Ridge Monte Bello Vertical 72-03

12 of us gathered at Ken's to have a good look at what Ridge Monte Bello is about and to get a real feel for the wine. Ken was also gracious in opening up the blind welcome whites

We divided the wines into two 7 wine flights with the first flight being focused on older wines and the second flight being focused on the younger wines

Ken provided these to us Blind. We were told that they were from the same vintage and same vineyard, but nothing more then that

• 2001 Kistler Chardonnay Camp Meeting Ridge 93 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  nose: big and rich nose filled with tones of lemon meringue, all sorts of cream tones, tropical citrus, oranges, and a good bit of buttered toast. Fills up the glass right away, and fully comes off as a california chardonnay
  
  taste: full bodied with a creamy and rich feel and well defined tones of creams, tropical citrus', oranges, buttered toast and a touch of marmalade. Really good depth to go with the big and creamy feel that is big and is a bit of a heavyweight boxer
  
  overall: this was the first of two blind whites from the same vintage and vineyard. It had a nice and rich golden color and came across as in its full drinking window. Big and rich, I was thinking kistler when I smelled and tasted it as it just had that feel that kistler brings to their chards

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• 2001 Flowers Chardonnay Camp Meeting Ridge 91 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast

  nose: much lighter nose then blindA with really good tones of white florals, honeysuckle, a good amount of fresh picked lemons, and some bits of meringue. Very nice depth with a real verve about it that makes it engaging
  
  taste: really good medium feel with crisp medium acidity along with tones of white fruits, white florals, honeysuckle, and a good bit of fresh picked lemons. Good definition on the palate and comes off almost as having a burgundian sense to it
  
  overall: a real nice reveal for this. Seems like it can age further and add some extra complexity. It certainly presented a very different take from the Kistler and I really enjoyed the style that this went about as its very food friendly and can be drunk on its own at the same time

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This flight was a whole lot of fun. It was unfortunate that the 74 was corked. What made it extremely frustrating as there was some good fruit that was underneath the corked smell, but, it was hard to get over that and it just wouldn't blow off.

Outside of the 74, I thought everything showed very well and was generally impressed by the wines. I didn't really have any expectations as I just wanted to let the wines come to me. These wines were all about expressing the terroir and vintages, which made them a real treat

• 1972 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello 93 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  nose: real lovely and perfumed nose filled with black currants, cedar, tobacco, dark red cherries and bits of red florals. Excellent depth and is very expressive and elegant as it just wafts out of the glass
  
  taste: great classy and polished medium feel. Tannins are fully resolved with great medium acidity along with tones of sour cranberries, bits of cedar, menthol, dark red cherries and some real tasty tones of black currants
  
  overall: the color on this was absolutely stunning. There wasn't too much bricking and it had a lovely garnet hue in the glass. This has more then kept itself together over the ensuing decades and comes off as having plenty of legs left. A very elegant wine that also brought about a great finish. (my 2, the group's 5)

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• 1974 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello Flawed

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  sadly the wine was corked. there was really good tones of red cherries, cedar and a bit of menthol, but the wet cardboard just stayed there and wouldn't blow off. drat. (my 7, the group's 7)

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• 1988 Ridge Monte Bello 93 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  nose: polished with really good depth providing tones of bell peppers, bits of dill, menthol, cedar, dark berries and a touch of perfumes make their way out of the glass. There is a real elegance on the nose and comes off very polished with a bit of a feminine touch to it
  
  taste: the nose was holding back a bit, and had a nuanced style to it, but this was where it seemed to come alive. Seamless medium feel with plush and silky tones of bell pepper, cedar, some menthol tones, along with dark and sour berries
  
  overall: Good tannins still support this wine, which was almost like night and day from the 72 and 74 where the tannins were fully resolved. Very elegant with a nuanced style to it, this was a real joy on the palate. It didn't necessarily explode on the palate, but instead really seemed to wake up and caress the palate. (my 3, group 4)

