Dense black fruit flavors are underlined by warm spice and give way to charred oak in this robust wine. The vines of ‘Dragon Ridge’ produce big, rich wines that stand on their own or pair with bold, flavorful dishes.
Specs
Vintage: 2021
Varietal: 77.6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15.7% Petite Sirah, 6.7% Mixed Reds
Appellation: Lodi, California
Alcohol 14.5%
Total Acidity: 6.0 g/L
pH: 3.60
Residual Sugar: 4.0 g/L
2021 Dragon Ridge Red Wine Blend, Lodi
Tasting Notes
Layered brambleberry flavors are framed by firm tannins segue to a persistent finish in this complex wine.
Concentrated blackberry flavors are accentuated by toasted oak and supportive tannins in this bold wine.
Specs
Vintage: 2021
Varietal: 81.8% Zinfandel, 12.5% Petite Sirah, 5.7% Mixed Reds
Appellation: Lodi, California
Alcohol 15%
Total Acidity: 6.1 g/L
pH: 3.75
Residual Sugar: 7.0 g/L
What’s Included
6-bottles:
6x 2021 Dragon Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon OR
6x 2021 Dragon Ridge Red Wine Blend OR
6x 2021 Dragon Ridge Old Vine Zinfandel OR
2x 2021 Dragon Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon
2x 2021 Dragon Ridge Red Wine Blend
2x 2021 Dragon Ridge Old Vine Zinfandel Case:
4x 2021 Dragon Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon
4x 2021 Dragon Ridge Red Wine Blend
4x 2021 Dragon Ridge Old Vine Zinfandel OR
12x 2021 Dragon Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon OR
12x 2021 Dragon Ridge Red Wine Blend OR
12x 2021 Dragon Ridge Old Vine Zinfandel
Price Comparison
MSRP: $276 per case ($23/bottle)
About The Winery
Winery: Dragon Ridge
Location: Lodi, California
These wines are the stuff of legends, celebrated for their timeless allure and storied heritage.
Lodi is one of the most storied growing regions of California’s Central Valley, where vines used to grow along the river’s edge. It’s most well-known for old, fortuitous vines that produce wines of strength and character. The mountain range to the east resembles a sleeping dragon, one that overlooks and protects the vineyards, often cloaked in the early morning fog that burns to sun in the afternoon.
Dragon Ridge Wines are sourced from two vineyards in Lodi – Mettler Vineyards and Alabama Ranch Vineyard. Both vineyards are located in the Borden Ranch sub-appellation, which is known for having well-drained, deep red soil that produces well-structured and concentrated red wines. Fruit from Mettler Vineyards gives the wines a blackberry and currant flavor profile, while the fruit from Alabama Ranch provides the earthy nuances. Using Flash Détente technology, we are able to craft wines with impeccable balance, color, and structure each vintage.
When did Kentucky get added to the list? The direct to consumer laws changed in 2020 and 2021, but the last time I check Meh’s fulfillment company hadn’t signed up.
@craigthom I noticed Kentucky on the Casemates shipping list also, and have tried it - success! Previously I had to use my son’s business address in Ohio, but now it goes to the UPS store nearby in KY.
@craigthom Since these shipments are direct from the winery, the local availability is dependent upon whether the actual winery has authorization to ship to you. As fas as I know, Meh/Mercatalyst has no permits themselves. (That’s hardly surprising, given how much of a horrible mess of unclear, conflicting and overlapping jurisdictions, regulations and prohibitions are out there. Within a few miles of my house, there’s a legacy dry town whose boundaries are still off-limits to alcohol deliveries even though the town got swallowed up by the larger city long ago. There’s even a restaurant whose building straddles the old town limit, with the result that one half is wet and the other half is dry.)
@werehatrack@InFrom the description says that Wine Country Direct is the fulfillment house for these sales. They need to have the license to ship to Kentucky and collect the taxes; the individual wineries do not.
