Rabbit Ridge Zinfandel

[bakadue]

Any comments on Rabbit Ridge Zinfandel?

[mrdutton]

Been a while since I've bought and drunk some.

In my humble opinion, any juice from Rabbit Ridge is good to outstanding!!

[winedope]

love the zinfandel and any other of their wines, as well. Haven't been disappointed yet. WD

[winoweenie]

Hi backadue. Erich Russell makes MANY different Zins. His most popular and widely distributed is the Sonoma appellation. He makes exceptional juice. Some of his single-vineyard and reserve zins are 35 per. WW

[Kcwhippet]

So, what's going to happen to all that production in light of recent events?

[Thomas]

Which events? Have I missed soemthing?

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 01-17-2002).]

[Innkeeper]

They closed his operation down for overproduction. Heard he is moving the whole business someplace else.

[Kcwhippet]

Initially, his problems began when he built seven new buildings at the winery without taking out any of the required permits from the county. He and the county went back and forth for over a year, and they finally took away his current use permit which allowed him to produce up to 25,000 cases a year. Well, he was making 270,000 cases of wine, which was over ten times what he was allowed. That took him back to his original permit which allowed something like 3,000 cases production. He then said he was going to pull up stakes and relocate to Paso Robles, which he said was "wine friendly". Last I heard, he had paid about $800,000 in fines to restore his permit and dismantled the seven buildings. I believe he's still intending to relocate. I don't know how he's currently getting around the 25,000 case restriction on production. What a mess!