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• 1989 Ridge Monte Bello 91 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  nose: very pure and hi-toned nose with lifting aromas of red currants, red cherries, red florals, mixed berries, and a nice touch of menthol and cedary tones. Very good depth that is expressive and has a feminine sense to it
  
  taste: very well balanced with a almost delicate feminine medium feel and good medium acidity with tones of cedar, tobacco, red currants, red cherries and a good amount of mixed berries
  
  overall: my no5, the group's 6. I found this to be a real lovely monte bello. Certainly won't blow you away and it wasn't as deep as the 72, but the perfumed quality of this one was very attractive and almost sensual. This had a refined sense to it that I enjoyed and would love to try again

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• 1990 Ridge Monte Bello 93 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  nose: beautiful and rich nose that really opens up in the glass with really good depth and tones of dark red cherries, red currants, black currants, tobacco, cedar, some bits of menthol and a touch of hi-toned berries. Very classy with a perfumed quality to it that is enveloping
  
  taste: lush medium/full feel with really good tannins along with deep tones of dark red cherries, red currants, tobacco, cedar, and some hints of minty tones. Hi-toned and rich at teh same time, this just flows well across the palate, but seems to hold back a slight bit right now
  
  overall: my no4, the group's no3. Comes off as just starting to enter maturity, there seems to be a real serious wine that can emerge with a bit more time as some nuances need to emerge with time that are just hiding in there. This certainly has a long distance runner written all over it

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• 1991 Ridge Monte Bello 95 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  nose: extremely pure and beautifully deep nose that fills up the glass with enveloping tones of black and red currants, menthol, loads of dark red cherries, cedar, all sorts of berry tones, and some bits of green peppers. The purity of this nose is very sumptuous and heady at the same time with layers of tones
  
  taste: silky with a lot of polish and very well layered medium/full tones of black and red currants, bits of dill and menthol, a bucketful of dark red cherries, cedar and lots of berry tones. Silky tannins accompany this and aid to the great purity on the palate too
  
  overall: my no1, the group's no1. This wine was a thing of real beauty and is very sumptuous. Well layered that is extremely pure at the same time. This wine seems a bit more resolved and drinking better then the 90, but there is also no reason to think that this won't stay at this level for a while as the tannins support the wine extremely well along with some good acidity

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• 1992 Ridge Monte Bello 91 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  nose: lovely restrained and classy nose with pretty tones of black currants, cedar, bits of tobacco, black cherries, and some tones of perfumes. This was coming off rather tight for me and just didn't seem to want to give it a full go
  
  taste: classy medium/full feel with good tannins. Lovely tones of cedar, menthol, tobacco, black cherries and bits of dark berries blend well together. Comes off as understated on the palate with really good depth and medium+ acidity
  
  overall: my no6, group's no2. To me this just didn't seem fully ready for primetime, or at least it wasn't giving me its all in the glass. Following up the 91 was a hard act to follow and this was rather taught for me in both the glass and on the palate. It needs a real good decant or more time sideways as the color on it wasn't really showing much age to it, and there was certainly no way to guess that this was about to turn 17 years old if the vintage wasn't known

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This flight continued the run of straight vintages that we had from 88-94 and then having the 96 right after that. This flight showed itself to come across as fairly modern, but there was a sense that these wines may be too young in a sense. The 94 was an absolute stunner for me and its a marathon runner of a wine that will provide lots of enjoyment for a wide variety of wine drinkers

The wines were more similar in a way during this flight, but some of that may also be due to the youth of the wines

• 1993 Ridge Monte Bello 91 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  nose: excellent depth and well balanced tones of bell peppers, menthol, mint, dark red cherries, currants, cedar, and fresh dill tones. While it sounds very vegeta and greenl, it didn't really come off that way, but more well in balance with a good dark red cherry core and the other tones supporting it
  
  taste: lovely and elegant medium/full feel with good medium acidity along with tones of menthol, dark red cherries, currants, bits of dark berries, a touch of bell peppers, and bits of fresh picked herbs that sneak in on the back end. Good supporting tannins give this a real nice base right now
  
  overall: my no5, the group's no5. a quality monte bello. While it may sound very vegetal, it wasn't as pronounced as the notes may sound. Well balanced and pretty, this had a freshness to it while also coming off as fully drinking at this time, but can certainly go longer