@craigthom@werehatrack That’s not accurate. Every Casemates offer carries that same statement, and the ship-to list for each offer depends on which states’ licenses the winery has purchased.
Not entirely sure, but I was able to get some a few months back! Though, from what I understand, it does depend on the winery/fulfillment organization whether they will ship to KY. So not all deals work for us
Last time I ordered a case of wine here I had a heck of time actually getting it. That was my first time purchasing any wine to be delivered. It obviously had to be received by someone over 21. There were no options for when it would be delivered, or redelivered. Unfortunately I have a job and was at work when deliveries were attempted. I ended up having to pay the shipping company (just looked at the box and looks like it was through UPS) an extra fee for the convenience of picking it up at one of their locations. Luckily I was able to pick it up before it was sent back, but that was very difficult due to my schedule. Anybody have any input on how I can make arrangements for a delivery I can actually receive? Or if it is possible to have it shipped to my work which is open 24/7 and have someone there sign for it?
@phoebus13 Depends on your work, of course, but I’ve always had wine shipped to my workplace for the reasons you mention. The receptionist signs for it and I’ve never had an issue.
@phoebus13 sign up for UPS MyChoice and the free tier will allow it to be held at the UPS distribution center for pickup or for delivery on a different date…this should be free. Paying the $5 to have it held at a UPS access point (like UPS Stores, Michael’s, or CVS) seems to be what most do. Pay the $20/year for the paid UPS MyChoice and an access point will hold it for free…at least the UPS Store will (which is what I always use). With UPS MyChoice, you can set up notifications so they will notify you whenever you have a package on the way…that’s when you can go to the UPS website or app and set it to hold at UPS access point (for up to 5 days IIRC).
@datruandi@phoebus13 at the Distribution Center it used to be free holds, but I don’t know these days…I’ve been paying for yearly UPS MyChoice for 2 or 3 years now, so I always just hold at UPS Store.
@phoebus13@TimW My experience is you can get the free notifications and tracking, but redirect will need payment either per-shipment or yearly fee. The fee isn’t too bad I suppose, but miss the days when we used FedEx and redirect to a FedEx Office was free (not sure if it still is). Both will hold for a week, which is fine as long as you’re not away on a longer trip or something. My local UPS store did have a shipment longer than the specified time and eventually called me saying they were about to send it back and I said I’d come in the next day and it all worked out. (I was about 3 hours away at the coast but was planning to come back home, so was able to stop at the UPS store the same day).
@phoebus13@pmarin@TimW
We’ve had several instances of wine delivery when we weren’t home and the driver just left it on our porch. But 1) we live out in the country and have a 100+ ft long driveway and 2) we know the UPS driver socially (our kids dated in high school).
@macromeh@phoebus13@TimW Back in the Covid days (weird to think fondly about that time), if the regular driver knew I was around, he would leave wine in an enclosed screened front porch (So it wasn’t really outside). For a year or so they skipped the signature requirement, ‘cause, pandemic! Those were the days….
@phoebus13@TimW UPS My Choice used to allow free holds at customer counters, but they stopped that a few years ago. It made the service a lot less useful for me. They are also shutting down my local customer counter at the end of the month.
Started hearing really mixed things about '21 smoke taint.
Anyone here have experience with Dragon Ridge from 2021 or other Lodi wines from the time? Is the smoke an actual issue or is it more a nebulous worry?
@SinNYC@vin314 I haven’t kept up with the details of the fires of 2021, but I thought that was more in the Napa/Sonoma area.
This offering is from Lodi - south and east of Sacramento.
@vin314 concerning Lodi wines - I love them! I belong to one wine club, and it’s Michael David from Lodi. They do some phenomenal stuff.
The area’s wine history is of an Italian heritage, so Zinfandel reigns big here. Syrah, Petite Syrah, and Cinsault are other representative varietals. Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon do well there too.
It’s a somewhat more recently developed wine area, so it doesn’t have that Napa/Sonoma snobbery which is sadly evident there at times, which also means you’re not paying their price tags either - good-to-great vino at reasonable prices works for me!
