Opened for 1-2 hours and was ready to go. Tannins resolved. Incredible nose, intricate and a sense of quality. The body was French in nature, super smooth, austere.
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Coming back again. Now almost 25 years old. Opened for 3 hours. Color is still deep garnet/purple but orange rim. On the nose: Plum, cassis, cinnamon, espresso and some dark chocolate. On the palate: Rich plum, cassis, a hint of cherry, baking spices, graphite and cinnamon. This is superb and I bet has decades left. I am down to only two bottles of my old case. I will try to wait a few years to see how it evolves but it’s fabulous. Also only 13% alcohol which I appreciate. My score keeps climbing but I am not a metronome.
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Hard to believe this 24 years old. Still some youth to it… but getting some nice scondary noutes. Comes alive with a bit of air- give 2 hrs in decanter.
Fuller / rounder than an 87 dunn HM we drank with
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Gorgeous. Deep nose with tropical soil and dark fruits. Rich texture, nicely mature elements of cedar and umami. Only flaw is the acids are a bit sour and competing at time with the core. Long finish recaps the opening.
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Saturday hangout at Domaine (Chicago, IL): Ridge Monte Bello is the greatest American wine, and this bottle is no exception to that. Plenty of American oak (though nowhere as much as the 2001 LRA) but counterbalanced by black fruit, dust, and leather. This drinks comfortably in a secondary phase but there is clearly so much further aging potential right now.
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A Ridge Tahoe Weekend; 6/29/2023-7/2/2023 (Edgewood Resort): The only one of the MBs that was really in drinking window and yet there’s plenty of life for this. Starting to get a bit more sweet black fruits and more pepper and spice notes. Very classy in style. It was a PnP and I’m not sure it wouldn’t have benefitted from the double decant that its compatriots got. Took some time but did open up towards the end of the tasting.
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Drinking well now. Tannins are gone leaving a lush and smooth, full bodied Cabernet flowing over the palate with subdued licorice and cherries. This was from a magnum and this magnum needed more time. Decanted for two hours. Try the next magnum in 2028-2030.
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Shy minimalistic nose, the palate is restrained and closed, flavors of cassis, forest floor and savory red fruit. Smooth tannins and good acidity but the fruit component is fairly unexpressive, so is the long aftertaste. Clearly a difficult vintage for (also) this wine, have to say I liked recently tasted Dalla Vale Cab, Sav. 1996 and 2000 clearly better.
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Milan Wine Event 2 - AKA F It Dinner (Il Ristorante Trussardi alla Scala (Ristorante Trussardi by Giancarlo Perbellini), Milan): We have followed this wine for the last 12 years and to this day the notion that the struggled with this cold vintage to the level of adding press wine and yet they created something so exceptional is testament to the greatness of winemaking. We did not have time to decant not that we felt it needed it but for sure took its time. Dark fruited, big dark fruit on open , cherry in a way, California fruit but with a fine balance on the palate. Almost soft on the palate we might even say for Napa standards, of course the California level of richness is there. Loved the presence of it on the palate and in all fairness it followed in the foot steps of some amazing wines ( pls check event link) and held its own with its head high. Exceptional wine. 95-96 and with a lot of life ahead. We must buy more.
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JT and Marty Super Bowl Extravaganza (Chez Newman): This was excellent. Served with sous vide ribeye; decanted for 90 min; beautiful rich dark fruit, violet, damp earth and tobacco, just a tiny hint of sweet spice; the balance and elegance on the palate is first rate. Its in a good spot right now, but has loads of time ahead especially if you like older cabernet notes as this was still definitely fruit driven.
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This has been open 4-5 hours. Beautiful and intense nose - deep dark fruits: black cherry and blackberry with some cassis. A potent herbal aspect as well - deep tobacco, leafy pipeweed, maybe menthol or eucalyptus. Also some pencil shavings. Entry is tight but the wine expands in the middle showing beautiful sweet dark fruits and the herbal/tobacco/mint note comes in - very potent and mouth filling. The finish dries out a bit, quite herbal and minty there - the finish is not quite as complete as the mid and end palate. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 17/20.
Day 3: I’ve tracked this from opening and it’s worth pointing out that my experience with this bottle was quite varied and the note I took represented the best snapshot. Overall this is a potent and herbaceous wine with dark fruit. At points it felt a bit hollow and sometimes dried out a bit also. However it did vary and it gained with air after pouring for about 30-60 minutes - taking on weight and completeness.
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I am upping my score from 92 to 95 after drinking a second bottle, this time from a 375 ml. It was more evolved and had significantly more depth and richness. I often underestimate how much time Monte Bello needs to reach it’s full glory. When it does, it rivals the worlds greatest wines. Even though this is Cabernet, it had a Pomerol like character. Tasted blind I believe it would stand alongside the greatest wines from that appellation.
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What a beautiful result of a challenging year this has become and int he last year or so it has even evolved more. Light leathery, well evolved and secondary but with that extra richenwsa of California fruit . Almost soft on the palate but what it lacks in that it makes up with effortless elegance. A magnificent 95-96 wine with another good 5 years at peak ( at least). We have 2 to go and we must buy more.
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Still going strong, why should that be any surprise with Ridge Monte Bello? Acquired from the winery directly and immediately placed into professional wine storage. Pristine bottle. Cork in excellent condition. Color was strongly red/plum with only a small amount of bricking at the edge. Aromatically, the American Oak is definitely a noticeable signature with complimenting sandalwood and spice. In the mouth, delicious, on the edgy/tannic side of well balanced, lengthy cleansing finish. Well cellared bottles offer the opportunity for additional development, no tertiary development at this point for this bottle, I can see this going another 10+ easily. The only problem with this wine on this night was the sublime 1999 Philip Togni that it accompanied.
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Second bottle from the same batch we had 1 month ago and decanting really did the trick here vs last time . A good hour this time and really helped the wine develop and the group found this to be the WOTN. Soft and well round, effortless wine, elegant and classy. Nice dark fruit, well silky tannin and with proper length. For an off vintage Monte Bello that they struggled and even added pressed wine to bolster it this is a superb result and an arbitrage on the Monte Bello curve. an Easy 95+
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You can drink upon opening, but give this about 30 minutes in a decanter to open up and you will be rewarded. Nice purple color, with some bricking around the rim.
Lovely, perfumed nose with lots of cherries and a whiff of pencil shavings. The palate has excellent fruit and perfectly smooth tannins. The finish lingers for over a minute. Drinking nicely now, but not a huge hurry. Delicious.
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Drinking beautifully - seems at peak to me. Limpid purple with maybe a mm of bricking at the rim. Classic left bank Bordeaux aromas of freshly sharpened #2 pencils and blackcurrant. Palate is incredibly smooth and seamless, dominated by blackcurrant, with an undercurrent (🙄) of sugared cranberries. A touch of pleasingly integrated American oak (just a tiny bit of pickle), a whiff of eucalyptus, dry earth and dried herbs, and some tertiary library book. Could use a touch more concentration, but it’s an outstanding drop regardless. Long, perfumed finish with just largely resolved tannins.
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A softer yet sweeter Montebello, one that looking at our notes from 2011 when we did a Montebello Tastign was light and they added press wine to make it bolder and add structure. Nicol who tried this blind struggled to place it and even though it was a bit of a surah , given the sweeter core of fruit. But this is also a great Montebello and albeit not the greatest one of those slightly different ones that add to the variability and randomness of beautiful wines of years past . and for this we loved it. 93-94
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Perfectly mature. Classic Monte Bello although not a great Monte Bello. A little high in acidity, lacking the depth of fruit to balance it which gives it a rough edge. Also comes up short on the finish.
Excellent Montebello, tannins resolved and this has plenty of time left. This is the best bottle of '99 to date mainly because it had more expressive fruit than the previous ones.
