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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.8 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 19 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Kayentacellars on 2/17/2023 & rated 91 points: Light aromas of blackberry, black cherry, cedar and leather. Medium to full body moderate tannins, not too harsh, medium acidity, nice finish. (328 views) | | | Tasted by dkfinancial on 1/22/2022 & rated 90 points: Nice black and blue berry fruit. Structured. Hints of graphite and almost smokiness. Compared to the base cab Sauv, I like this single vineyard bottling less; it’s drier and almost austere. I’m not sure that will change, given how bone dry it is, and the fruit certainly isn’t going to gain weight 12 years later. Quite a bit of precipitate (not just sediment) and soft tannins, so also not confident this is a long-ager. (386 views) | | | Tasted by bjschmitt on 4/12/2020 & rated 91 points: Served with Manhattan strip roast, broccoli, risotto.
Decanted 35 minutes before serving. Initial taste at opening was dominating by acid.
Dark garnet, almost totally opaque, consistent to the rim - looks young yet.
After 35 minutes in the carafe, the acid moderated to blend nicely with the tannin. Enjoyably dry, black current, touch of spice and such. We dawdled over this bottle for 3 hours, and the wine relaxed with us. (868 views) | | | Tasted by bjschmitt on 6/19/2016 & rated 91 points: With beef tenderloin, new potatoes, green beans.
Decanted one hour before pouring first glass.
Dark crimson/purple. Looks young.
Red fruit jumping out on the nose (bright cherry/raspberry). Inviting nose. Neither Jane nor I found oak.
Fruit remained on the palate with a dab of acid, the tannins in balance. An intense wine, but the alchohol is certainly under control. Nice finish. This will grow I think. (2162 views) | | | Tasted by Chiantihound on 5/28/2016: American Oak nose dominates. Great nose that is not followed up at this juncture. (2064 views) | | | Tasted by coremill on 2/2/2015 & rated 85 points: This is still too oaky, although the oak is a little better integrated than before. But even besides the excessive oak, this is boring and modern, with sweet black fruit that lacks structure. It's okay, but a drastic departure from the normally high quality of Ridge's cabernet. What went wrong here? (3032 views) | | | Tasted by AlexHop on 12/22/2013 & rated 94 points: Nose is something beautiful. Toasty oak, just really pretty- almost holiday spices. Really nice balance and complexity although on a second tasting I see maybe a touch of acid on the finish which had me lower my score. Initially tasted at the winery, but also tasted at home. (3764 views) | | | Tasted by jjou on 12/21/2013 & rated 92 points: Tasted at winery. Red fruit, herbs, minerality, tobacco, some savory note. Lots of depth. Long finish, still young. (3192 views) | | | Tasted by coremill on 11/30/2013 & rated 86 points: Tasted at the winery. Agree entirely with dzop, this is overoaked. The fruit is purple and pretty and classy, but there is a ton of coconut and vanilla and the palate is grainy and drying with unintegrated oak tannin. Maybe with bottle age this will come together, but there's not a ton of concentration here and I worry the oak will never fully integrate. (2564 views) | | | Tasted by AllRed on 11/3/2013: Finally finishing the remnants of this bottle. The bouquet still shows the lovely violet overtones, along with cassis and black fruit. The palate has started to turn just a little, but still shows violets, graphite, cassis and now some black licorice. (2236 views) | | | Tasted by Vino Me on 11/2/2013 & rated 90 points: Opened by Allred. The grapes come from a parcel of the Monte Bello vineyard. Only 11 barrels made. Very smooth. Some smokiness with notes of tart cherries and berries. Firm tannins. Seems closed now and I did not find it all that approachable. I would definitely give this at least a few years. 90+ points. (1675 views) | | | Tasted by AllRed on 11/2/2013 & rated 94 points: From the bottle opened the previous evening. Bouquet of violets, chocolate, cassis and graphite. The palate has tightened up some; cassis, black currants and graphite qualities emerge. Structured but with an abundance of fruit. Good underlying acidity too. This really is an impressive bottling. (1795 views) | | | Tasted by thelostverse on 11/1/2013 & rated 92 points: Ridge tasting at Allred's. This needs years, but what a value here. This is Bordeaux like with some green, pencil box, black fruits and lovely floral and violet. 92+ with some big upside potential. (1527 views) | | | Tasted by AllRed on 11/1/2013 & rated 93 points: Ridge Vineyards Virtual Winemaker Tasting of the Fall Releases (Our house): Lovely bouquet of violets, graphite, vanilla, green/herbal qualities, red fruit and chocolate. Tannins are firm but very fine and have a sweet edge. Flavors of black currants, black cherry, chocolate, vanilla, cassis and black raspberry. Long finish. 93-94 pts. (2170 views) | | | Tasted by kosinski on 4/28/2013: Spicy cedar and cinnamon aromas. Ripe strawberry, plum and boysenberry flavors over pronounced acid and tannin. Lots of structure and complexity. Very promising, but needs at least 5 years in the cellar. (1991 views) |
| By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Santa Cruz Mountains: California’s Best Kept Secret (Jul 2013)
(Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Klein Historic Vineyard Series Monte Bello) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous. (manage subscription channels) |
| Ridge Producer website | Wikipedia
Ridge Vineyards is a California winery specializing in premium Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay wines. Ridge produces wine at two winery locations in northern California. The original winery facilities are located at an elevation of 2,300 feet (700 m) on Monte Bello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA near Cupertino, California. The other Ridge winery facilities are at Lytton Springs in the Dry Creek Valley AVA of Sonoma County.Cabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Santa Cruz Mountains Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association | Wikipedia
Once referred to by wine writers as the Chaine d'Or -- or "golden chain" -- the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA sits above Silicon Valley, running along the craggy range next to the Pacific on some of the prettiest parts of Northern California. The area supports more than 75 wineries, despite being limited by geography and high land prices.
In 1981 the Santa Cruz Mountains Viticultural Appellation became federally recognized, one of the first American viticultural areas to be defined by geophysical and climatic factors. The appellation encompasses the Santa Cruz Mountain range, from Half Moon Bay in the north, to Mount Madonna in the south. The east and west boundaries are defined by elevation, extending down to 800 feet in the east and 400 feet in the west. |
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