@Kraxberger@vin314 Agree with you that there are some good Lodi wines. You make a good case about the heritage. (and definitely good to stay away from “Napa/Sonoma snobbery.”) For me living in the PNW I’ve become more accustomed to the “cooler climate” reds from WA (or Oregon Pinot Noir). Or at least Lake County or Mendocino appelations. I tend to find a lot of central valleys too “fruit-forward” or whatever word they apply to it. I guess it can work for Zinfandels which are well-known in that region. Hence my hesitancy to go in for this deal, but may worth risking on the mixed-box 6-pack with coupon bonus. What do you think?
@Kraxberger@SinNYC@vin314 For sure 2021 was the Caldor Fire which started way, way east of Lodi and clipped So. Lake Tahoe with southwesterly winds blowing smoke way east. I don’t think the smoke would have affected Lodi. Napa/Sonoma fires were 2017. I can’t think of any fires near Lodi that year. FWIW. Hope that helps.
@pmarin@vin314 LOVE me some NW reds! If the producers of “Sideways” tasted a NW Merlot, the movie would never have been made!
And Oregon Pinot’s have beaten $400 French Burgundies .
For this offer, I’m going in for a 6 pack, just cuz. Never been disappointed by Lodi, especially Zins. Petite Petite (Michael David) is my wife’s favorite; their Earthquake Petite is phenomenal.
The only thing keeping me back is the lack of Lab rats - going in blind!
@danidani12 Found “sourced from two vineyards in Lodi – Mettler Vineyards and Alabama Ranch Vineyard” in the description - might convince me to give this one a go.
Tragically, I had to give up on Casemates and wine from Meh because they ship with UPS and our local UPS doesn’t like getting signatures in apartment buildings and always just marks it as “no one home” (even when I’ve tried chasing their truck down the street) and returns it to sender.
@arielleslie Yeah gotta pay the UPS tax for redirect. I’ve been at home (single residence) and have them post the “sorry we missed you” tag while I was in the kitchen 20 feet away. Doorbell works (I checked it). Also there’s the old knocking-on-door thing has worked for thousands of years. Somehow some UPS drivers are happy to get on their way quickly without much effort. (To be clear I’ve had great UPS drivers too – just not always). When I asked my more regular UPS driver the next day, he said, yeah I was off that day, it was a different driver.
Nothing against Casemates, or the winery, but can you edit the wine bottle out of the photo in the email, and sell that photo on a t-shirt? - just asking for a(ll my) friends.
Not much online about this wine. I did find it for $14.99 a bottle here: https://www.gopuff.com/p/dragon-ridge-cabernet-750ml/p216700
I’ve bought some wine from Casemates/Meh at this price its likely good for serving/bringing to parties or potentially a meh weeknight sipper
I tend to stay away from central valley (CA) sources for red wines – usually too “fruity” for me. Prefer either Northern CA or PNW. But maybe worth trying the mix 6-pack, and with the $10 bonus coupon reduces the risk a bit.
@gellman If I’m not mistaken then the estimated delivery date got changed, too. I could’ve sworn the date was previously going to be just after Labor Day, but it says “Friday, Sep 6 - Monday, Sep 9” now as I’m writing this.
A little communication from you as to when something is to arrive would greatly be appreciated! Latest shipping date i received was 9/3. Here it is 9/8, and now word from you.
So I ordered them weeks ago and they’re still going to arrive at an open ended time during the 4 days that I’m not going to be around to accept the delivery…awesome.
2021 Dragon Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon, Lodi
Tasting Notes
Specs
2021 Dragon Ridge Red Wine Blend, Lodi
Tasting Notes
Specs
2021 Dragon Ridge Old Vine Zinfandel, Lodi
Tasting Notes
Specs
What’s Included
6-bottles:
OR
OR
OR
Case:
OR
OR
OR
Price Comparison
MSRP: $276 per case ($23/bottle)
About The Winery
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Friday, Sep 6 - Monday, Sep 9
Can we get any lab rats in the forum?