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A special wine, drank alongside 1998 Chateau Malescot St. Exupery, which made this even more fun. Soft cork that clearly was going to pull apart so used the Durand (a great wine tool!) and extracted the clean cork. The single greatest thing about this wine is the nose - amazing. Scents of bright cherry, dusty cedar and eucalyptus. A gorgeous wine showing beautifully in the Conterno glass. Brilliantly colored, clean. That clean precision carries over in the mouth - spicy red and black fruit (predominantly red) with flavors of cassis, cherry, lead pencil with a spiciness that carries a long finish. My thought was that I should have had this last bottle (bought the half case in 2004) about 3 years ago, because there was just a little bit of tiredness on the tail end of the mid-palate. Regardless, this was a real treat. Restrained and elegant - I wish I had more.
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Drank with the online wine group and over three days from a Coravined bottle. What a beautiful, balanced, mature Cab. Garnet in color with a fresh nose of red plum fruit and American oak scents. On opening there is a bit of cedar and vanilla along with good plum fruit, tobacco and a mineral flavor note on the palate. Like drinking cashmere on the long, silky, plummy finish. Should last at least another ten years in a cool cellar.
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Decanted 2 hours, not sure how long I have cellared this MB as it predates me joining CT in 2007. Nonetheless this bottle was a delight to drink, so well balanced, so elegant like an iron fist in a velvet glove, once called the poor mans Latour this bottle certainly could compete with many left bank Bordeaux. A complex assortment of currants, cassis, raspberry, dark cherry , plum, spice and earth. Fully integrated but certainly could hold for a decade or more in a cool environment. Paired exceptionally well with rack of lamb and roasted veggies.
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PnP, cork was flaking/falling apart but mostly got it out in one piece.
This was lovely, and really started to sing after about 30 minutes. Aromatic nose that I couldn't stop smelling, primarily red fruit with some floral notes, classic Ridge. Medium body, ruby red at the edges. At 20 years, it was slightly more astringent than I expected and even though it's well within the drinking window and will delight right now, I feel like this still could have sat for a few more years more to mellow out even further.
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Bit of Bret on opening but gone after 30mins. Thanksgiving wine with roast duck (I dined solo). Fabulous color and depth and length. How I love these CA cabs with only 13% alcohol!
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I decided to check on these bottles after grilling a couple of NY strips. I couldn't find an ah-so and ended up using a regular waiter's corkscrew. Cork disintegrated. Strained the liquid through a cheese cloth. Didn't harm the wine. Opaque. Nose was expressive with a warm blackberry/blueberry compote, tar, and cocoa. Palate was full-bodied with delicious dark cherries. Tannins are mostly integrated. Good acidity to keep things fresh and balanced. This is open for business. Agree with the last couple of tasting notes.
Time to try the next bottle of my old case of this. Opened 2 hours. On the nose is ripe plum with a bit of cherry. On the palate: wonderful rich concentrated plums, cherry, dark chocolate, mushroom and some funk/smoke at the end. This is delicious, world class and elegant wine. I scored 2 higher than 1.5 years ago. The wine is in great place right now and I am very happy I have the rest of the case to enjoy in the next years.
Just now starting to open up. Incredibly lush, luxurious saturation, this may be the sexiest bottle of “young” Monte Bello I’ve ever tried. It is just ringing with tart black cherry, earthy beets, and dark anise. So deliciously complex. All this from a split. Magnums are going to take a long time.
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Bad cork but was able to filter and decant. Very aromatic with warm cedar, dark fruit, and menthol. Oaky dark cherry flavors with lots of acidity on a lengthy cedar and berry finish.
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Tastes exactly the same as it did 10 years ago, like it needs another five years. A strange vintage. Closed, tight fruit, but smooth. Clearly an abundance of fruit, and well made, just tight knit. I don’t know if this will ever come around but there is no rush. From a magnum.
ChrIstmas WIMPS, Pandemonium table (La Trompette, London): I’ve had some variability with 99 Montebello, but this is one of the better bottles. Similar on the nose to the 2000, but a bit more serious with a cool blackcurrant leaf edge alongside the fruit. Cooler fruited with more verve too. Lots of fine sediment here, but a lovely wine.****
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Pop and pour. Nice dark red, though showing somewhat reduced clarity. Subtle nose. Very well balanced. Strangely showing some tougher tannin after an hour or so. Believe at its full potential now.
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Graphite on the nose. Still pretty tight with some noticeable tannins, suggesting it will last at least another decade and probably much longer. Beautifully balanced fruit. This is fresh, vibrant and complex. Dark blackberries and licorice.
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My first MB ... Decanted for 3 hours in the cellar and noticed what can only be described as a shocking salinity in my first try. Let it evolve in glass for about 30 min, and came around to start tasting as the other notes suggest, very much like a solid vintage Left Bank. Returned half to the bottle, stored in cellar overnight, and enjoyed much more on day 2. Agree with the notes below, drinking well, not sure much upside and will likely finish my last bottle within the next year or so.
Allowed to breath over an hour and a half. Single decant. Superb colour with just a gentle Hugh of age at the rim. Soft subtle nose. Fully integrated tannins. Has a beautiful length. Hints of lanolin and leather. Fruit forward but gentle. has a wonderful cigar box aftertaste. Long fruit that gently lingered on the palate. Superb wine. Doubt that it will improve from here but if you have some, enjoy!
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Outdoorsy and magnanimous, densely woven but relaxed, having entered into a long autumn with initial notes of decay but plenty of late afternoon sun and freshness intact. If too much of those later-stage aromas and flavors aren't your thing, you'll still enjoy this now, drink up! If you're willing to walk that forest path, this will provide still more enjoyment -2022.
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Beautiful MB in its prime. Double decanted 1/2 hr before serving with a pork roast and mushroom sauce. Fine tannins well balanced with cab fruit flavors. Not especially weighty, really balances (I know I said that). Sad that it’s my last.
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Elegant and long with plum and cherry . It is clearly an older wine with a bit of mushroom and funk. The folks at ridge never disappoint. They were my first great wine experience sitting with my sister in Santa cruz and I still love what they do.
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1 hr in decanter. Nose of cherry, cedar and slightly spicy. BlackBerry and plumb on the palette, well balanced with a good amount of freshness for an 18 year old cab. Some spice and cedar on the mid palette and through the finish. A good bit of grippy tannin as well. Very good wine.
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Ridge Cabs (La Trompette, London): A little less scented. More Rhôney in profile. A touch of prune / stewed fruit here too. Seems atypical and below par cf previous 99s. Somewhat evolved. A little cooked? Still decent but not what it should be. ***1/2. After an hour or so, a touch of bovril Too.
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Stunning nose of red fruit, cedar, hint of leather, spice, and yes, cassis. Youthful rich palate with smoky dark berry fruit, very soft tannin, and remarkably long finish of tart cassis. Great balance and acid, fine with dinner (pork shoulder enchiladas). California meets Bordeaux and we smile.
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Book Club - Grand Finale (FMIII in the OC): Well, if you're lucky enough to have a few of these in the cellar, no worries regarding aging. This was very fresh and vibrant. There's a spicy note that I want to call dill because I know it's aged in American oak but it's definitely something from the barrels and a crazy perfume. I went back a few times because I thought one of the ladies might have put on perfume but nope, it's the wine. Dark fruit, BDX like character and light caramel finish. Hard to believe this is 18 years old.
Some wines with friends (My House In The South OC): The color on this is a reddish-purple and it portends the freshness of the wine. Nose of cedar and a touch of something volatile, maybe a little heat. Stuffed with intense dark fruit and charcoal. At the end of the night, I re-corked the bottle and left it on the counter. Re-tasting now to assess the final ounces from the leftovers. The volatile kind of thing I mentioned is gone and the cedary, herby note is bold and fragrant. Spicy and cedary, with bitter cocoa, dark cherry and supporting acidity that keeps it lively. Finishes with some grippy tannin so in terms of aging curve, and with the data point this has been open for 12 hours, I'd believe this will continue to age for much longer. And given the cedary, cherry quality that really comes through, I also believe this will be a Cab that will continue to put on and express all the older era tasting qualities that many people enjoy. There is a riper quality to the red fruit that also should please those looking for something that adds some of the modernity of the current era Napa cabs, too.
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Still nice deep color, blackberries, black cherries, leather and earthiness in the nose. Black currants and black cherries in the flavor. Definitely claret like, left bank. Elegant wine with nice complexity, well balanced, and a long finish.