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• 1994 Ridge Monte Bello 95 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  nose: what a deep and expressive nose, that is extremely pure with layered and heady tones of red cherries, mixed red berries, red currants, red fruits, menthol tones, along with a touch of chocolate. A very succulent nose that has a perfumed quality to it along with a great red fruit base
  
  taste: extremely polished and silky medium/full feel with good tannins and medium acidity. Delicious tones of red fruits, menthol, red cherries, mixed red berries, red currants and a touch of cedar with some hints of tobacco
  
  overall: my no1, group's no1 and my wotn overall. This comes off as still working itself out, but, is a real show stopper of a wine right now. It has the tannins for aging, and shows a bit of ripeness to it, but has the backbone to age like the wines from the first flight. Will be interesting to drink in about 5 years to really see if there's been a change of style, if its the vintage, or just how we caught it as it certainly presented a different take on MB then had been tasted previous

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• 1996 Ridge Monte Bello 93 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  nose: real nice cedary backdrop on the nose with bits of violets, dark red cherries, menthol, spice tones, currants and a touch of herbs. Pretty and demure that is almost like a barolo, but is cabernet based, which makes for a real intriguing nose that is really fun to smell
  
  taste: lovely and well balanced medium/full feel that comes off rather nuanced in a way with pretty tones of cedar, dark red cherries, menthol tones, bits of spice and some tones of berries. Excellent depth with really fresh medium+ acidity to it
  
  overall: my no3, group4. this comes off as needing a good bit more time as there is a nuanced aspect to it that will need good aging to let it fully emerge. This doesn't come off as a Monte Bello that will blow you away with great layering and purity like the 91 or 94, but instead it has a searching aspect to it that demands attention and a small group with it as it has a story to tell

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• 1999 Ridge Monte Bello 92 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  nose: very pretty and elegant nose filled with tones of cedar, herbs, dark red cherries, cranberries and bits of menthol and chocolate. Has a st julien sense to it on the nose while still being discernibly californian. Excellent depth and expression on the nose, there is a very classy edge to it
  
  taste: silky and rich tannins show off the youth of the wine with an elegant medium/full feel and medium+ acidity. Well balanced tones of dark berries, cedar, herbs, dark red cherries and a touch of chocolate all meld well together with a real classy sense
  
  overall: my no4, the group's no3. I really like where this is at its young age. A slight bit more plush then the older wines, but that could be due to the age of the older wines. Still comes off as needing a good bit more time as there is a real elegance to the wine that aging will really bring out

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• 2000 Ridge Monte Bello 88 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  nose: fairly evolved nose with tones of dill, anisette, dark red cherries, tobacco leaf, and a good amount of menthol tones. Good nose, but its almost comes off as monte bello-lite. It doesn't have the depth that other vintages have had and it seems fully at its peak, and is showing itself to be extremely mature at what should be a young age
  
  taste: very good medium feel that comes off as fairly well evolved with tones of herbs, dill, dark red cherries and a good amount of menthol. Has nice weight on the palate, but the finish is rather clipped and doesn't really have the depth and expression that other MBs have brought in the vertical
  
  overall: my no7, group's no 7. This just falls short for me. Its almost a mini-monte bello if you will. It just doesn't have the expression that the others have had to make up for not having the screaming depth that some of the better ones have had, and is very shot on the finish. THe nose almost came off as too evolved for a wine of this age, even considering the vintage as two of the older monte bellos were from difficult vintages. Sometimes mother nature doesn't give the best to work with, and that came off a bit here

