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The Winter 2015 Live Auction

Auction # 361 | View Auction Schedule and Details
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Auction Ends: 12/11/2015 6:00:00 PM PDT

Lot #136. Ridge Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard 1971

Description: Consists of 12 Bottles, 0.75L

"We looked around and in 1971 Milt Eisele offered us the grapes from his small parcel of vines near Calistoga.  At 25° Brix the grapes were riper than anything we had yet harvested in our cool region.  I fermented them in small, one ton fermentors with the cap held submerged by a grid.  To make sure the wine would be full and intense, I did not press until the biblical “40 days and 40 nights” had passed and the caps had fallen to the bottom of the fermentors.  The wine was very structured but with time it integrated fully and has shown beautifully over the years." - Longtime winemaker Paul Draper, 4488 A Ridge Blog, 2 May 2009

Score: 97 JL.
"There are some wines, due to their extreme rarity and elusiveness, I never think I am going to taste. 1971 Ridge Eisele was one of those wines. I will probably never see another bottle. But the experience is not one I will forget. Spice box, coconut, earth, black cherry liqueur, tobacco, cedar and fennel notes were enough to keep my interest. On the palate, the wine is soft, clean, fresh and packed with blackberry and cherry notes. This was still going strong at over 40 years of age." Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider, Jun 2013
Notes: OC. 8 base neck or better, 4 very top shoulder, 3 very lightly stained labels.
Read about SWA's Six Point Inspection Process and how to read the condition notes.
Lot Location: Orange County
Estimate: $20,000

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