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From .375. This is just fantastic. May deserve a higher score by a point or two. Now, ready to go on the PNP, although there is still some tannin present, and this will, no doubt, go on for many more years, even in 1/2 bottles. See my prior notes, just update to ready-to-drink-now...almost. So glad I have more of this.
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The cork disintegrated and so I was forced to strain the wine, thus it probably lost a point or so in complexity. But the wine ended up just fine (much to my relief) and true to form, it still showed why this is one of the top 5 cabernets in California. Still displays a medium dark purple red with a terrific nose of earthy elements that have come together well after 18 years - leather, tobacco, are present with a nice backbone of dark forest fruit. Tannins are medium, right around where they should be now. Peak drinking, and I'd say another 5 years left for certain, maybe even 10. I love that Draper makes his own wine in California, the winemaking talents clearly on display here. I had to laugh when I read one previous review - "the best Bordeaux outside of Bordeaux" - so true.
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This is the best bordeaux outside of bordeaux !!! In a blind tasting it would be very hard to put this to california ! Delicious !! Depth !! Medium + body and a good finish !
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Cork out easy , nice nose , pure California . This wine has been giving , and giving , and giving for many years now. This bottle might be missing a step or 2 from previous bottles , but nonetheless its very very good . 1 of 4 or 5 wines that I feel are pure expressions of California claret .
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Drank with burgers... these were a 50/50 blend of filet and then cold smoked ribeye. Wine was amazing and I'm probably adding 3pts. as I drank this during my wedding weekend and was from a 3L bottle. Followed over 90-120 minutes with 30 minutes of air. Well aged CA cab and IMHO showed better than the previous couple reviews. It is in a good sweet spot of still showing fruit and then some good secondary notes or leather and tobacco. Good lean tart cherry fruit and cassis. Yum!
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Aroma of boysenberry which follows through as jammy fruit on the palate, along with tart cherry, thin black fruits, licorice. Needs decanting. Still tight. A bit disappointing tasting this Monte Bello over the years. It seems to be stuck in development, not putting on any weight. No reason to open another bottle soon. From a split. Try again in 2022.
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Saturday Bordeaux: A little muddy in color, with a bit of mint and oak, nice dark fruit, paired with a 1999 Lynch Bages I preferred the Bordeaux but I wouldn't turn my nose up at the Ridge either.
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Dark and brooding, but opened up after a 30 minute decant and kept getting better. Structured, complex, and layered. Still has bones left, but drinking well.
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Ridge Monte Bello Vertical, 1980-1999 (Chez Moll): Double decanted ~3-4 hours prior to dinner. Quite different than the '94 and '97 tasted side-by-side. This is a far lighter, more elegant and Bordeaux-like. Beautiful, lifted aromatics of dried plum with loads of bell pepper and tobacco leaf. A leaner and lighter palate but very flavorful with leafy and bell pepper-filled plum fruit. Lots of fresh acids that extend the length. Suave tannin provides some grip. Should age gracefully for 10+ years.
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Ridge Monte Bello, 1980-1999 (Chicago, IL): In its own right, this would be an incredible bottle of wine, but it suffered a little in the context of the older and bolder wines. It's just so stark how young and tannic this is right now. Black fruited, with a clear cabernet green note on the nose, as well as a touch of American oak. The palate is where the relative youth of this wine shows, it's just too dense and tannic right now. Independently, this is an outstanding wine, and I wouldn't worry about drinking it now (I have opened these on several occasions), but as the older wines indicated tonight, there's lots of upside here.
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Tasted this blind. Theres such a merge of napa and bordeaux that I called it a bordeaux. Nose has earth, mineral, new oak and dark fruit. On the palate, its more bordeaux left bank than santa cruz initially, but with more time in the glass, the new world sweetness has emerged. It is drinking well with a 1 hr decant. No need to wait.
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Ben's USA @ Brunswick House (Brunswick House): Quite ripe. Dark cassis fruit. A little simple, or at least less evolved cf the others. Very good, but not the wow of previous bottles of this. ****
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This is fabulous. The nose is stellar with dark fruits, leather, tobacco, hints of vanilla, and cedar. The palate has excellent depth and concentration with still quite noticeable tannins, juicy acidity. Overall delicious and close to peak, but likely to be stellar for the next 10-15 years.
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Tasted at 12 vintage vertical by Michel Jamais. Nose balanced black currant/cassis, lavender, black cherries. Little dusty. Some maturity. Dry elegant body palate of cassis, plum, cedar, mushrooms, structure with high fine-grained tannins. 13,0%
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One of the undisputed kings of California cabernet, especially for those who prefer some old world elements to their reds. Just judging by the color, you'd think this was a decade younger - still very fresh looking, deep ruby, very little brick. Excellent, restrained nose of cedar, red currant and leather. We drank this undecanted but slowly over a few hours - the backbone of the wine changed just a bit towards the end with some nice mocha coming out to enhance the earthiness. The only thing that prevented a higher score was a slight acidity creeping in toward the end which made me not regret drinking it right out of the bottle. I'd say this has another really good 10 years in it after which it will become "interesting" as opposed to the world class wine it is now.
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Crumbly cork that needed to be carefully extracted. Opened for two hours but not decanted though it might have been beneficial as it opened up after the first glass. Such an interesting wine, with a distinctive style but rich with fine tannins, good concentration, length and balance.
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A big hit with my wine group. Decanted in the restaurant. We drank it over 2 hours (along with other wines), it evolved very nicely throughout the night. A very Bordeaux-like CA wine. Long finish. Tastes like it still has years left, if you choose to continue to store it.
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Remarkable wine. So youthful; difficult to believe it's nearly 20 years old. No sign of age in the color, aroma or taste. There is really an effortless elegance to this wine, and the firm acidity and tannic structure - although incredibly fine-grained and in no way intrusive - suggest a long life ahead.
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Rich red color. Bordeaux-like nose of dark fruits, herbs and pencil. Rich plate of dark fruits, blueberry, earth and spice. Nice wine, but I don't think this will be one of the epic long-lived Monte Bello wines. Maybe that they were not open long enough or that I needed to spend more time with it. It drinks well now, don't think it improves much from here
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Beautiful deep ruby color. Generous nose with loads of oaky vanilla and coconut, ripe cherry, and a good whiff of alcohol. More oaky coconut on the palate, with cinnamon and other spices. Long, cherry, stemmy finish, with tannins building late. There is enough depth of very ripe fruit to match the heavy oak, but the borderline alcohol shows through as well. This bottle seems more disjointed than the previous one. Still, this will be worth revisiting in 8 to 10 years.
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A Ridge Lytton Spring Vertical and a few others (our home): The cork crumbled a bit on opening. This probably could have used some air, but so it goes. Purple in color, slight ruby at the rim. The nose is deep with black cherries, cassis, slight chocolate note. On the palate, this is not as big as some vintages. Good acidity. The fruits are fresh on the palate. It dances more than dominates. Nice finish. Still youthful. Probably getting close to peak but certainly a decade or two left in it. Always a classic wine, this let no one down.
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Surprisingly tight after 16 years. Needs about 2 hours in a decanter, but really needs a few more years in the bottle. This is a long haul Monte Bello. Dried fruits, black cherries, minerals, juicy acidity all tightly bound. Try in 2018 or later. From a split.
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Had a dinner with the 1994 Tertre Rôteboeuf, 2002 Shafer Hillside Select and 1999 Ridge Monte Bello. Only the Shafer was decanted, the other two were opened and sat in the bottle for about 45 minutes before serving. The WOTN for me was the Ridge, followed by the Shafer. But all three were outstanding.
The Ridge had a long finish, and is in a great place right now. The tannins were smooth, and it wasn't a super heavy CA Cab. Oddly this is one of the few Monte Bellos that WA didn't review.
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Dinner at Formento's (Chicago, IL): Quite dark in stature. The nose definitely shows a fair touch of American oak, while there's lovely black fruit and a hint of green pepper as well. Perhaps a bit more barnyard than one would expect from a Californian cabernet. The palate isn't too dense, and shows towards the darker end of the spectrum, but this is not a heavy wine at all. In fact, it's quite light as far as this genre goes, with very bright acids. The tannins are mostly resolved -- good to go now, but will likely hold for a while longer.
