December 30, 2023 - Fantastiskt vin, bjuden av Johan T, Mr. Ridge.
Blev makalöst imponerad av denna 33-åring, så pigg, väl integrerade taniner, full med elegant frukt av röda bär, och mörka bär. Visar efter lite luft en mycket elegant rökighet. Unicorn Wine.
August 12, 2023 - Double decanted 3 hours beforehand. Even ruby with little fading. At first, an aggressively herbaceous nose which unwound to show more more floral notes, ripe dark fruit, and graphite. Poised middle weight, fresh cassis, excellent acidity and length, and some remaining tannins. Very elegant and Claret-like. Outstanding now, no danger in seeing how bottles develop over the next decade.
June 8, 2023 - Tasted double blind. My first time with the 1990 MB. This is in its prime with beautiful tertiary tobacco notes caressing the still intact dark fruit core. I particularly liked the softness but to reach a higher rating than 93pts, more depth, precision and poise would have been needed. Still, lots of fun to drink.
TN: Quite intense and expressive on the nose and palate. Fine, ripe, sweet fruit core, tobacco, minerality. Not much more, not much depth. Fine structure with melted tannins, good freshness and a very good balance.
Decanting: No extensive decanting needed.
June 3, 2023 - a little tobacco, a little cigar, a few others commented on the slightly vegetal character, this wine ultimately charms with the roundest of red fruits in their prime drinking window. Great balance here of structure, fruit, acid, and funk. I have enjoyed Monte Bello in the past but tonight might be the first time that I have truly glimpsed the greatness and the legend. Wow. Amazing purity. Sexy wine. WOTN.
June 2, 2023 - Tasted blind. Sweet but fresh red berry fruit along with plum and fig features. Tertiary aromas of tobacco and wet earth. Rather low intensity and slightly blurry, lacks precision. On the palate somewhat coarse tannin, but otherwise reasonably round. Then leading into a slightly acidic finish.
November 6, 2022 - Now a solid six hours in beautiful, savory and all right there.
November 6, 2022 - Drinking beautifully, but I'm not sure how much more room there is for improvement. Lots of finesse and bell pepper notes on the entry. Gains some heft and weight with time.
November 6, 2022 - Savory on the nose but so languid and lovely on the palate. Just beautiful.
February 14, 2022 - Oh man, this was a heartbreaker. Got this bottle as a gift from a friend and have no idea how it was stored before it came to me. Cork was totally brittle when opened, and wine didn’t fair much better. Sad to not be able to enjoy this bottle, especially since I know how special this wine should be.
Monte Bello is such a beautiful wine - I was lucky enough to taste the 1992 vintage a couple of years ago, and look forward to opening the 2016 when it’s ready.
September 3, 2021 - Bright red with very slight fading at the rim. A distinctive cherry and currant nose. The fruit is still lush, but precise. Dark fruits, black cherry, blackberries, some tobacco notes. Plums enter on the midpalate. Gains depth with air. Fine tannins but even at 31 years they could stand to soften just a hair. Bright acidity, fabulous balance. Finishes long, long with dark fruits, bit of licorice. Fabulous wine with years ahead of it. Real elegance. It will easily drink well for 10+ years. I'm glad I still have another bottle in the cellar.