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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.8 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 46 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by MC2 Wines on 11/30/2023: Piemonte: Truffles instead of Turkey; 11/23/2023-12/2/2023 (Barolo, Barbaresco, Alto Piemonte and of course Alba): From our collection at home. One of my favorite producers in California and I had a memory that at some point the friends we were dining with had mentioned liking these wines and the difficulty of finding them in Italy. So over the bottle went and I thought it was very good although I did sense just a slight undercurrent of brett (which I got in a few wines for about 24 hours that no one else go so that could just have been my nose being off). It was quite classic and balanced and overall very tasty. (952 views) | | | Tasted by acyso on 9/6/2022 & rated 95 points: Flickinger dinner (Chicago, IL): Been a while since I opened a bottle of old Monte Bello. The nose was almost slightly Rioja-like (thanks, American oak!) but otherwise there were classic notes of pyrazine and black fruit here. The palate is concentrated, but light (in fact, the wine only has 11.8% abv). There's an elegance from the acidity that I think is absolutely fantastic, and with air, this grew to be a little more herbaceous. Cabernet from a time that no longer exists; this is almost an historical treasure at this point. (2604 views) | | | Tasted by MC2 Wines on 11/2/2021: Ridge Monte Bello Retrospective (Porter House): My favorite of this flight in what was a pretty tough run competition because the 80's of these are just spectacular. Really vibrant. I get rosemary early on. Black fruits. There's a loveliness and a power to this wine that makes it clear it's nowhere near it's 'real' drinking window. (2602 views) | | | Tasted by aaacerbic on 11/26/2020: Easily the best California Cab I’ve had with age. So lithe and elegant. Slight peppery and cedar notes along with fresh red and black fruits. Soft tannins and refreshing acid. So few signs of oxidation. Have had open for five hours and it’s only improved! Incredible wine at 34 years and 11.8% alcohol... (2922 views) | | | Tasted by ekessler on 11/20/2020: Smooth and elegant. Some Brett on the nose which mostly dissipated with air. Berry, cherry, leather, wood, dark fruits. Fantastic with NY strip, butternut squash puree, and sautéed mushrooms. (2745 views) | | | Tasted by Vstalam on 9/21/2018 & rated 93 points: From 375ml at dinner with duck and lamb courses. Ethereal light texture up front, but tannins still there on finish. Hint of black fruit balanced with cedar and a touch of pepper through a long finish. (4625 views) | | | Tasted by ShadowIII on 7/16/2017 & rated 94 points: Beautiful wine, balanced, elegant, currants, dark fruits, nice mouth feel, refined tannins, long finish (5209 views) | | | Tasted by dream on 6/28/2017 & rated 94 points: Classic dill on the nose along with black fruits and minerals. Realy elegant and silky on the palate and kept improving and opening in the glass. Gorgeous black fruit flavors and a sense of liquid minerals pervade this wine and while not as complex as the '85 Martha's tasted alongside, this showed younger and should still improve. 94+ (4678 views) | | | Tasted by ljl on 4/27/2017 & rated 93 points: Light color. Leather, cedar and cherry aroma. Sweet, leather, berry and wet wood on the palate. Didn't open up as much as I expected after decanting. (4239 views) | | | Tasted by POBlund on 3/23/2017 & rated 95 points: Tasted at 12 vintage vertical by Michel Jamais.
Perfumed nose of dry dark fruit and woods. Elegant with maturity.
Perrfect balanced elegant body, palate of earth, cedar, thé and structure with high fine-grained tannins. 11,8%
High time to drink. (4195 views) | | | Tasted by Bordeaux_Jon on 2/17/2017 & rated 100 points: Served as a ringer, double blind, in a flight of the 5 1986 1st Growths. On first sniff, my reaction was "oh dear, crazy, wow!!" It was way different than the other wines in the flight, which all turned out to be Bordeaux (there was a 1985 Leoville Las Cases ringer as well). Truffle, red fruit, oak on the nose. More, as well, that was hard to describe, I apologize. My reaction was more emotional than intellectual. It was so aromatic and beautiful.
The palate was very fruity with balancing oak, less intense than the 5 1985s, with a great sense of elegance and very smooth. I think that won the group over relative to the intensity and firm tannins still present in the 1986s. I wrote that it was clearly American, but didn't guess Ridge because it didn't taste like Monte Bellos I'd had before.
At first, I wanted to believe it was the 1986 Margaux, but later I declared out loud, "This wine is too good to be a 1st Growth Bordeaux from 1986". I want to state now, I am not a fan of Ridge Monte Bello. While I have certain had great bottles, many have too much green and dill notes from the American Oak they use. This wine had none of that.
