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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 94 pts. and median of 94 pts. in 119 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by deadwax on 5/11/2024 & rated 94 points: Double decanted for dinner party. Drinking well coming up on 10 years. Will be better with time. At this point it needs a good decant. (1490 views) | | | Tasted by Papies on 5/9/2024 & rated 94 points: Milan Wine Event 3 - A 2014 vintage check up (Altrimenti, Milano): From a beautiful magnum.
Beautiful wine from start to finish and albeit at the start of its drinking cycle ( this is one that we could easily see us drinking in 20 years ) still is ever so beautiful. Still has some puppy fat to assimilate in the sense of the fruit and soft sweet oak but it is ever so elegant and delightful. Well angled richness , very much a classicist American as we call these type of wines and true to the style of beautiful Monte Bellos. We felt this was a 94 for now but easily this has a few more points to add to its score with a few more years in bottle . (1703 views) | | | Tasted by Jzboxtas on 4/29/2024 & rated 96 points: Phenomenal. To me, this is right in the window. Signed up for the Ridge mailing list after this bottle. (2239 views) | | | Tasted by duchamp on 3/15/2024 & rated 94 points: Deep ruby to deep purple, slightly musty on the nose with black raspberry, alcohol, and cranberry, followed by wet stone, earth, and mint, all tightly wound, tight but—somehow—lush on the palate with dark berry fruit, black plum, strong acidity, streaks of minerality, and firm tannins, finish is dominated by black tea, tangy acidity, dark berry fruits, cherry, earth, vanilla, coconut, menthol, and more
Note: 10 years on and the tannins are still pretty fierce, even for mountain fruit, not sure it will ever totally settle down but those who like dark, tight cabs, this one's for you (3673 views) | | | Tasted by plechazunga on 2/16/2024 & rated 91 points: Still tight and alcoholic out of the bottle, after a decant opened light in fruit but a beautiful structure with green and wood notes. (4018 views) | | | Tasted by WineJ2019 on 12/20/2023 & rated 96 points: Opened this on a whim as a “special bottle” to share with a good friend we’re hosting. Pretty quick decant say ~30min. Wow the nose was amazing, so complex. And then silky smooth on the palate with eucalyptus, currant, slight oak, tobacco. Tannins there in the background but not overwhelming at all. This was a beauty. Of course can go much longer but this was drinking great now by my tastes. (4695 views) | | | Tasted by Francophile1 on 12/15/2023 & rated 94 points: Delicious. While still very youthful, this has an amazing bouquet and some early maturity notes of sweet green Virginia tobacco and anise. Long finish. Paired great with a Wagyu smash burger. (4279 views) | | | Tasted by Curt325 on 11/29/2023 & rated 96 points: Complex, balanced, with Goldilocks tannin (“just right”). We savored the beautiful nose before sipping. Chocolate & dark fruit on the front of the pallet, a dryness developed mid range, with an elegantly subtle finish. I’m glad I have one more of these beauties. (4633 views) | | | Tasted by Vinobay on 11/23/2023 & rated 95 points: Perfect aging — layers of cherries, chocolate, and oak. Perfect balance on the palate of fruit, acidity, and tannins. Elegant finish that’s makes you savor every sip. (3749 views) | | | Tasted by Kayentacellars on 10/22/2023 & rated 98 points: Just right! (4321 views) | | | Tasted by jmoon on 10/1/2023 & rated 96 points: Superbly cool deep dark