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Very nice aged Cali wine. The 1999 Chateau Montelena Cab the estate was better as well as the 1999 Beringer Private reserve. The Monte bello was very soft and pleasant but it lacked the depth and flavor profile I would expect for $90+ per bottle. Finish was slightly acidic. Still very nice though.
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This is awesome. Powerful, rich dark berry and plummy fruit with a slight chocolately edge that shows the Merlot (25%) influence, framed by complex mint, cedar, graphite and gravel notes. The structure is there but in the background and the balance is perfect, especially when paired with a good steak. Perhaps not the most dense or lush MB vintage but also not the most austere, this doesn't lack material or concentration, and with food the extract becomes even more weightless and floats across the palate, with the fruit/chocolate/gravel flavors beautifully integrated and long. Absolutely gorgeous.
I remember tasting this two or three years ago and thinking it was still quite backward, but this bottle was much more relaxed and open. As good as any vintage of MB I've had, I think. Hard to imagine it improving much on this showing with more age, although with the track record here it should last for at least another decade.
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My last 375ml and the best bottle yet. Flamboyant coffee and cedar spice nose. Terrific black fruit palate, with cut and acidity typical of Monte Bello (in comparison to Napa). Lengthy chalky finish. Great length and complexity with expected balance of a wine of this pedigree. Still has plenty of tannin to resolve but can be drunk now.
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Well-balanced, mid-weight wine that went well with lamb loin chops. Good acidity. Nose is restrained. Finish is short.
Update on day two: Approximately 26 hours later, this wine is much, much better. It took a lot to bring out this improvement. When I opened it yesterday, I decanted it for an hour, poured myself a glass, then put the remainder back in the bottle, stopped it, and put the bottle in the refrigerator. Tonight the remainder, after warming back up, is a much more serious wine than it was last night. This has a lovely nose. And there is a decent finish that finds its way from the sides of the tongue towards the tip. Also the acidity is much less pronounced now. This is a great Bordeaux-style wine that would be excellent with any rich, red meat dish. I have just two bottles left and will not open them for a long time.
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Deep colour, lovely rich nose, lots of blackcurrant. On the palate it's velvety with a touch of sweetness/ripeness. Lovely mix between new and old world. Lots of life ahead of this.
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A Ledbury lunch (The Ledbury): Dark and really quite dense. Blackcurrant. Similar on the nose, blackcurrant with a sense of ripeness/sweetness. Cool and refined on the attack with a sweet-fruited mid-palate and a minerally frame. Such a strong family line. This one a little more outgoing and with a slightly brighter personality, but qualitatively there's so little in it. Really lovely. ****
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From .375. Classic and lovely nose, if a bit reticent at first. Spot-on and classically rendered, cool cabernet fruit, cassis, dark fruits. Very intense and deep. The nose began to open with some air and the palate tightened up at the same time. Definite tannins that still need to be resolved. This is very good now, and it is easy to see the potential. However, it is years away from prime time and full development of the complexity I am sure will develop, even in this format. Back to the cellar! (90 - 92 now, but with huge upside potential.)
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Something was off in this bottle, a funky, Brett prescience that superseded all other flavors in the bottle. 1999 appears to have been a wasted, flawed year over at Ridge. I think I remember Jimmy Laube reporting on problems in their cellar at around that time and my experience with this wine bears this out.
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Aroma and taste of licorice, also tastes of cherries, beets, plums. Juicy, balanced. Need to decant for an hour minimum to open up. This has generous fruit but it is just starting to show. Much better than a couple of years ago, but I wouldn't open another bottle until 2017. Probably best between 2018 - 2023.
Decanted and this opened up really well. Still has nice fruit, complex notes of herbs, leather, pencil lead. Subtle acids and tannins. Drinking beautifully now, but probably still has several years left.
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Variable year with some TCA problems, this was a really nice, classic Monte Bello. Blue fruits, still some nice oak but back grounded. Maybe the best of mine so far.
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Bright red/black fruit, with herbal and floral notes. Bordeaux-like, complex and elegant. Has enough fruit and structure to suggest it has several good years left.
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Beautiful sensual sleek wine. Still has primary fruit even though tannins fully integrated. Would have thought there is still a long way to go but great now
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Up against a '99 Dunn Howell Mountain, this was a lot more open and giving. The fruit is currant driven with mixed berries, and coffee. In a good place now, this has good integration, and the acidity is tame so no real reason to wait for enjoyment.
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Pop and pour; the cork fell apart as it came out, but only a few small fragments fell into the wine. On the nose, camphor and black compost/peat -- unusual and distinctive; it's the earthy smell you find in the soil improvement section of a garden store. On the palate, black cherry, dark fruit, and earth, with a light sour note on the medium to long finish. This is silky smooth and perfectly balanced. This bottle may be more advanced than others due to the condition of the cork; the primary fruit is mostly gone. A beautiful wine.
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Some might like this a bit older, but I'm enjoying where these 375's are now. Very expressive nose of smoke, currants, black cherry and cedar. Red and black fruits on the palate, mild tannins, and a nice round sweetness to the fruit typical of california--but has the darker fruit profile and tartness expected from SCM. Moderate to long finish. Should continue to age, though arguable if it will gain complexity or not.
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Incredibly dark, all the way to the rim. Nose still showing lots of oak, with notes of coffee and exotic perfume, and cherry fruit. More oak and cherry on the palate, very elegant, nice acidity and ample silky tannins. Alcohol in reasonable balance, well masked by the oak for the time being. Nice wine, to drink or hold to allow the oak to integrate a bit more. I'd drink. 3 hours in decanter. 13% abv
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A bit of TCA at opening, gone an hour later. Old oak, a little cherry, a lot of cassis and chocolate and earth and espresso. Fruit faded to background after another hour. Lots of acid and decent tannins. Seems younger than it is. My one and only bottle that I didn't dare keep longer.
One of the best noses I've experienced in some time. Intense fruit, pungent, complex, earthy. The wine itself took a couple hours in the decanter to open. Tasting notes were dry, dusty, earthy, mushrooms, bordeauxish and youthfully tight. The finish was super dry with some sour tones. Bottom line, a good MB that has plenty of time left. I going to try to wait five years until the next one.
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From 375ml. Tons of sediment. Followed over several hours. Nose was expressive and typical of MonteBello, with very dark fruit profile--mostly currants and plum, smoke, coffee, and toast. Palate still shows some coarse tannin, with maturing fruit but kinda caught in the middle of primary flavors and adding some mature notes with tobacco leaf. Has some brightness on the palate that gives it a lighter feel than many Cali cabs. Lengthy finish, some mineral grip added to coffee notes. Fans of Monte Bello will not be disappointed. A little more complex, less fleshy, and more structured than '00. Could still use some time but enjoyable now
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Fabulous! Very intense nose, dark ruby color, dark fruits, vanilla, spice on the palate. Rich mouthfeel, long finish. Well integrated tannins and 13% alcohol make for a super approachable wine that is really drinking well now.
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Absolutely lovely. Scorched earth and smoke on the nose, with a perfect balance of ripe fruit and leathery secondary characteristics. The palate comes off as quite light, with a lot of minerality, sweet fruit, and emerging secondary notes. A nice hit of leather on the palate as well. Softening tannins. This is in a really nice spot right now.
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While secondary development is ongoing the palate retains a sweet core of cassis. This is complemented by well-integrated oak, tobacco, and tannin. The striking nose is pure red fruit overlaying greenery. The feel is satin and reminds me of a '95 Palmer: refinement and class put in a bottle.
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TN: ZH, Outpost, Ridge, Pride, Bedrock, Prum++: This was nice, but I had really hoped for more. Popped and poured, I am sure some will say it needs more air/time. There was an initial bottle funk that blew off, but I didn't really think it got any better throughout the evening. Purple/ruby in color. The nose has cassis, graphite, minerals and some initial funk. Medium to full bodied. On the palate, this has nice cassis fruit, some complexity, good acidity. An outstanding wine if below expectations.