/giphy ludicrous-gray-stone
@connorbush Ha! You jest.
Im glad to see they have a 90 day warranty.
For you, if you get the 6 pack.
/youtube red red wine
For you, if you get the 12 pack.
/youtube Jimmy Gilmer bottle of wine
@phendrick Hey, my cousin was the bass player for The Fireballs.
When did Kentucky get added to the list? The direct to consumer laws changed in 2020 and 2021, but the last time I check Meh’s fulfillment company hadn’t signed up.
Now I have to start checking Casemates.
@craigthom If the winery has a license to ship into your state, then Casemates/Meh can ship into your state. If not, not.
@craigthom I noticed Kentucky on the Casemates shipping list also, and have tried it - success! Previously I had to use my son’s business address in Ohio, but now it goes to the UPS store nearby in KY.
@craigthom Since these shipments are direct from the winery, the local availability is dependent upon whether the actual winery has authorization to ship to you. As fas as I know, Meh/Mercatalyst has no permits themselves. (That’s hardly surprising, given how much of a horrible mess of unclear, conflicting and overlapping jurisdictions, regulations and prohibitions are out there. Within a few miles of my house, there’s a legacy dry town whose boundaries are still off-limits to alcohol deliveries even though the town got swallowed up by the larger city long ago. There’s even a restaurant whose building straddles the old town limit, with the result that one half is wet and the other half is dry.)
@werehatrack @InFrom the description says that Wine Country Direct is the fulfillment house for these sales. They need to have the license to ship to Kentucky and collect the taxes; the individual wineries do not.
@craigthom @werehatrack That’s not accurate. Every Casemates offer carries that same statement, and the ship-to list for each offer depends on which states’ licenses the winery has purchased.
Not entirely sure, but I was able to get some a few months back! Though, from what I understand, it does depend on the winery/fulfillment organization whether they will ship to KY. So not all deals work for us
Last time I ordered a case of wine here I had a heck of time actually getting it. That was my first time purchasing any wine to be delivered. It obviously had to be received by someone over 21. There were no options for when it would be delivered, or redelivered. Unfortunately I have a job and was at work when deliveries were attempted. I ended up having to pay the shipping company (just looked at the box and looks like it was through UPS) an extra fee for the convenience of picking it up at one of their locations. Luckily I was able to pick it up before it was sent back, but that was very difficult due to my schedule. Anybody have any input on how I can make arrangements for a delivery I can actually receive? Or if it is possible to have it shipped to my work which is open 24/7 and have someone there sign for it?
@phoebus13 Depends on your work, of course, but I’ve always had wine shipped to my workplace for the reasons you mention. The receptionist signs for it and I’ve never had an issue.
@phoebus13 sign up for UPS MyChoice and the free tier will allow it to be held at the UPS distribution center for pickup or for delivery on a different date…this should be free. Paying the $5 to have it held at a UPS access point (like UPS Stores, Michael’s, or CVS) seems to be what most do. Pay the $20/year for the paid UPS MyChoice and an access point will hold it for free…at least the UPS Store will (which is what I always use). With UPS MyChoice, you can set up notifications so they will notify you whenever you have a package on the way…that’s when you can go to the UPS website or app and set it to hold at UPS access point (for up to 5 days IIRC).
@phoebus13 @TimW I don’t think they do free holds anymore. FedEx yes, but UPS it always prompted me for payment. If I am wrong please correct me
@datruandi @phoebus13 at the Distribution Center it used to be free holds, but I don’t know these days…I’ve been paying for yearly UPS MyChoice for 2 or 3 years now, so I always just hold at UPS Store.
