Ridge Monte Bello Retrospective

Not often that you get to do a Monte Bello vertical and to do two in one week seems just a bit hedonistic, but it's always been a favorite and they're at least slightly different vintages. This was a super event as always - David does great dinners and Ebru puts together the best books so you really get a feel for the wines and place.

• NV Gosset Champagne Brut Grande Réserve

  France, Champagne

  Pre-dinner bubbles which is always the right answer. This is bright and fresh and easy drinking. There's nothing that jumps out at you. Very much the racier style that is in vogue. Good start.

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THICK CUT SLAB BACON
New York Cured

• 1997 Ridge Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  This is more herbal in nature, a bit tea like and baking spices and some eucalyptus and maybe even a touch of mint. There's a background of black fruits to it although that's not the primary. Honestly this is one of the best 97's I've ever had - usually I find them more one dimensional but this definitely has complexity to it. Around 85% CS, 8% Merlot, 5% PV, 3% CF. Not my favorite of the wines of the night or even the flight but it's still delicious.

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• 1996 Ridge Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Lighter in style. I don't know that there was more rain this year but when people talk about a wine being a bit less concentrated this was just a bit less than the other in the flight. Still great and delicious, but just not quite at the same level. This is black fruits and herbal and maybe a touch of mineral. 80% CS, 11% Merlot, 9% PV.

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• 1993 Ridge Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  One of my favorites of the flight. This is more black fruits and freshness and mint and tea leaves and just really lovely. Maybe some black dahlia? Very vibrant and just jumps out of the glass at you.

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• 1991 Ridge Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Honestly it's a hair's difference between this and the '93 and both I thought were drinking just exceptionally well. This is blackberry and kindof a darker sense, almost like a cave?, more fruit in here than the other wines in this flight. Very pretty though. Good floral characteristics. And then just this elegance in the balance of weight and flavor and structure and just very well done. A fantastic wine. 85% CS, 10% Merlot and some small amounts of PV and CF.

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ARTISANAL PASTA
Bolognese Sauce

• 1987 Ridge Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  First note is crushed pepper, some mint, some more backyard herbs, it's a really nice wine although lacking some of the vibrancy that some of the others have (again, this is splitting hairs). Perhaps it's just a bit less intense in style.

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• 1986 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  My favorite of this flight in what was a pretty tough run competition because the 80's of these are just spectacular. Really vibrant. I get rosemary early on. Black fruits. There's a loveliness and a power to this wine that makes it clear it's nowhere near it's 'real' drinking window.

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• 1985 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Also very fresh, this time it's a bit of black cherries to it. A hint of sour (like those cherries you can pick off a tree that usually get paired with some type of sugar to actually eat them). Briar patch. Delicious wine.

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• 1981 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  One of the best birth year wines I've ever had. This is definitely more in the vegetal/briar patch/spicy style. Lower on fruit, but drinking really well and very bright in style. Surprised me and for many was the favorite of the flight which is really saying something.

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• 1978 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  A really interesting comparison point to some of the earlier wines. At this point in the tasting if I had been blinded I would have said this was the youngest of the group. It was one of the only ones with just a hint of heat/alcohol. Big and dark fruits. Not even close to being ready to drink - much more time.

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NEW YORK STRIP STEAK
Dry Aged, USDA Prime
Fingerling Potatoes, Haricot Vert, Roasted Carrots

Sides
Buttermilk Onion Rings
Pan Roasted Mushrooms

• 1974 Ridge Merlot Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Big and fresh and darker fruit and honestly this surprised me a bit as a Merlot but I guess there is some of the plushiness there. With time it starts to remind me of an unripe cranberry. And yet again another delicious wine. Very interesting to see the components all from the same year that were bottled separately because the MB was 100% CS.

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• 1974 Ridge Petite Sirah York Creek

  USA, California, Napa Valley, Spring Mountain District

  This was one of my favorites maybe also because it's such a unique wine. Very crisp and vibrant and peppery and more black fruits. Not quite as complex as some of the others and you can see why it's really meant to be a blending grape, but still it's delicious.

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• 1974 Ridge Zinfandel Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  I think this wine suffered a bit coming on the heels of the PS which was all pepper and spice and then this was fruit and perhaps seemed even more fruity right after that. Darker and intense. Blackberry. Honestly for me it was almost a bit much (our bottle was not at all rustic as the previous note said). But fun to try.

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• 1974 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  A few weeks ago we were at an auction where this came up and sold for more than >$3k and that was on my mind when I was drinking this wine. This is a great wine - beautiful and elegant and black fruits and floral and almost this nice cutting edge to it that is the acid tying it up at the end. It was very lovely. Hard to say that much more lovely than the other wines we tried which were also super spectacular, but definitely a real treat (esp in the side by side 74 line-up which was killer).

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ARTISAN CHEESE SELECTION

• 1975 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello Flawed

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Corked as well. Pity, but if you're going to do a tasting with the number of old wines we were tasting it was likely you'd get at least one.

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• 1972 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  An interesting theme for me with the MB's from the 70's is how they all seemed almost younger than the wines we'd had before from the 80's and 90's. The last thing I said about this one was too young. It is a really nice wine (esp given not a super year) - dark fruits and more fresh and young and minty and lovely. Really enjoyed.

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• 1971 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  The wine from the Judgement of Paris which scored well initially but then won the 30 year retrospective tasting. You can tell why. It is more approachable than the 72, lovely dark fruits and again that fresh and pretty style (I think I get that because there's almost a small subcurrent of menthol in these). Still young with lots of life left. Suspect it could do quite well at a 50 year retrospective as well! Prob my favorite of this flight.

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• 1970 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  Again this tasted like one of the youngest wines of the tasting which is crazy because it was the oldest by 27 years or so. There's a touch more tannin to it. Black fruit. Fresh and herbal. It's evolving in the glass and opening up and becoming a lot more expressive. Really lovely. Lots of years left.

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Porter House Cookies

Coffee or Tea

This was one of those dinners where there isn't a single wine I'd have thrown out of the glass (except maybe the '75 but that was just corked and what can do you?). It's a splitting of hairs to me, but some ones that stood out were the '93, '91, '86, '81, PS '74, '72, '71. So like half of the tasting :-).