I got worried that the wine was flawed because it smelled so good, or that I was flawed. But when the scores were revealed and it came in first place by a wide margin with 6 out of 9 first places, I realized it was indeed all it seemed to be. I'll be honest, I ranked it 5th because I couldn't bare to admit that the ringer beat all 5 first growths in my scores, but it certainly did and boy was it unbelievable! (3294 views) | | | Tasted by SKHof on 2/4/2017 flawed bottle: Somehow missed the drink by on this bottle, and it was way past prime. So sad, as it was an exceptional wine originally. (1939 views) | | | Tasted by Mlermontov on 8/26/2016 & rated 94 points: Oregon Notes.; 8/5/2016-8/26/2016: my first ever Monte Bello. wow. very Bdx in build, powerful fruit, black fruit with elegance and clarity, cinnamon, sweet berries and herbs on the finish. excellent in every way. (3072 views) | | | Tasted by michael47 on 8/26/2016 & rated 92 points: Perfectly mature, sound. Like a well-aged Bordeaux. Real treat to drink. (2291 views) | | | Tasted by MusignyBlanc on 12/19/2015 flawed bottle: Corked. (3078 views) | | | Tasted by coremill on 3/19/2015 & rated 92 points: Fully mature, the powerful aromatics are all rich earthy graphite and herbs, but unlike the 1982 there's plenty of cassis fruit on the palate that's well-integrated with the more tertiary stuff and an interesting mineral saline component. A lovely bottle. (3837 views) | | | Tasted by Sixchips600 on 8/24/2014 & rated 89 points: I bet this was fantastic 10 years ago. Still enjoyable and was best about 90 minutes after opening. Nose of wood and black fruits, smoke, tar. After 90 minutes, palate had a rich core of fruit and some tannin and subtle nuances. (4092 views) | | | Tasted by joelshaps on 3/20/2014: Too old (4165 views) | | | Tasted by Frinkcorkz on 2/12/2014 & rated 70 points: Drank half and poured half our. Harsh bitter tannins in contrast with strong acidity. Slight mushroom after taste. (4114 views) | | | Tasted by MusignyBlanc on 10/18/2013: This is the fourth bottle of a case and my notes have been very consistent. PnP corkage at a local restaurant (I do not feel this needs a long decant). Very linear wine - entry and exit are "even" and consistent. Soft round fruit, tannins fully resolved. This is not a showy wine. No acidic explosion or fruit sensation or brambly finish, just a very soft and solid presentation. Really nice drinking. A/A- (3916 views) | | | Tasted by ledwards on 10/13/2012 & rated 92 points: Intergrated, well balanced. Light Ruby. Herbs, rosemary, rare meat with subtle waves of red fruit. Not heavy. Very pleasant and nuanced. Anti-fruit bomb. (4734 views) | | | Tasted by Matt Neel on 2/2/2012: Wines blind 2/2/2012 (Battery Park City): Tasted double blind. Bricked blood. Huge, herbal nose, massive chalk, asparagus, etc. California Cabernet, I'm sure, at least Cabernet Sauvignon. Floral, fat, gigantic, epic nose -- A++ on the nose, wow! Round, soft, yet still structured on palate; quite dry. Plum, cocoa. Now estuarine salinity on nose. Lip-smacking length brings you back for more; not at all big, not at all sweet. My guess is this is an '82 Ridge Monte Bello (though Seth and I did discuss, at length, the possibility of Silver Oak). Really, really splendid wine, spectacular on every level. Despite not being red Burgundy or old Piedmont, my favorite wine thus far this new year. A+ with a star and some bells... (5056 views) | | | Tasted by Seth Rosenberg on 2/2/2012 & rated 96 points: Blind tasting at JK & KK's place: Tasted double blind. Huge nose with herbal and floral notes, sweet green pepper, a touch of menthol, and almost jammy plummy fruit. Palate dripping with sweet fruit and solid vegetal/herbal notes, and a little plummy spice. Really smooth and integrated tannins. The finish is good and sweet, long but not too long. If this isn't Cali cab from the late 70's early-mid 80's I will eat my shoe. At first I though Silver Oak, but it doesn't have enough of that vanilla oak, so I went with Arjune's guess of Monte Bello - he guess 86, I guessed earlier 80-84. I don't know what others on CT were drinking, but this shit was good - best Cali Cab I've had in a long time. Nose - 6/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 4.5/6, Je Ne Sais Quoi - 2/2 = 18/20. (5493 views) | | | Tasted by yhn on 12/7/2011: No notes. This one was a little bretty, but still quite enjoyable. (4603 views) | | | Tasted by TimF on 4/2/2011: My first MB this year and boy how I've missed it! Medium red with bricking. Nose blows me away with rust, blood, dirt, animal fur, and herbs -- my favorite kind of stuff. Nice balance of acid and soft tannin on the palate with more blood, rust, herbs, raspberries and tart cherries. I wasn't expecting much from this vintage so this bottle really surprised me. (5059 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, September/October 2000, IWC Issue #92
(Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello Red Blend) Subscribe to see review text. | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (6/20/2010)
(Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello) Bricking medium red color; nice mushroom, herbal nose; herbal, marjoram, mushroom, tart red fruit, dill, tomato paste, cedar palate with firm tannins; medium-plus finish (90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot) 91 points |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and RJonWine.com. (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 SauvignonMonte 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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