fruit. Dense and plush but not over ripe, just superb. Just the right balance in style between bordeaux and Napa. No fruit bomb here. Drinking well now, especially after an hours air, but clearly has a lot to unfurl. (4075 views) | | | Tasted by lozatron on 8/23/2023: Good lordy. An early tasting based on the fact that both the 08 and the 10 have been a point recently, and we were drinking a few other Ridge 14s so it seemed like a fun chance to try. Such density, poise. This is clearly very young, and I won't broach another bottle for a couple of years yet, but it's all there - really top stuff. (4922 views) | | | Tasted by deadwax on 8/20/2023 & rated 94 points: Double decanted for group of six. Still young and tight. Dark fruit flavors with a very good fruit structure balance. Thinking this will be a long lived wine for a MB. (4349 views) | | | Tasted by WineSauvy on 4/19/2023 & rated 96 points: Early peak into a beautiful wine. Incredible tension and balance preview a long life for this wine. Combination of sweet oak, smooth tannins, spice and black fruit are simply enchanting. High acidity of this mountain cab differentiates the Monte Bello. Curtain still to fully unfurl on the complexity with this wine (5911 views) | | | Tasted by jonh1 on 3/11/2023 & rated 95 points: Tomato paste, dark fruit, rubber cement nose
Way more integrated on the tongue. Really good. Doesn’t need food - ripe fruit, plum and blackberry, maybe orange zest? still that hint of rubber cement. Attributes: Good on balance, complexity, length, intensity; great on beauty. Whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Delicious now but will get better for a while. (5311 views) | | | Tasted by dearth on 3/10/2023 & rated 90 points: Solid red color, earthy robust nose og mature berries and cask. Taste does not fully match its nose, probably too young for that, but nice berry-youghurt top-level americana. Splendid wine, just give it a few more years. (5106 views) | | | Tasted by MC2 Wines on 2/8/2023: Napa 2023: the quieter version; 2/6/2023-2/11/2023 (Napa/Sonoma California): Very soft and gentle. Darker fruits and light in style. I always love Monte Bello giving it the benefit of the doubt this is probably in a slightly dumb phase. With some time you get more darker fruits and a bit more spice. From ‘13 onward this wine has become a more cab dominated because of newer plantings that are more skewed towards cab. This is one of those earlier years of that. (5935 views) | | | Tasted by twoamps on 12/31/2022 flawed bottle: 12/31/2022 drank with a nice chateaubriand on NYE. Disappointing. 2 hour decant, some settled sediment, red throughout, but very thin, hollow, and lifeless. Not corked, not oxidized, but not very good and very atypical for a MB. Had been stored at 55 throughout, so dunno what went wrong. Still holding out hope for the other bottle in a few years... (5698 views) | | | Tasted by sempervinum on 12/11/2022 & rated 90 points: The wine sat 4 hours in an open bottle. A more extensive decant might have contributed to a better performance. Appealing red berry fruit, fresh tree bark. Gets more balsamic aromas with time Firm tannins and tree bark with balsamic notes in the mouth do not go well together. There is hot alcohol with more time in the glass. Not inviting to be consumed in this state. (4863 views) | | | Tasted by unrelenting on 10/31/2022 & rated 96 points: Blockbuster vintage (5787 views) | | | Tasted by WhineEnthusiast on 10/28/2022 & rated 94 points: Had this opened / decanted ahead of time by restaurant - cant be sure of exactly how long it was open.
