Pine Ridge

Pine Ridge Winery, Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford 2001 ($37) -- Napa Valley, California. Last month I served a bottle of the 1997 Howell Mountain Cabernet when a friend came by one afternoon and I grabbed a bottle from the wine rack. I had forgotten that I had paid $70 for this gem, but half way through the bottle I remembered that I had meant to save this for a special occassion. Whoops! I love you man!, but not that much! Next time, you get the Mt. Veeder. (Oh yeah, it was very good on that Saturday afternoon! The wine rep who sells Pine Ridge saw the empty bottle and asked me where I got it! "How did you get that bottle, it's allocated?")

The 2001 Rutherford has a deep red color, with a seductive fruit-filled nose and pleasant well-rounded taste with a good, long finish. There's a lot of fresh fruit here, and this is good now as an opening round to dinner, or with a juicy steak! (Vegeterians take heart, I am working on some wine selections for my favorite tofu dish!) This wine can stand to cellar for awhile, but for a 2001 it is tasty now and should improve. Now, I just need to work on that tofu buffalo-wings dish!