Originally available only to members of the Ridge winery ATP club, this wine has been long sold-out on the marketplace.

2005 Zinfandel Old School
bottled February 2007
94% Zinfandel, 6% Petite Sirah

From the Winery:

"In the 1870s, the Independence School was built to serve the farming families south of Geyserville. Ridge first made this wine in 2003, with grapes from several small vineyard parcels in the former school district, and called it "Independence School." In 2005, we again selected the ripest fruit from four parcels; for the Advance Tasting Program bottling, we have renamed the wine "Old School." Warm autumn weather in this year's late growing season ripened the fruit and concentrated flavors. Natural-yeast fermentations began on day two; by day six of twice-daily pump-overs, tasting revealed a fine, firm structure, and we pressed. After a natural malolactic in small tanks, the wine was racked to air-dried american oak barrels for settling, and to begin aging. In the first week of the new year, the four parcels were combined and returned to barrel. This rich, complex zinfandel has layers of earth and spice; enjoyable now, its superb balance will allow further development over the next eight to ten years. EB/PD (12/06)"

From the private cellar of RVSD parents Stephan and Emily Schindler