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R, B, H, B @ Harwood Arms (Harwood Arms, London): Ripe, quite rich-fruited nose in an elegant and restrained manner. A hint of new world, but fragrant, smooth and long. Refined and elegant but just showing a little bit of leg. Enticing. ****1/2
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Wonderful nose of sweet fruit. Lots of bilberry and blackberry. The oak is there but well integrated. I love the texture of the wine, silky, smooth, understated, but still with bags of primary fruit. Very long finish. I'm sure it will continue to evolve but for me this is drinking beautifully now. 1 down, 5 to go, lets hope the rest are as good or better!
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Ridge wines with Paul Draper (Stockholm): Medium to deep red colour, slightly lighter at the edge. Developed nose with barnyard and leather aromas, blackcurrants, rather noticeable tarnotes, spice. Full-bodied, blackcurrants on the palate, good concentration, spice, rather noticeable medium++ tannins, long and slightly tannic aftertaste. Good development, can need some more years to peak.
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Ridge Vineyards with Mr. & Mrs. Paul Draper: This is where things started to go wrong during the tasting. Served too cold and although I was the first one served from a full bottle, the pigment and sediment thrown is clearly visible in my glass and confirms my suspicion that this bottle has been brought straight up from the cellar and not given the necessary resting time in an upright position. Poor show from the organiser of the tasting... Garnet colour, paler than the '97 and even the '94. Oaky, hay and manure on the nose. Clearly shocked. Noticeably dirtier than the other two, almost volatile. Cedar and licquorice on the palate, red fruit. Long finish with acidic lift, chewy. The palate oozes quality and doesn't correspond to the nose. Unfair to score it, really, but let's give it a conservative 91. 91-94
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From two feet away from the glass, I can smell the pure cassis notes soon after uncorking. Palate follows the nose and is dark, rounded on the sides from some age, but somewhat compact and not as resolved texturally as I would have liked. There are some oak notes, but they are not too overt, and the wine as a whole is integrating nicely, but still I would give this five to ten more years. With air, the blue cassis profile turns red, with cherry and red currants on the palate, along with soft tannin and nice, buoyant acidity. Really nice finish, too. Certainly enjoyable, shows rather youthful. Bought on release. Goodbye, Peanut.
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Too young. Tightly bound but saturated in dark fruits and ripe tannins with fresh acidity. Tastes a bit light, needs time in the bottle to put on weight. This is a 20 year wine. Try again in 2019. From a split.
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Very youthful, still very dark in color. Aromas of cassis, blackberry, leather and pencil shavings. After one hour, menthol notes started to appear. High acid, tannins were high but rond and palatable, could feel the sweet taste of american oak on the palate in a very nice way. Long finish. This wine will still get better but will provide a lot of fun now.
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Crash and burn. No fruit whatsoever -- smelled and tasted like black olive juice concentrate. Totally over the hill, and bitterly disappointing, as I've been babying this bottle for years, and opened it for a birthday dinner. Recent TNs suggest that most of these bottles are in great shape, and that my experience was unique, so I don't mean to suggest that the wine is past its prime overall.
A terrible letdown in the moment, but wine collecting wouldn't be nearly as fun if it were predictable, yah?
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Still very young but starting to show some development. The nose is awesome. Cassis, saddle leather, moist hay, dust in a complex layering. More tight on the nose, but starting to show some layering. This was pop and pour and I got it after about 20 minutes, so perhaps some air helps it unwind. No problem drinking now, but another 5 to 10 years should be rewarded.
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Ridge Monte Bello Vertical Tasting 1974 - 2008 (Switzerland): Intensive deep red. Nose full of cherry jelly and chocolate. Tannins are a bit dry but the wine has lots of power and is long in the finish. Flavors of coffee, chocolate and cooked cherries. I would decant the wine for at least one hour. I have had this wine several over the past year and it is constantly performing at 94 points. Drink now - 2025
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Battled w/ the cork - all the 99's I've had have very soft corks and fall apart. Oddly (maybe not?) the wine is in very good shape. It came to life after ~1hr in decanter. I do enjoy this wine.
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Had a bottle of this straight from the cellar 14 degrees. Decanted it and drank it with a friend. Just a fabulous wine. Amazing perfume, lovely balance. Gorgeous fruit with everything from blackberry to raisins. I also got chocolate etc. Left a bit overnight in a covered glass. So tempted to drink it before work it was that good. Points 94.
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From 375. Deep ruby with tinge of violet at edge. Beautiful nose of dark fruits, mineral/iron. Palate of plum and black cherry with a nice earthy/smoky quality to it. Delicious. Very bordeaux like. Yum.
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Still has may many years left to go. It was drinking like a very young wine. I liked how light it felt on the palate. Well balanced and no big overripe sweetness. We double decanted it which helped bring out the fruit and subtle earthy flavors. Would pair very well with lighter meat dishes.
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Deep rich dark cassis, plum, black cherries, lots of black licorice - all day in fact. Coffee, caramel. Brighter tones showed with some air. Nice purple flowers, creamy baked goods and some vanilla qualities eventually opened up. The palate was thick yet showed nice balance. Masculine in style more purple and black stone fruit and berries - plum, fig, anise, black pepper and fresh leather. Still in its teenage years this wine has a long life ahead. Big and bold. One of the more New World and flashy Monte Bello's I've tasted.
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Drank 3 bottles this week with different friends and different cellars. Drinking great. Tanins have softened, beautiful fruit. Outstanding wine and alas my last bottle.
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Occupy Spoof comes to town. (Joe's.): (72% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot, 2% cabernet franc, 1% petit verdot, 13.0% alc.) Tasted from magnum. Surprisingly silky on the palate, especially since it's from a magnum, with sweet black currant, purple plums, cocoa and cedary oak. The fruit is still primary and the oak needs to integrate further, but if you prefer your Monte Bello a little bit more fruit forward, it's drinking quite nicely now. I'd rather wait for some more development, though. Low A-
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The wine traveled through stages upon opening the bottle. First the wine took an hour to open up. Then for the next 30 minutes following that first hour it was a powerful and even a heavy wine. But after those 30 minutes were up it came back down and became a medium-bodied, decently good wine with a nice acidic kick to it.
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Dark red color, nearly opaque. Shy aromas of cassis, plum, cherry, and a hint of cedar. Palate is very structured and mostly closed with some iron and graphite joining currant, cherry, and plum that lead into a medium finish with a significant tannin grip. This one needs more time. Resample in 2015? Hold.
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Had a bottle of this with the Turkey. It was sensational. Beautiful wine with glorious fruit. Soft in the mouth with a lovely aftertaste. Nothing wrong with the middle palate here either. Just had a sniff of the remains before I go out now and its perfect. I rate this wine 94.
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Wood, fruit and earth bouquet. Syrupy mix of red and dark fruit, more cedar, earth, cinnamon and spice. Moderate finish. Delicious and very much a pleasure to drink, if not the most complex and profound. Very smooth.
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Ridge Monte Bello 1994-2000 Vertical with Eric Baugher (Handford Wines, London): Needed press wine to add structure to the wine. All four grapes used here. Dark red. Very open on the nose, herby , cedary with good fruit like a mid 90s palmer. 99 was a cooler year thus the wine feels more classical Bordeaux. Vibrant with good tannin. 13% alc. Mineral, elegant and very very good. 93+
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Absolutely beautiful wine. Layers of complexity. Starts out with Cherries, plums and currants and then moves into an earthiness. Long finish with a kick of chocolate.
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nice cali cab holding up very well....great nose and leathery , mature cab drink....very much enjoyed.....last one i had 3 months ago wasnt nearly thiis good
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Ridge Monte Bello 1981-1999 (Gauthier Soho): Way more assertive than anything in the first flight, earthy, high acid, grippy, altogether more muscular, with greater penetration of flavour. (One or two present detected some TCA at the start, although all agreed that this blew off - I had this experience last time I had the 99)
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Monte Bello Cabernet Offline (Gauthier London): Deep cherry colour. Wonderful nose. Restrained and elegant. Lovely cross between Cal Cab and Bordeaux. Bloody meaty nose with a hint of sweet wafer. Silky texture. Super wine.