Initial tastes were a bit thinner than i normally expect from monte bello. Really came to life with food toward end of meal. Wondering if this is in an awkward phase? (4879 views) | | | Tasted by BenW89 on 8/10/2022 & rated 95 points: Beautiful. Classic Ridge profile. Dense, perfumed, cassis and graphite. Smooth, fine-grained tannins. Impressive length (6040 views) | | | Tasted by Steve Brickley on 7/4/2022 & rated 96 points: It’s starting to be drinkable with a six hour decant. Has decades of life in front of it. The nose jumps from the glass. The American Oak flavors evident and front and center in a good way. Classic cab depth and roundness. A lovely wine we flew to Nice France and enjoyed on the balcony overlooking the Med Sea. (6008 views) | | | Tasted by zimmy07 on 6/19/2022 & rated 95 points: God I love Ridge MB! My wife always comments that Monte Bello shoud be a perfume, as it is so fragrant and floral. This was fragrant for sure. Decanetd for about 4.5 hours and about another 30-45 minutes in the glass. Seamless integration. Soft blue fruits, espresso, cedar and vanilla. Oak is spot on. I was blown away by the 2013, this is not on that exact level but this is one badass Ridge MB. I have every vintage from 2005- current but never tried anything from 2014-today, that is why I pulled it. Yes, this can go decades, but if you have a bunch of these starring at you, get into it. I usually always say wait, but I am not sure after a 5 hour decant this is not ready to go. 2012-2014 are on fire! I hope the 2015-2021's and beyond continue because this is fun! (5905 views) | | | Tasted by WineJ2019 on 3/19/2022 & rated 93 points: Drinking fine now unlike some other MBs that seem to need a lot more aging. The word “bright” kept coming to mind as I had this - bright acidity, bright red fruits. A notch behind the 2012 I had recently but still very good (6161 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By James Suckling
JamesSuckling.com (12/30/2022)
(Ridge Vineyards Santa Cruz Mountains Monte Bello, United States) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Brook
Decanter, Ridge Monte Bello retrospective (10/25/2022)
(Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA, Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Brook
Decanter, Ridge Monte Bello retrospective (10/25/2022)
(Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA, Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (10/25/2022)
(Ridge, Monte Bello Santa Cruz Mountains Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By John Gilman
View From the Cellar, Mar/Apr 2022, Issue #98, Recently-Tasted American Wines Spring 2022
(Cabernet Sauvignon “Monte Bello”- Ridge Vineayrds (Santa Cruz Mountains)) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Ronan Sayburn MS
Decanter, Collectible California tasting 2018 (9/20/2018)
(Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA, Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jeb Dunnuck
JebDunnuck.com, Brilliance From Sonoma (6/5/2018)
(Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (1/29/2018)
(Ridge, Monte Bello Santa Cruz Mountains Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Panel Tasting
Decanter, California Cabernet 2014 PT April 2018 (10/10/2017)
(Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA, Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jeb Dunnuck
JebDunnuck.com, California, Santa Cruz Mountains: The High Quality, yet Tiny Production 2015s (8/24/2017)
(Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Santa Cruz Mountains – The 2015s and 2014s (Aug 2017) (8/1/2017)
(Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello Central Coast Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By William Kelley
Decanter, 2014 California Cabernet Sauvignon & Bordeaux blends (5/31/2017)
(Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA, Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By James Suckling
JamesSuckling.com (2/9/2017)
(Ridge Vineyards Santa Cruz Mountains Monte Bello, Red, United States) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Brilliance in the Santa Cruz Mountains (Jul 2016) (7/1/2016)
(Ridge Monte Bello Central Coast) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Ridge Monte Bello: Past, Present and Future (Jul 2015) (7/1/2015)
(Ridge Monte Bello Central Coast) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Santa Cruz Mountains: Scaling the Heights (Jul 2015) (7/1/2015)
(Ridge Monte Bello Central Coast) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (2/25/2015)
(Ridge, Monte Bello Santa Cruz Mountains Red) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of JamesSuckling.com and Decanter and JancisRobinson.com and View From the Cellar and JebDunnuck.com and 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.2014 Ridge Monte BelloAlways exciting to taste a new vintage of Monte Bello. It is truly one of the world’s great icon wines that never disappoints. What is so wonderful about this wine is the ultra-intelligent path it treads between new world opulence and old world classical restraint. In 2014, the Monte Bello is a delicious blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. There is a wonderful Cabernet dominant nose of blueberry crumble, cassis, black plum, buttered brown toast and a piquant note of cedar wood spice, walnut skins, graphite and vanilla pod spice. The palate conveys such wonderful concentration and depth yet remains so elegantly poised, harmonious and finely balanced. A multi-layered wine that is supremely seamless, revealing more saline black current, blue berries, black cherry, vanilla bean, salty liquorice hints and a very long, polished finish. Certainly a very well honed, muscular athlete that is a wonder to behold. The tannins will hold this beautiful wine in pole position for many years to come but should be good to start drinking in the next 2 to 3 years and over the next 30+ years.
97/100 Greg Sherwood MW
Red Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.Monte Bello On weinlagen-infoUSAAmerican 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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