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Wine Information
2009 Ridge Zinfandel Lytton Estate®
Varietal Information, 71% Zinfandel
29% Petite Sirah
History
In 1972, Ridge made its first Lytton Springs from vines planted here at the turn of the century, and purchased both the eastern and western portions of the vineyard in the early 1990s, (In the 1870s, under "Captain" William Litton's ownership, the two were part of one property; spelling evolved into "Lytton" by 1903.) Occasionally, as in 2006, certain of the vineyard blocks may be of top quality but we choose to hold them out of the Lytton Springs because their inclusion would add too much ripeness, or, in this case, tannin. Instead, we combine these wines to make the Lytton Estate. The wine is fermented using only naturally occurring yeast, and is aged in air-dried american oak.
Vintage
Harvest Date: 11 September - 4 October
Grapes: Average brix 26.0 degrees
Fermentation: Natural primary and secondary. Pressed at six days.
Barrels: 100% air-dried american oak barrels (25% new, 20% one year old, 55% four to five years old)
Aging: Fourteen months in barrel
Growing Season
Rainfall: 34 inches (below normal)
Bloom: Late-May
Weather: Dry winter saved by spring rains and followed by a warm, dry summer.
Winemaking
All estate-grown grapes, hand harvested. Destemmed and crushed. Fermented on the native yeasts, followed by full malolactic on naturally-occurring bacteria. 0.78 grams/liter tartaric acid and a total of 1.8 % rehydration during fermentation; minimum effective sulfur (35 ppm at crush, 197 ppm over the course of aging). Pad filtered at bottling. In keeping with our philosophy of minimal intervention, this is the sum of our actions.
