Important Update From the Founder
Read message >
Ridge Monte Bello 1981-1999
Gauthier Soho
Tasted July 12, 2011 by Rupert with 711 views
Introduction
A splendid lunchtime offline which reinforced what a superb, reliable and characterful wine Montebello is. The char and vanilla of the Ridge oak is quite distinctive, and the fruit is quite berried - smoke, berries tobacco are the word which keep cropping up in the notes. The wines today confirmed how gracefully the wines age - the tannins gradually melt, the texture gets silkier and the flavour soars.
Flight 1 (1 note)
White - Sparkling
1996 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses
Sweet, damp wool, oxidative, the palate gentle and wimpishly sweet
Flight 2 - with Soft Lobster and Crab Salad (with taragon & fresh tomato relish, crispy peach) (2 notes)
White
2004 Ridge Chardonnay Monte Bello
Ripe and tangy, some tropical fruit, but with a nice lick of toasty oak to keep it in check, delicious
White
1993 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne
Waxy, note, buttery and oxidative, light and sickly on the palate - I didn't like this at all
Flight 3 - with Spring Truffle Risotto (with brown butter and parmesan) (3 notes)
Red
1998 Ridge Monte Bello
Ripe, smoky, with a sweet tobacco core, dense with lots of tannin, but the tannins are soft and this is very approachable. A lovely start
Red
1997 Ridge Monte Bello
A similar flavour to the '98 with its smoke, berries and tobacco, but finer, more poise and focus - brilliant
Red
1995 Ridge Monte Bello
Somewhere between the 97 and the 98 - had the softer focus of the 98, but without the dense tannins - the berries more prominent - lovely wine
Flight 4 - with Roasted Guinea Fowl Breast (slow cooked leg, cèpes, broad bean fricassée, thyme aromatic jus) (4 notes)
Red
1999 Ridge Monte Bello
Way more assertive than anything in the first flight, earthy, high acid, grippy, altogether more muscular, with greater penetration of flavour. (One or two present detected some TCA at the start, although all agreed that this blew off - I had this experience last time I had the 99)
Red
1994 Ridge Monte Bello
Less expressive than the 99, tight, coiled, the fruit deep and more blackcurrant - very fine
Red
1992 Ridge Monte Bello
Smooth, a lactic tone, more volatile than the preceding bottles, and hotter too, with the berries more prominent
Red
1991 Ridge Monte Bello
This had a streak of TCA, but was counteracted by sweet chocolatey fruit and high acid, and was quite palatable
Flight 5 - with Cheese (Brie, Comté, St Nectaire) (3 notes)
Red
1990 Ridge Monte Bello
Lighter, lifted, the most evolved wine so far, silky and multi-layered, gorgeous
Red
1988 Ridge Monte Bello
Very pongy, a real farmyard nose, but underneath, fresh, citric, silky, delightful
Red
1981 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello
Densest of this flight (sediment shaken on the journey in?), but wonderfully fresh, and mixed in with the vanilla and berries was earth and game - glorious.
Flight 6 - with Classic White Peach Tatin (with peach and mint sorbet) (1 note)
White - Sweet/Dessert
1996 Château Climens
Another white with a waxy nose, lanolin palate, brown sugar sweetness - like a lot of 96s - I'm not sure 1996 was as good a year for sauternes as was originally thought.