and cigar box. Classic Dry Creek zinfandel. SR (1/24)

In iron-rich soil atop the benchland overlooking Dry Creek Valley, this vineyard is planted solely to zinfandel. For the third year in a row, the vines set a smaller crop and ripened quickly. Blocks 2 and 7 were ready first on August 19. The six remaining blocks were picked by August 23. An excellent example of both varietal and site, this classic zinfandel will be at its best over the next ten years. SR (9/23)

Ridge has made the East Bench as a single vineyard since 2006, one of the few Ridge zinfandels that is 100% zinfandel. The vineyard sits high atop the bench land that overlooks Dry Creek Valley from the east.

Rainfall: 20 inches (below average)
Bloom: Mid May
Weather: 2022 was the third year of drought. Thankfully, we received spring rains that helped the vines. These same rains caused shatter in our zinfandel, reducing their crop. Two heat spells pushed the vines to another early harvest.

Harvest Dates: 19 – 23 August
Grapes: Average Brix 23.5˚
TA: 7.39 g/L
pH: 3.64
Fermentation: Natural primary and natural secondary (malolactic) fermentations.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (19% new, 9% one year old, 8% two years old, and 64% five plus years old).
Aging: Fourteen months in barrel

Hand-harvested; estate-grown organic grapes; destemmed and crushed; fermented on the indigenous yeast, followed by a full malolactic on the naturally occurring bacteria; oak from barrel aging; minimum effective sulfur for this wine (35 ppm at crush, 90 ppm during aging); pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.

Zinfandel Chronicles: 93 Points “Bright crimson in color. 14.9% ABV. 100% Zinfandel from Funsten Ranch in the Dry Creek Valley. Stunning nose of red fruits, roasted herbs and flowers. Medium body with ample acidity. Loaded with bright fruits. Well balanced. Cherries, strawberry and white pepper on the palate. Nice length on the finish. One of the better Zins from Dry Creek. Best over the next 3-5 years.” -Tom Lee (March 2024)

See all food pairing recipes we have created specifically for this wine.