Wine of the week: A cosmic zin

published 16 November 2011

2009 Ridge, Lytton Springs, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, California (about £32.50, The Sampler, 020-7225 5091; Planet of the Grapes, 020-7405 4912; Richard Dawes, 020-7924 4300).

This is a legendary wine that, although very short stocked this year, is still available from a few merchants (and at very differing prices), so act fast. I opened a few bottles ten days ago for one of my Quintessentially Wine Masterclasses and it was the wine of the night! Ridge is the go-to zinfandel estate in California and winemaker Paul Draper is widely acknowledged as one of the world's greatest vinous visionaries.

This cuve was first made, from 80-year-old vines, back in 1972. One of Lytton Springs' strengths is that it is the antithesis of the American palate's favourite style of zin. It is not a huge, 16% alcohol, headachy, 100% zinfandel, but a cunning blend of 71% zinfandel, 23% petite sirah, and 6% carignan. It is 14.5% alcohol, but it doesn't taste like it, and there is no portiness or dragon's breath heat when you take a sip. This is one of the velvetiest and most delicious cosmic reds I have tasted in ages. It spent 14 months in American oak, with only a smidgen (18%) new, so the seasoning and spice is perfect, too. This is one of the finest value, great red wines in the world.

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Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (see www.matthewjukes.com).

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.