Shared this ystrday w/ John:
1. Ridge Primitivo LyttonEstate/DryCreekVlly/SonomaCnty (95% Primitivo/5% Carignan; 14.6%; 43 brls; bttld 12/2015;
Drk: 10/15-10/20-10/21: JO) 2014
: Very dark color; strong blackberry/Zin/earthy/dusty some licorice/pungent very light vanilla/oak somewhat different nose; rather tart/tannic/tangy/rough/bit coarse rather blackberry/licorice/pungent/Zin very light vanilla/oak bit rough/coarse structured flavor w/ modest rough/hard tannins; fairly long tart/tangy/rough rather blackberry/licorice/Zin light vanilla/oak structured finish w/ some rough/hard tannins; some like a Pagani Zin but clearly different from most Ridge Zins; more of a licorice/pungent character and not the high-toned character of most Ridge Zins; a bit on the rough/coarse/raspy side for a Ridge Zin. $34.00 (ATP)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Primitivo, by DNA, has been shown to be identical to Zinfandel and Tribidrag. Yet the two instances when I've seen Zin & Primitivo planted side-by-side, they look, to my untrained eye, distinctly different. The growers with whom I've talked, seem to prefer Primitivo because the bunches ripen much more evenly than Zin. I suspect the reason that we don't see more Primitivo wines is because that is not a lot of new Zin planting going on in Calif.
Ridge planted Primitivo in LyttonWest some yrs ago when material brought in from Apulia became available from FPS. In the past, the Ridge Primitivos have not showm much, if any, difference from the standard Ridge Zins. This '14 version, though, seems quite a bit different from the standard Ridge Zin fare. Maybe the best Ridge Primitivo yet, though not hardly a profound wine.
Tom