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• 2001 Ridge Monte Bello 93 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  nose: extremely lovely and perfumed nose that has a real hi-toned quality to it that makes it ever so attractive with plush and round tones of dark red cherries, sour cranberries, dark berries, bits of black currant jam, and a touch of mint. There is a real rich and plush sense to this that comes with the higher merlot content, and the depth of this is sumptuous. Very young on the nose though too as its a bit tight at the same time
  
  taste: showing off its youth on the palate with great rich full bodied tones of black currant jam, mint, dark red cherries, and a bushel full of fresh picked berries. THe tones come off as plush and round with medium acidity to it
  
  overall: my no2, the group's no2. Overall for the group, this was a hair behind the 94 in this flight. For me this didn't have the full layering of the 94.........yet. It seems like a caterpillar that is just waiting in its cocoon and has a ton of class to it and is just so silky and classy that its hard not to like it. This has the ability to turn into a real beauty. Its hard to say what its aging curve will be as this possessed the highest merlot content of any of the wines, but it is an extremely attractive wine that will certainly be worth waiting a bit longer for

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• 2003 Ridge Monte Bello 90 Points

  USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

  nose: very tight and sinewy nose with some edgy tones of black currants, cedar, dark red cherries, and sour cranberries with some liqueur tones added in. Shows off the heat of the vintage as it has a stewed-ish quality to it. It also has a hard edge to it that may need some time to work it out
  
  taste: full bodied with some hard tannins and tones of black currants, dark red cherries, sour cranberries, and liqueur tones with a bit of new oak on the back end
  
  overall: my no6, the group's no6. A bit hard and taught right now that is a bit unforgiving. Full bodied and a bit stewed on both the nose and palate, this shows off the vintage, but also comes across very youthful and can certainly use another 6-8 years to round out some of the hard parts of it and may then bloom into a more exotic monte bello

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There was a semillon in this flight that I will have to add later

this was a fun capper as all three wines were served blind and it certainly made the flight more interesting. This was also my first experience with a Banyuls of this age and it was a real beautiful wine that I wish I could've spent more time with

• 2001 Ridge Petite Sirah Essence 92 Points

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley

  nose: extremely bold and rich nose filled with raisins, dark chocolate, black cherries and really rich tones of black fruits. Really good depth that is extremely pungent the second you put the glass to the nose
  
  taste: big and powerful with a touch of heat letting your know its fortified. Bold and rich tones of dark chocolate, black cherries and a whole lot of bold black fruit tones fill out very well
  
  overall: a real delicious wine. Rich and bold this really shows itself off with a really good and long finish

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• 1985 Domaine du Mas Blanc (Docteur Parcé) Banyuls Vieilles Vignes 91 Points

  France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Banyuls

  nose: very interesting nose that is filled with dark red cherries, notes of warm caramel, and a good helping of sour berries. Excellent depth with some good layering that added a real nice dimension to the tones on the nose
  
  taste: excellent medium feel with good depth and well defined tones of brown sugar, dark red cherries, hot caramel, and berry tones. Good medium acidity still exists
  
  overall: this one threw me for a loop as it was blind. It had the look of a tawny port in the glass, but didn't smell like it at all. Outstanding tones on both the nose and palate with real good depth and a real good sense of itself

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A really great night. On the whole, the monte bellos showed really well. The 72 was a real revelation and all of the older wines could've easily fooled someone in a blind tasting regarding their age as they all had great coloring and one wouldn't be blamed for thinking that many of them were 5-10 years younger then they were.

There was some wondering if there was a change in style as we got more into the wines of the 90s, or if it was more due to the wines being younger in the second flight. There was certainly more of a "riper" style that seemed to emerge, but the majority of the vintages were from warmer vintages in the second flight

More then anything it provided a great learning experience and its not everyday that one gets a chance to try one of these iconic California wines in a Vertical like this that has an age range of 31 years. Needless to say, it was a real special experience and I'm extremely glad that I had the chance to take part in it