Ridge Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

Intense and layered, elegant and so refined, this is one of the most delicious Cabernet Sauvignons made anywhere in the world today. Like many of their extraordinary wines, this is technically a field blend and is made up, for the 2018 vintage, of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot. We are right in the heart of the old-fashioned Left-Bank make up, yet we are also a long way from it. The soils and climate are essentially the biggest difference to the wine, as it's clear that the Ridge ethos is very definitively French and traditionally old-school in its outlook. Terroir-focused, low-intervention, organic and low-extraction levels, French oak and no fining or filtering - in fact, some of their practices are too French for many Bordelais... So the dry earth, mineral substructures and cooling Pacific breezes, warm continental air mass from the East: these are the defining aspects in the Ridge arsenal. The winemaking is incredibly simple - natural fermentation with native yeasts; natural spontaneous malo-lactic fermentation; very low sulphur additions; 4 egg whites per barrel to reduce tannins; and gentle depth-filtration at bottling. Plain and simple and frighteningly brave.

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