@phoebus13 @TimW My experience is you can get the free notifications and tracking, but redirect will need payment either per-shipment or yearly fee. The fee isn’t too bad I suppose, but miss the days when we used FedEx and redirect to a FedEx Office was free (not sure if it still is). Both will hold for a week, which is fine as long as you’re not away on a longer trip or something. My local UPS store did have a shipment longer than the specified time and eventually called me saying they were about to send it back and I said I’d come in the next day and it all worked out. (I was about 3 hours away at the coast but was planning to come back home, so was able to stop at the UPS store the same day).
@phoebus13 ditto here in the my choice sub. It’s 20/year (used to be 40) and I divert to discount auto parts for pickup at my convenience.
@phoebus13 @pmarin @TimW
We’ve had several instances of wine delivery when we weren’t home and the driver just left it on our porch. But 1) we live out in the country and have a 100+ ft long driveway and 2) we know the UPS driver socially (our kids dated in high school).
@phoebus13 @pmarin I do miss the FedEx days! I could divert to Walgreens which is 3 miles from my house.
@macromeh @phoebus13 @TimW Back in the Covid days (weird to think fondly about that time), if the regular driver knew I was around, he would leave wine in an enclosed screened front porch (So it wasn’t really outside). For a year or so they skipped the signature requirement, ‘cause, pandemic! Those were the days….
@phoebus13 @TimW UPS My Choice used to allow free holds at customer counters, but they stopped that a few years ago. It made the service a lot less useful for me. They are also shutting down my local customer counter at the end of the month.
So is this swill or what??
@marclove What.
@marclove @werehatrack “what” might be OK then?
How big is a bottle? I can’t find that listed on the website
@NoseyBot Same question.
@EvilSmoo @NoseyBot These are standard 750ml wine bottles
@EvilSmoo @NoseyBot BevMo lists them as standard 750 ml bottles (at two for $25).
For winos only
Started hearing really mixed things about '21 smoke taint.
Anyone here have experience with Dragon Ridge from 2021 or other Lodi wines from the time? Is the smoke an actual issue or is it more a nebulous worry?
@vin314 Are you thinking of Ridge Vineyards?
@SinNYC @vin314 I haven’t kept up with the details of the fires of 2021, but I thought that was more in the Napa/Sonoma area.
This offering is from Lodi - south and east of Sacramento.
@vin314 concerning Lodi wines - I love them! I belong to one wine club, and it’s Michael David from Lodi. They do some phenomenal stuff.
The area’s wine history is of an Italian heritage, so Zinfandel reigns big here. Syrah, Petite Syrah, and Cinsault are other representative varietals. Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon do well there too.
It’s a somewhat more recently developed wine area, so it doesn’t have that Napa/Sonoma snobbery which is sadly evident there at times, which also means you’re not paying their price tags either - good-to-great vino at reasonable prices works for me!
@Kraxberger @vin314 Agree with you that there are some good Lodi wines. You make a good case about the heritage. (and definitely good to stay away from “Napa/Sonoma snobbery.”) For me living in the PNW I’ve become more accustomed to the “cooler climate” reds from WA (or Oregon Pinot Noir). Or at least Lake County or Mendocino appelations. I tend to find a lot of central valleys too “fruit-forward” or whatever word they apply to it. I guess it can work for Zinfandels which are well-known in that region. Hence my hesitancy to go in for this deal, but may worth risking on the mixed-box 6-pack with coupon bonus. What do you think?
@Kraxberger @SinNYC @vin314 For sure 2021 was the Caldor Fire which started way, way east of Lodi and clipped So. Lake Tahoe with southwesterly winds blowing smoke way east. I don’t think the smoke would have affected Lodi. Napa/Sonoma fires were 2017. I can’t think of any fires near Lodi that year. FWIW. Hope that helps.
@pmarin @vin314 LOVE me some NW reds! If the producers of “Sideways” tasted a NW Merlot, the movie would never have been made!
And Oregon Pinot’s have beaten $400 French Burgundies .
For this offer, I’m going in for a 6 pack, just cuz. Never been disappointed by Lodi, especially Zins. Petite Petite (Michael David) is my wife’s favorite; their Earthquake Petite is phenomenal.
