1998 Ridge Monte Bello

Community Tasting Notes (117) Avg Score: 89.8 points

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  1/20/2023 - Dad300 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  color was great..garnet much more opaque than i expected from a 25 year old wine.. rim variation was brick red but not that wide. on the nose..classic mix of red and dark fruits with a bit of stone and minerality. on the plate this is heading into the tertiary stage with leather, tobacco and the like but they had not yet become completely dominant. still some black and red fruit that was just under the forefront.. acidity was pleasant and the tension was there but lessening. this will hold for another 15-20 years , but if you like a bit of fruit i would drink soon,

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  12/18/2022 - Cailles wrote: 95 Points

  16x Right Bank Bordeaux 1998: Almost 25 years later, it’s a great time to check in on the wines of the much lauded right bank vintage. All wines tasted single blind. A few observations: A) most wines showed quite open with a melted tannin structure, but still good tension across the board. B) The highlight was rather on the structural side (elegance and finesse in most wines), than on the aromatic depth side, which was limited, also due to… C) …the fact that there is limited tertiary expression yet. Most wines will need at least another 5 to rather 10 years to reach their peak. D) An average rating of 91.9pts in my book and 92.0pts for the group shows that despite a few highlights, the reception was mixed overall. E) Best wines today were Angelus (group average 94.9pts), Valandraud (94.4) and Cheval Blanc (94.0). I would put L’Evangile (rated 95pts) in the top category too but the group (average 92.6) was less enthusiastic.
  
  TN: Added as a ringer to the tasting (double blind). Intense, open nose displaying a sweet dark berries core with very pleasant minty notes to complement and giving away its Californian origin. In fact, I thought we might be drinking a Heitz Martha’s Vyd. On the palate very elegant, lots of finesse and at the same time loads of ripe dark berries, minty notes, herbs and crushed rocks. This was one of the best wines and although Californian, it is still well-behaved, not too ripe or excessive – typical Ridge.
  
  Decanting: Decanted for probably 3-4 hours which worked well.
  
  Group score: 93.5
  Group rank: 6th out of 16 reds

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  11/26/2022 - La Sprezzatura wrote: 95 Points

  1998 Horizontal Bordeaux Right Bank Tasting (private) (Essen'z): All wines were tasted single blind and were decanted before tasting. 14 right bank bordeaux and 2 pirates. All wines were from the vintage 1998.
  
  General observations:
  Unfortunately, the tasting was below my expectations. The was no real "wow-effect" at any wines as I had with the left bank tasting 1982-1990 we had a year ago. So I had to find out, that, me, personally, I like more the aged left than the aged right banks. In the end, Ridge Montebello (pirate) ended even up being the wine of the night for me.
  
  _______
  
  TN:
  second pirate of the night after Ornellaia 98
  
  5% petit verdit, 1% cab franc 24% merlot and 70% cab sauvignon
  
  saw dust, cigar box and vegetables, finesse and mix between red and black fruits, got really better by the minute in the glass!
  
  symptomatic for the rather disappointing tasting, this was my wine of the night.
  
  palate full of finesse and elegance, nice drinkflow, very fresh, tannins well integrated but present, long, this was a pirate amongst all the Bordeaux but was a welcome refreshment. would never have guessed california blind. this is very great and full of pleasure. 12.4% alcohol and could drink plenty of it.

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  11/26/2022 - sirpat00 wrote: 93 Points

  Bordeaux Right Bank 1998 tasting (Essenz (Brugg)): Bordeaux right bank 1998 tasting. All wines were served single blind and were decanted several hours. The sample showed i/ generally healthy and structured wines, still quite primary with further aging potential; ii/ the overall performance was below expectations considering the repute of the vintage for the right bank (although this may be due to the very long aeration), iii/ top wine for me were 1. Valandrau (95), 2. L’Evangile (95), 3. Angélus (94) while for the group the ranking was 1. Angélus (94.9), 2. Valandrau (94.4), 3. Cheval Blanc (94.0). Complete list including group scores included in the tasting story.
  
  Tasting note:
  From Magnum. Ripe, extracted fruit of cassis jelly, menthol-like complexity and spearmint. The palate was densely packed with sweet fruit and a nice spicy layer, but lacked a bit balance and felt rather heavy.

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  11/12/2022 - hadukla wrote: 85 Points

  It was once beautiful, but has lost its luster. Little bit of funk on the nose and some tartness to the palate but otherwise still a good wine

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