A big wine, as you'd expect from Ridgecrest in 1999. Great acidity and structure, with a tightly wound fruit component of dusty blackberry, licorice, ripe red plum. There is a weighty emollience bordering on velvet, but with a layer of fine tannin as underpinning, hopefully for aging. Alcohol is there, but the wine is still balanced, by virtue of the big, sweet fruit. As good as we've done from the 7 acre block.

Rating for United States-Oregon: 92 (good year)<br/><br/>Drinkability: young, aging quickly, could be good now<br/>