The only thing keeping me back is the lack of Lab rats - going in blind!
Very tempting but I need someone’s firsthand opinion before I buy
I cannot find anything online about this wine or winery.
@RITBeast same. First time!
@danidani12 Found “sourced from two vineyards in Lodi – Mettler Vineyards and Alabama Ranch Vineyard” in the description - might convince me to give this one a go.
Tragically, I had to give up on Casemates and wine from Meh because they ship with UPS and our local UPS doesn’t like getting signatures in apartment buildings and always just marks it as “no one home” (even when I’ve tried chasing their truck down the street) and returns it to sender.
@arielleslie Yeah gotta pay the UPS tax for redirect. I’ve been at home (single residence) and have them post the “sorry we missed you” tag while I was in the kitchen 20 feet away. Doorbell works (I checked it). Also there’s the old knocking-on-door thing has worked for thousands of years. Somehow some UPS drivers are happy to get on their way quickly without much effort. (To be clear I’ve had great UPS drivers too – just not always). When I asked my more regular UPS driver the next day, he said, yeah I was off that day, it was a different driver.
Nothing against Casemates, or the winery, but can you edit the wine bottle out of the photo in the email, and sell that photo on a t-shirt? - just asking for a(ll my) friends.
@EB4
/image barfly for all my friends
Not much online about this wine. I did find it for $14.99 a bottle here:
https://www.gopuff.com/p/dragon-ridge-cabernet-750ml/p216700
I’ve bought some wine from Casemates/Meh at this price its likely good for serving/bringing to parties or potentially a meh weeknight sipper
Cheer from Over Here back in the day was very good. Just saying.
I tend to stay away from central valley (CA) sources for red wines – usually too “fruity” for me. Prefer either Northern CA or PNW. But maybe worth trying the mix 6-pack, and with the $10 bonus coupon reduces the risk a bit.
/giphy slim-unsafe-manatee
@coryczorna Mmmm, nice warm water face wash fresh from cooling the engine block?
The $10 Casemates coupon helped with this…
/giphy blotchy-mocking-beginner
$23 per bottle? That’s cheap? This must be a fancy wine. Does it taste 4x better than my vella box wine?
@goldnectar under $10 dollars a bottle. $59/6 or $99/12.
/giphy murderous-unzipped-chimpanzee
Week later and it still hasn’t shipped. Guess I need a trip to total wine for weekend stock. Come on man!
@gellman If I’m not mistaken then the estimated delivery date got changed, too. I could’ve sworn the date was previously going to be just after Labor Day, but it says “Friday, Sep 6 - Monday, Sep 9” now as I’m writing this.
@gellman @lljk I just got the coupon code from Meh so maybe they are getting ready to ship!
Anyone had an update on this product? Mine is still on processing with 9/3 being the latest estimated delivery.
For those who bought it, the coupon code is dragon10, not the spritzer10. Some wires got crossed with a SideDeal sale.
Anyone have any update with shipping?
Still waiting for mine to ship too…this site is always slow in shipping and things never come on time, but this is a bit much.
They could have waited to a little closer to when they can ship this to sell it.
A little communication from you as to when something is to arrive would greatly be appreciated! Latest shipping date i received was 9/3. Here it is 9/8, and now word from you.
@dlbiggs The place to seek answers is meh.com/support since the staff does not routinely read the messages here on the customer forums.
I got this email Friday:
"Hello Mehtizens -
We’ve got an updated shipping date for your order of the 2021 Dragon Ridge Red Wines.
These will leave our warehouse on Monday 9/9/24 and should be delivered Tues-Thurs.
Thank you for your patience.
~ Your Friends at Meh"
/giphy Fingers Crossed
So I ordered them weeks ago and they’re still going to arrive at an open ended time during the 4 days that I’m not going to be around to accept the delivery…awesome.
Received my wine today! Now to give it 3-4 days to rest before cracking a bottle open!
@hunter7411 Same!