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Who Likes This Wine(54)

  1. Erik Doyle

    Erik Doyle

    1 Tasting Note

  2. shafer1994

    shafer1994

    440 Tasting Notes

  3. Simon Scriven

    Simon Scriven

    1 Tasting Note

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Community Tasting Notes (217) Avg Score: 92.2 points

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    3/31/2024 - Likes this wine:

    Decanted off moderate crust in bottle and small amount of fine sediment. Dark garnet red with limited transparency. Aromas of smoke, sous bois, plum, and currant. Palate is initially very dark with plum and smoke dominating. Left in decanter for 3.5 hours before meal service. Time did open this up and more red fruit elements came out along with some vanilla and cedar notes. Finish is medium and a bit tart. Expect this has more upside for my tastes but fully resolved and ready now. Drink at leisure.

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    3/10/2024 - Likes this wine: 91 Points

    Antepenultimate bottle of 6. Decanted 2 hours, some age on rim, nose complex - vanilla / tar / tobacco, blackcurrant and cedar wood on palate but not very complex. Grabs your attention but doesn’t wow!

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    3/1/2024 - wrote: 90 Points

    (75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 13.4% Alkohol) Dichtes Rubin. Die Nase ist fordernd, gereifte Frucht, ätherische Noten, etwas Gummireifen, Medizinschrank, Minze, Eukalyptus, sehr reiffruchtig und für Montebello erstaunlich warm anmutend. Im Gaumen dicht, konzentriert, reife Frucht, viel Struktur, etwas ruppig, wild, sehr lang in der Aromatik, jedoch mit weniger Finesse als die letzte Flasche. Vermutlich keine Top Flasche, dennoch hohes Niveau.

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    2/22/2024 - wrote: 96 Points

    Terrific! This was ready to go from pnp, but develops additional depth over the course of 2 hours. Aromatically, this smells like an old school right bank (Figeac?) with plush Merlot fruit, tobacco, and a twinge of green. Only a little bit of cassis. In the mouth this is both mellow and expansive, fanning across the palate with layers of luxurious kirsch, plum, cedar, hay, and wet clay. A whiff of harmonious American oak. Medium bodied and held up by Fresh and vibrant acidity bolted to lightly raspy tannins than are not yet fully resolved, leading to a long savory finish. At peak and probably will stay here for another 10 years easy. This is a masterclass in low alcohol, old school mountain cab.

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    6/18/2023 - wrote: 96 Points

    Stellar.

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Pro Reviews

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.

Decanter

Vinous

  • By Antonio Galloni
    Santa Cruz Mountains: California’s Best Kept Secret (Jul 2013), (See more on Vinous...)

    (Ridge Monte Bello Monte Bello) Login and sign up and see review text.

JancisRobinson.com

Winedoctor

JancisRobinson.com

Vinous

  • By Stephen Tanzer
    May/June 2002, IWC Issue #102, (See more on Vinous...)

    (Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello Red Blend) Login and sign up and see review text.

  • By Stephen Tanzer
    May/June 2001, IWC Issue #96, (See more on Vinous...)

    (Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello Red Blend) Login and sign up and see review text.

RJonWine.com

  • By Richard Jennings
    6/17/2011, (See more on RJonWine.com...) 93 points

    (Ridge Monte Bello) Slightly bricking dark ruby color; lifted, herbal, thyme, tart cassis, roasted plum nose; mature, tart cassis, thyme, iodine, tart plum, graphite palate; should go 15-20 years; medium-plus finish (more mature tasting than the bottle I tried six months earlier; 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc)

  • By Richard Jennings
    12/10/2010, (See more on RJonWine.com...) 93 points

    (Ridge Monte Bello) Nearly opaque red violet color; green tobacco, cassis, currant nose; tasty, plush, youthful, cassis, currant, tobacco palate with depth and body; medium-plus finish (75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc)

  • By Richard Jennings
    4/17/2010, (See more on RJonWine.com...) 92 points

    (Ridge Monte Bello) Dark red violet color; rich cassis, berry, raspberry, vanilla nose; tight, ripe cassis, blackberry, ripe plum, herbal, menthol palate; medium-plus finish (my #5 of the flight, group's #8 out of 8)

Rockss and Fruit

  • By Lyle Fass
    4/21/2003, (See more on Rockss and Fruit...)

    (Ridge Montebello) Cassis, chestnuts, mint, leather, tar and smokey oak out of the gates. After aeration a touch of green peppercorn arrives. I thought it might be green but it really works with all the other aromas. Also there is not the slightest hint of green on the palate. Lots of currant, cassis and cherry fruit with some spicey oak tones. Perfectly balanced. Really glides across the palate. This was great for the first five minutes, then shut down for the next two hours and then slowly started to sneak back and fill out. Even though, the fruit never made it's real presence known. This needs time but will be fantastic when it get's there.

NOTE: Some content is property of Decanter and Vinous and JancisRobinson.com and Winedoctor and RJonWine.com and Rockss and Fruit.

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