1999 Pine Ridge Napa " Rutherford District "

[newsguy]

($29.99) This bottle is one of the oldest that I have that I purchased on release and stored myself. In general, I love Pine Ridge and their's is one of the few wine clubs I belong to. They always give great bang for the buck.

Decided to pop this baby last night to go with a little celebratory meal I was making (aged, spice-rubbed N.Y. strips, wild mushroom cous cous and cheesy-grilled tomatoes). The wine was in the part of its drinking window that, for my palate, is the sweet spot. The tannins have fairly softened and the wine has taken on some of the secondary characteristics of maturity, but still loaded with distinctive youthful fruit. Lots of dark fruit (plums, cassis), a hint of cherry and tons of chocolate on the very long finish. Still good acidity, and this just got better with more time in the decanter. If you prefer youthful, I'd drink over the next two years. If you like mature, I'd guess this will start entering that period of its life on its 10th birthday. Either way, you can't lose. 92 points.

like WW always says, it's all about provenance.

[This message has been edited by newsguy (edited 01-17-2007).]