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dark ruby with only very slight bricking on edges, nose of ceder and thyme and smelled tart at the beginning a little dusty and very enjoyable, earth/ceder and medium tart cherry that rounded out wonderfully with some time in the glass. nice acid focus but still had enough body to come back around to silky. medium to medium long finish
Very enjoyable
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Made from 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1 % Petit Verdot. Deep purple in colour I could see some signs of age at the edges. The nose shows meaty, savoury characters and a touch of berry sweetness. The palate is full bodied and dry with aged animal noted. Acid and tannins have mellowed and this wine seems a little older than it is.
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A nose that exhibits an elegance with notes of Chambord. The palate had a thinness that was surprising and the finish was a tad short. In spite of these negatives, it was suave.
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Starts out rather woody and four-square. Three hours in a decanter transform it completely as the wood integrates and this unravels to show layers of ripe red and dark fruited flavours seasoned with spices, cocoa and cedar. The flavours are still very primary but there's a sense of polish and purity here that makes it very enjoyable to drink, and the structure isn't overbearing with fine-grained tannins and impressive acidity. Very impressive right now, but this has the stuffing, balance and structure to be really great with time.
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Decanted for an hour and served; a little green edge to it; very pleasant, low in alcohol. It softened after another hour but still a bit disappointed in the overall experience. Probably needs more time to evolve. Would wait 5 years and see where it is.
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Tasted alongside the 1995-2000 vintages. Backwards and tightly ound this needs time, and was the least aproachable of the 6 vintages tasted. Rather straight-laced and fiercely tannic at the moment, although a pleasant minty not shones through on the nose after much swilling. Iron fist in a velvet glove. Revisit in a couple of years maybe?
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After an hour in a decanter the first impression was it was smooth and mellow almost to much, but later into the bottle some additional flavors surfaced and it just had a lot more depth. Notes of tobacco, cherry the strongest, but a few others I just could not quite describe.
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Dark red; very good nose, dark red fruit, leather, mocca, powerful; sweet on the attack, lean, slightly tannic, structure, lots of deep dark fruit; very long full-bodied dense lush aftertaste; excellent
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A little tight at this point, nose of dirt and cocoa. Flavors are lean, with moderate to strong tannin. Raspberry, earth, smoke and hints of wood. Still very drying and I wonder how much this has left to give. Probably best to drink in the next year or two.
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Hedonistic Diner, Part 2 (Restaurant Le Défi, Sprang-Capelle): Strangely enough this is the wine with the more traditional feel (when compared to the preceding Togni 1999). Cedar, ripe cherry fruit, cigars, earthy and friendly. Good stuff! 18/20
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A soft and lovely wine with red and black fruits, some spiciness and beautiful and friendly tannin and a little pleasant sweetness. Very long finish. Lovely now, no hurry.
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This bottle was slightly oxidized. Besides that, the wine was well made and had great length. All of the varietal components we there in harmony. It is a shame that the slight hint of oxidation would not go away. Great wine that paired very well with red meat and potatoes au gratin
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Much better than a year ago, the skunk was not on this bottle. Nose of raspberry, well-integrated oak. Flavors are good but a tad lean. Ash, oak, blackberry, moderate, caressing tannins. A good bottle, decent length (45 seconds +) on the finish.
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Dark purple hues with a nose of sweet black cherry, plum, cassis. Full-bodied, firm structure, silky texture, mild tannins, and long finish. Palate has hints of black cherry, oak, vanilla, tobacco. This is thoroughly enjoyable, the best from Ridge that I've tasted. Very delicious and supple. Drink now until 2014.
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This was an elegant, well balanced wine, with little to distinguish it but its good manners. Nose was subtle, acids and tannins smoothed out. A nice food wine, but not into the "delicious" realm by any means.
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Very deep red in appearance. Mentol, olive on nose plus hints of beef stock. Very rich fruit, notes of green olive - not really to my taste. Clear classy wine,well balanced.
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Some of everything; animal, vegetable, mineral. Tannins on this thing like the bones of a skyscraper...solidly held together, but with enough 'give' to bend with the wind a bit. Not rigid at all. Glad I had the opportunity to taste the '99 so I could finally start to 'get' Montebello (the '03 was a bit hard to grasp).
Notes: (72% Cab, 25% Merlot, 2% Franc, 1% Verdot)
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Our first crack of the 99 MB, with another 6 left. Will be holding those other bottles for quite a while after this showing, which did not leave me convinced this was in a drinking window. After decant and opened for about four hours, it did show many classic MB attributes (perfumed nose, pencil lead, beautiful fruits, etc). I did think it was showing some wood as well as tannic strength. Don't get me wrong, excellent wine to be sure, but far away from drinking window. Will be interested to taste this when it presents in a 'softer' profile.
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Ridge wine tastings at Chelsea Wine Vault (Chelsea Wine Vault, NY): Dark red color with faint bricking at the rim. Old-world nose of green olives and red fruit. Just showing its age beautifully and I could literally smell this for days. Very similar on the palate with the same green olives, surrounded by still-vibrant fruit. Tasted like a meal onto itself. Just a phenomenal first experience with the Monte Bello.
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Beautiful, but not extremely complex bouquet with some sweetness and good red and black fruits; mainly cherries and also little cassis and good oak. On the palate also a fair amount of sweetness which is well balanced with acidity. Lush. Good tannin and a long finish. A beautiful wine now, but this will last for several years, although I don't think it will substantially improve.
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Paris Tasting in Zwolle (De Librije - Zwolle): 1999 Ridge Monte Bello (USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains) Kleur: Diep donkerrood, opvallend veel concentratie. Aroma / bouquet: Interessante neus, snuffelwijn. Boordevol rood en vooral donker (kersen) fruit, in alles 'Nieuwe Werelds': veel van alles: fruit, kruidigheid, hout (wel mooi geintegreerd), Smaak / Afdronk: Ook in de mond presenteert deze wijn zich als iets zwoel en 'veel van alles'. Iets zoetige aanzet, direct gevolgd door zuren en krachtige maar mooi ronde tanines. Indrukwekkende lengte. Algemeen / potentieel: Net iets teveel alcohol. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 13 + Smaak / Afdronk: 16 + Algemeen / potentieel: 6 = 90/100
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Dark purple plum with no sign of maturity. When swirled in the glass, a beautiful floral nose with cassis and cherry. Interesting palate of primarily charcoal, crushed rocks, and cedar. Subtle fruity elements as well, but not a lot. Similar to a Graves. No tannin, smooth and ready to drink. A bit of alcohol emerged from time to time. At sale price of $65.00 in 2007, I liked it a lot. Not sure what my reaction would be at full retail. Very nice with braised rabbit.
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Ridge Monte Bello Vertical 1972-2003 (Chez Kailin - Northbrook IL): Tasted single blind in 1993-2003 flight. Lots of oak, chocolate, vanilla and ripe fruit coming through on nose. started seeming more "modern" styled than the older vintages, making it easier for some people to enjoy, less interesting to me. black fruit and oak are very nice and enjoyable, providing easy pleasure, but little nuance or depth tonight.
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Ridge Monte Bello Vertical 72-03 (Ken's house, northbrook IL): nose: very pretty and elegant nose filled with tones of cedar, herbs, dark red cherries, cranberries and bits of menthol and chocolate. Has a st julien sense to it on the nose while still being discernibly californian. Excellent depth and expression on the nose, there is a very classy edge to it
taste: silky and rich tannins show off the youth of the wine with an elegant medium/full feel and medium+ acidity. Well balanced tones of dark berries, cedar, herbs, dark red cherries and a touch of chocolate all meld well together with a real classy sense
overall: my no4, the group's no3. I really like where this is at its young age. A slight bit more plush then the older wines, but that could be due to the age of the older wines. Still comes off as needing a good bit more time as there is a real elegance to the wine that aging will really bring out
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shows quite bright cherry across the nose and much more harmonious with it's iron notes than the 1999 pichon-longueville comtesse de lalande. light green notes in the nose. i must say this is quite expressive even at the pop and pour stage that i am tasting this at. the tannin here is so much more integrating than the comtesse de lalande. the acid backbone shows it's presence on the finish. the fruit and acid displayed suggest quite a way to go for this wine, but very much ready to drink.
