2023 Jimsomare Zinfandel

Nose of black olive, fig, tobacco and sage. Red plum fruit on the palate, mineral notes, firm acid and a long, elegant finish. JO (1/26)

Since 1968, Ridge has produced a Jimsomare Zinfandel from a small six-acre parcel at the lowest part of the Monte Bello vineyard. Cooler than most California growing regions, it is ideal for growing cabernet sauvignon. Here, zinfandel fully ripens but with a lively acidity that combines intense, spicy fruit and rich tannins in a wine that can be enjoyed over the next seven to eight years. JO (1/25)

Since the late 1960s, Ridge has made small quantities of wine from this nineteenth-century vineyard. The vines were planted by Alsatian Pierre Klein, a San Francisco restaurateur. While famous for his Bordeaux-varietal wines, which won gold medals at the Paris Exposition of 1900, it was his zinfandel plantings that survived Prohibition and the Depression. In 1936, the Schwabacher family purchased Klein’s Mira Valle property, re-naming it “Jimsomare,” for James (father and son), Sophie (wife and mother), and Marie Louise (daughter). In 1966, vineyard manager Elmano Homem pruned the long-neglected vines, and brought the vineyard back to life. Ridge first harvested the zinfandel in 1968, and took over the farming of the ranch in 1996 as part of our Monte Bello Estate. We now refer to it by its original owner’s name as the Klein Ranch.

Rainfall: 70 inches (above average)
Bloom: Late June
Weather: Late and prolonged harvest due to consistently cool weather throughout the growing season.

Harvest Date: 3 November
Grapes: Average Brix 24.3˚
pH: 3.61
Fermentation: Grapes were destemmed and fully crushed; fermented with a floating cap.
Barrels: 100% air-dried American oak barrels (10% new, 45% four years old, and 45% five years old).
Aging: Sixteen months in barrel

All estate-grown Monte Bello Vineyard grapes, hand-harvested; destemmed 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 (35 ppm at crush, 133 ppm over the course of aging). In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.