Ridge Monte Bello component tasting (and a Meursault!)

Ridge Vineyards, Santa Cruz, CA
Tasted Sunday, March 20, 2016 by RajivAyyangar with 448 views

Introduction

A lovely tasting and picnic with AA/N, Tim, G, and others.

Flight 1 - Intro wine (1 Note)

  • 2014 Ridge Chardonnay Estate 86 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Relatively neutral nose, predominantly smelling of freshly sanded wood. Slightly reductive (rubber). Grapefruit pith! Raw apricot.
    m body, m+ acid, m+ alcohol
    Strong and bright acid! Slight bitterness from wood. Hints of vanilla buttercream.

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Flight 2 - 2015 Monte Bello component tasting (5 Notes)

It was really cool to taste the components and then the final blend, and see how it all comes together. The final blend (still could change before bottling) was indeed more than the sum of its parts - the components fit together like puzzle pieces.

  • 2015 Ridge Merlot Barrel Sample Monte Bello 86 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    A bit charred (seems like oak influence). Some chocolate covered plum, but this isn’t screaming merlot to me. Low ripeness - the fruit tastes cool and there’s slight herbaceousness (olive).
    m body, m+ alc (13.5%), m+acid, m tannins.
    Fresh! A bit simple.

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  • 2015 Ridge Petit Verdot Barrel Sample Monte Bello 88 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Inky, opaque purple. Slightly floral. Slight herbs. Green stemminess, underbrush, rosemary. Very clear fresh blackberry. The nose has a pronounced sharpness to it.
    m+ body, m+ alcohol (13.4%), m+ acid, m+ tannins (chewy!)

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  • 2015 Ridge Monte Bello 90 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    This is beautiful! Aromatic and complex. Blackcurrant juice, candied jalapeño with mint.
    m body, m+ alcohol (13.6%), elevated acid and medium tannins. Great concentration of flavor.
    I wish they would bottle this!

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  • 2015 Ridge Monte Bello 88 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Tight. Reticent blackcurrant with green olive herbaceousness.
    Elevated acid and high tannin.

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  • 2015 Ridge Barrel Sample - Rough Blend Monte Bello 91 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    70% cab, 14% merlot, 9% pv, 7%cf
    Bright acid. Blue fruit. Several different types of herbaceousness (from the PV, Merlot, Cab, and CF). Blackberry. Slight stewed bell pepper. Elevated tannins young and papery. Elevated acid. This is more than the sum of its parts! Great flavor concentration throughout the experience - nose, attack, midpalate, and finish. It seems like the different components fill in different parts of the palate. Cabernet gives structure and finish, CF gives aroma and attack, PV gives color, aroma, structure, and later mid-palate. Merlot gives a generous, more expansive mid-palate.

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Flight 3 - Ridge - current releases (4 Notes)

  • 2013 Ridge Monte Bello 92 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    80c 8pv 7cf 5m
    Wow! Stewed peppers. Blackcurrant. Range of fruits. Gingerbread and toasted coconut (amer oak). Elegant structure. Concentrated and structured but with elegant structure and balance.
    M body, m alc, m+ acid, m+ tannins

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  • 2013 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 88 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    75% cabernet
    A bit simpler but still good with some herbaceousness. There’s a bit of a lack of flavor concentration on the midpalate. Nose is great!
    m body, m alc, m+ acid, m tannins

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  • 2014 Ridge Geyserville 87 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley

    Zin with carignan and a few other varieties
    Tart cranberry and tart cherry. Faint ripe orange.
    Med tannins. Elevated acid. Slightly elevated alcohol. 14.5% but holds it well.

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  • 2014 Ridge Zinfandel Hooker Creek 84 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley

    Higher alcohol than the Geyserville - 15%. More overt oak - sawdust. Stewed fruit. Vanilla. Elevated acid. Diminished tannins. Bright and alcoholic and juicy.

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Flight 4 - Older Ridge Wines (4 Notes)

Generously shared by Ridge enthusiasts at the picnic! It was really interesting to taste some of these older wines, but they seemed tired and lacked distinctiveness to me. They were still alive and showing developed wine aromas, but they sort of tasted like generic aged wine.

  • 1990 Ridge Geyserville 85 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County

    Soft and developed. Mature stewed figgy fruit. Light and tired on the palate - not distinctively zin at this point.
    m body, m acid, m+ alc, low tannins (very rounded and soft).
    It’s old wine, but it doesn’t taste distinctively Zin. It sort of tastes like all old wine.

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  • 1997 Ridge Mataro Pagani Ranch 85 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County, Sonoma Valley

    (not sure whether this is Pagani Ranch or Bridgehead).
    Structured (m+ acid and m+ tannins, though developed). Stewed red fruits.

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  • 1981 Ridge Geyserville 75 Points

    USA, California, Sonoma County

    Overridden by brett - dog fur, manure, bitter aromas. Thin on the palate.

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  • 1975 Ridge Zinfandel Monte Bello 80 Points

    USA, California, Santa Cruz Mountains

    Very strange watery honey aroma - seems like botrytis!
    Weird thin watery honey on the palate.
    m body, m alcohol (12.3%), elevated acid, very soft.
    It’s very developed, and not oxidized, but it doesn’t really show much character beyond the sweet honeyed note. “bottle sweetness” ?

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Flight 5 - A Meursault at Tim's (1 Note)

A Fass selection.

  • 2013 Domaine Chavy-Chouet Meursault Les Narvaux 90 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

    @Tim’s, afterwards
    Reticent nose with hints of almond, toast, and apple. Slight herbaceousness - stemmy? lime? I’m not sure. Saline on the palate, with high acid (strong tartaric). Slightly elevated alcohol - feels 13% (correct). Slight bitterness from oak.
    Really nice!

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