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Nose of black fruit, iron, violet and a helping of meatiness. Showing good integration on the palate, but the fruit is so youthful yet. Fresh black fruit. The meatiness follows through. Nice hint of iron backing. Touch of espresso and violet. Long finish. Amazing structure.
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Deep red color, nearly opaque. Nose of cassis, cherry, plum, and a hint of pine. On the palate, this is tightly wound, showing primarily red fruit notes that are followed by chalky tannins and a long finish. This seems to be holding much in reserve and will benefit from further cellar time (as opposed to the '98, which appears to be open for business now). From half bottle.
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Had this bottle both times at Pine Valley and its nose was fruitful and deep. Color was deep and bright. Flavor was great and lasted on the palate. Very good.
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Opaque garnet color. Notes of dark fruit herbs, tobacco and spice. Wonderful depth of fruit on the palate. Full-bodied and well-balanced. Long finish dominated by red fruit and spice tones.
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Ridge Monte Bello vertical 1964 - 2002 (Institute of Directors, London): When this was first poured pretty much everyone apart from Linden thought it was corked - obviously so I thought. But returning to it an hour later, the taint had disappeared entirely and what was left was brilliant - compared with the cassis based '01 and '02, this was more floral and red fruited -fantastic complete wine
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Waterford slides to Hinterland. (Hinterland Erie Street Gastropub, Milwaukee): Open 4.5 hours. Tasted along side '93 Latour, '96 Mouton, and '92 Monte Bello. Compared to the '92 Monte Bello, consistency with being a wine 7 years younger. A hint more richness of fruit than the '92, with the same anise-as-choir-director on the nose. Hints of waxy cherry fruit tucked into the nose. Here iron on the nose seems tangled with the fruit expression. Espresso immediately on the palate and then it's gone. The nose tingles the senses. Here the tannins form the slightest veil, where as in the '92 they gave the tender touch. still this has it all and given 7 more...damn. fruit, elegant kiss of anise oak, iron, stucture and there's that violet on the finish again.
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Skunky at first, consistent with some problems Ridge had wth Brett in the last '90's, this mitigated some with air to reveal an earthy, horse hide and leather nose. Flavors of mint, raspberry, dirt and a bit of brett barnyard, the wine was okay, not great. Pretty tight but not mouth dryingly so, it feels a little down right now. Give six months or a year before retasting.
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72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petite Verdot. 13% ABV The nose on this seems much older than you might expect; it shows a distinct note of Dijon mustard and a hint of what seemed like oxidation. On the palate it's rounded and quite concentrated, showing brambles, mint, eucalyptus and meat. Though it has good structure it seemed to be significantly more advanced in development of the three (tasted alongside 1997 and 1995); if you hold any of these it would be a good idea to open one to make sure that you're happy with the direction that it's heading. http://scmwine.blogspot.com/2009/05/2008-monte-bello-final-assemblage.html
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Tasted at Ridge and compared to 2008, 2005, 1995, and 1997. On the nose it destroyed these wines. Huge Bordeaux like nose of cigar box, tobacco and blackberry. Acidic on the palate. Long finish. They said this wine need 5+ years to come together and I believe it but when it does it will be a monumental Monte Bello. Drink now with decanting and a greasy steak or leave in the cellar 5+ years. Have to buy some of this.
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From 375. Wowza! This wine had an initial explosive nose of boysenberry syrup, the kind you get at IHOP when ordering pancakes. After some air time in the decanter it revealed wonderful aromas of cedar and hints of tabac, a great of example of an aging Bordeaux-style wine. It was sweet on the front, waves of black fruit on the palate. This wine is so smooth with soft round tannins and plenty of acidity left. I even tasted some mint. Excellent. Glad I have one more.
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Upon opening it had a bit of bret and was quite astingent. That blew off in a few minutes. Decanting might of helped. Nose of cedar. Very Bordeaux like. Beautifully aged. Nice balance of fruit, acidity and oak. Not over the hill, but drinking beautifully. Left in the bottle over night and tasted again and it was still great.
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Fantastic nose of cedar and blueberry jam. Great balance and structure. Silky smooth, a bit of sweet oak on the back end. Quite tannic, although nicely integrated. Could last for 5 more years or more. Very nice wine!
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Nothing short of amazing. Like classic aged Bordeaux with fruit. In fact, smells more like Bordeaux than most recent Bordeaux. Showing its age. Medium bodied and a touch funky. All Ridge, all day. Real standout.
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drank from mag. Really well balanced wine with cedar, dark fruits and some earthy tones. Not mind blowing Monte Bello but enjoyable. Could have gone another decade or two
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Bit of brett on first opening which mostly blew off after decanting. Cedar and mint/menthol on the nose, along with cassis. Classic would be the best adjective to use. One of my friends called it "boring--the same wine every year", but I found it beautifully structured and a fabulous food wine. Too bad it was all gone before the steaks arrived.
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Rosso: This was similar in med. bod char like the 04, but with more tertiary notes, more “terroir”, hint spice box-tobacco, but still with bright blue-black fruit driven. Nice indeed. Not heavy, not a bomb, still restrained.
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Tasted with Ridge Monte Bello '80, '90, '91, '92, '94, '96 (corked), '99, '00, '01 (in magnum). Quite a lovely night one might say.
My favorites of the night were the '90 and '99. But just barely. Meaning that every vintage seem to show the magnificence of this site, all were worthy of appreciation. All the wines showed dark black fruits, a certain tobacco anise-ness and precise purity of acids and tannins. The younger the wines were the more black fruit, the less tobbacco. All bottles were still viable and drinkable.
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French Bakery BYO 1990's Cali Cab Sauv dominant wines; 12/19/2007-12/20/2007: Richard's wine. Youngest of the Monte Bello trio. A wondeful flight, Draper makes claret much admired by British and French wine professionals, and accordingly generally requires 10+ years to show itself. I think that was the case here, as one could absolutely see the pedigree, but the 99 still needs a few years to be at its best.
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Very nice bottle. Still a little tight but opened up as time went on. Tasted side by side with a 1996 Woodward Canyon artist series which was noticeably better. The Ridge has several years left. Very well structured wine.
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Significantly better than the last time I tried this wine, 2 years ago. Might have benefitted from 3 hours of open air. Shows nice balance and a more persistent flavor, if a tiny bit on the tart side. Good nose of tarry, dark berries and earth, nice tastes of tangy, dark berries. Good persistence, with a nice follow-through.
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Fairly austere with not a lot of obvious fruit presence. Fairly sweet tannins with a good amount of pucker on the finish. I get some of the coffee hints that others have mentioned. Lots of iron and blood flavor as well. Not my favorite effort from this producer but it may prove more accessible in the future.
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Tannic with moderately strong acid out of the bottle. Decanted for 45 mins prior to serving on advice from Ridge tasting room (ignored the "give it another 5 years" bit of advice, however) Nice fruit on the nose, heavier coffee flavors as the night went on. Finish was not overly exciting. Needs A LOT more time.
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This was no more than 85 on Day 1. Very primary and not that interesting. Forgot to cork it or put it away, left most of the bottle, uncorked, overnight. Day 2 shows significant improvement, though still not otherworldly. Can only conclude this needs quite a bit more time.
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Deep black current nose with overtones of chocolate and coffee. This puppy needs a bit of air. In the mouth right away fine but very firm tannins with a medium acidity. After a couple of hours this wines nose remained dark fruit filled and intriguing. Black-raspberry jam, black cherries, and strong notes of cassias. Tannins never really left this wine and continued to provide a nice firm structure to hang the fruit on. Great roundness in the mouth and finish which lasted for a good minute afterwards, went a long ways to making the bottle last. Real treat. 4/5
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Deep, clear maroon color that speaks of its earthy and sexy nature. The nose is filled with pepper, dark forest berries, coffee and a slight bitter sweetness at the end that is incredibly inviting. On the palate, although I find it much more subtle than the nose, I am still star struck by not only its structure and balance, but also the mineral, blackberry and chocolate notes that peek out every so slightly. For me, an amazing and fun wine! 4.5
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Made from 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1 % Petit Verdot this is a chunky young wine. Deep purple in colour I found oak and a slight sweetness on the nose. The The palate is full bodied and very tannic. Dry with lots of acid. Needs some serious cellar time.
Tasted in the Grand Tasting at the 10th Decanter Fine Wine Encounter, Landmark Hotel, London.
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Dark fruit nose, blackberry/blackcurrant. Less herbaceous than other vintages. Rather green palate but in a nice way for the most part. Big in a controlled elegant manner, very balanced but needs time - all a bit disjointed at present.
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From a 1/2 bottle, @ the winery. Blackberries, currant and tannins. This was poured after a dessert zinfandel wine, and a Matero, so it was therefore hard to evaluate. Might have been better than it tasted that day.
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(Carmel; roasted chicken) Opens quite fruity and primary, with a good dose of tannin, acid, and oak. An hour later, the fruit is a bit more complex but less tasty, the acid is less prominent, and the tannins are a bit more ferocious. I never really warmed up to this wine, even with food, and I'm less than overly optimistic than before about where it might be headed. Right now, it just seems like a bit of a jumbled mess.
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Delyap's Killer '99 Cabathon (An unnamed, very hospitable restaurant): Strong but elegant cedar nose. Lighter on the palate than on the nose. At first partially closed. After about an hour, started to open. Cassis, blackberries and a foresty taste. Lovely wine with a long life ahead. I think this wine is not for the wood averse, though.
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1/21/2024 - JS199 wrote: 95 Points
Opened for 1-2 hours and was ready to go. Tannins resolved. Incredible nose, intricate and a sense of quality. The body was French in nature, super smooth, austere.
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11/21/2023 - soyhead wrote:
from Magnum
juicy, loads of dark fruit (boysenberry), but really quite young (at least in magnum format)
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11/4/2023 - Brian of Mull Likes this wine: 97 Points
Coming back again. Now almost 25 years old. Opened for 3 hours. Color is still deep garnet/purple but orange rim. On the nose: Plum, cassis, cinnamon, espresso and some dark chocolate. On the palate: Rich plum, cassis, a hint of cherry, baking spices, graphite and cinnamon. This is superb and I bet has decades left. I am down to only two bottles of my old case. I will try to wait a few years to see how it evolves but it’s fabulous. Also only 13% alcohol which I appreciate. My score keeps climbing but I am not a metronome.
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9/2/2023 - WhineEnthusiast Likes this wine: 97 Points
Hard to believe this 24 years old. Still some youth to it… but getting some nice scondary noutes. Comes alive with a bit of air- give 2 hrs in decanter.
Fuller / rounder than an 87 dunn HM we drank with
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8/6/2023 - AndrewSGHall wrote:
Gorgeous. Deep nose with tropical soil and dark fruits. Rich texture, nicely mature elements of cedar and umami. Only flaw is the acids are a bit sour and competing at time with the core. Long finish recaps the opening.
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8/5/2023 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
Saturday hangout at Domaine (Chicago, IL): Ridge Monte Bello is the greatest American wine, and this bottle is no exception to that. Plenty of American oak (though nowhere as much as the 2001 LRA) but counterbalanced by black fruit, dust, and leather. This drinks comfortably in a secondary phase but there is clearly so much further aging potential right now.
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6/30/2023 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
A Ridge Tahoe Weekend; 6/29/2023-7/2/2023 (Edgewood Resort): The only one of the MBs that was really in drinking window and yet there’s plenty of life for this. Starting to get a bit more sweet black fruits and more pepper and spice notes. Very classy in style. It was a PnP and I’m not sure it wouldn’t have benefitted from the double decant that its compatriots got. Took some time but did open up towards the end of the tasting.
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6/17/2023 - Lipsman wrote: 94 Points
Drinking well now. Tannins are gone leaving a lush and smooth, full bodied Cabernet flowing over the palate with subdued licorice and cherries. This was from a magnum and this magnum needed more time. Decanted for two hours. Try the next magnum in 2028-2030.
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6/11/2023 - JS199 wrote: 95 Points
Outstanding, best bottle to date. 95/96
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4/15/2023 - Lype Likes this wine:
Shy minimalistic nose, the palate is restrained and closed, flavors of cassis, forest floor and savory red fruit. Smooth tannins and good acidity but the fruit component is fairly unexpressive, so is the long aftertaste. Clearly a difficult vintage for (also) this wine, have to say I liked recently tasted Dalla Vale Cab, Sav. 1996 and 2000 clearly better.
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3/28/2023 - Papies wrote: 95 Points
Milan Wine Event 2 - AKA F It Dinner (Il Ristorante Trussardi alla Scala (Ristorante Trussardi by Giancarlo Perbellini), Milan): We have followed this wine for the last 12 years and to this day the notion that the struggled with this cold vintage to the level of adding press wine and yet they created something so exceptional is testament to the greatness of winemaking.
We did not have time to decant not that we felt it needed it but for sure took its time. Dark fruited, big dark fruit on open , cherry in a way, California fruit but with a fine balance on the palate. Almost soft on the palate we might even say for Napa standards, of course the California level of richness is there. Loved the presence of it on the palate and in all fairness it followed in the foot steps of some amazing wines ( pls check event link) and held its own with its head high. Exceptional wine. 95-96 and with a lot of life ahead. We must buy more.
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2/13/2023 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:
JT and Marty Super Bowl Extravaganza (Chez Newman): This was excellent. Served with sous vide ribeye; decanted for 90 min; beautiful rich dark fruit, violet, damp earth and tobacco, just a tiny hint of sweet spice; the balance and elegance on the palate is first rate. Its in a good spot right now, but has loads of time ahead especially if you like older cabernet notes as this was still definitely fruit driven.
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2/2/2023 - Seth Rosenberg Likes this wine: 94 Points
This has been open 4-5 hours. Beautiful and intense nose - deep dark fruits: black cherry and blackberry with some cassis. A potent herbal aspect as well - deep tobacco, leafy pipeweed, maybe menthol or eucalyptus. Also some pencil shavings. Entry is tight but the wine expands in the middle showing beautiful sweet dark fruits and the herbal/tobacco/mint note comes in - very potent and mouth filling. The finish dries out a bit, quite herbal and minty there - the finish is not quite as complete as the mid and end palate. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5.5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1.5/2 = 17/20.
Day 3: I’ve tracked this from opening and it’s worth pointing out that my experience with this bottle was quite varied and the note I took represented the best snapshot. Overall this is a potent and herbaceous wine with dark fruit. At points it felt a bit hollow and sometimes dried out a bit also. However it did vary and it gained with air after pouring for about 30-60 minutes - taking on weight and completeness.
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12/26/2022 - wabi47 wrote: 90 Points
plum and currant; still structured with some oak; more rustic than i recall.
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12/10/2022 - Wineisfordrinking wrote: 95 Points
I am upping my score from 92 to 95 after drinking a second bottle, this time from a 375 ml. It was more evolved and had significantly more depth and richness. I often underestimate how much time Monte Bello needs to reach it’s full glory. When it does, it rivals the worlds greatest wines. Even though this is Cabernet, it had a Pomerol like character. Tasted blind I believe it would stand alongside the greatest wines from that appellation.
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11/6/2022 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Powerfil, young and needs time
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9/17/2022 - Papies wrote: 95 Points
What a beautiful result of a challenging year this has become and int he last year or so it has even evolved more. Light leathery, well evolved and secondary but with that extra richenwsa of California fruit . Almost soft on the palate but what it lacks in that it makes up with effortless elegance. A magnificent 95-96 wine with another good 5 years at peak ( at least). We have 2 to go and we must buy more.
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7/4/2022 - Papies wrote:
After the last 95 5 month ago this was a heartbreakingly poor bottle. just off . Pointless to rate
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7/4/2022 - Sky King wrote: 92 Points
Still going strong, why should that be any surprise with Ridge Monte Bello? Acquired from the winery directly and immediately placed into professional wine storage. Pristine bottle. Cork in excellent condition. Color was strongly red/plum with only a small amount of bricking at the edge. Aromatically, the American Oak is definitely a noticeable signature with complimenting sandalwood and spice. In the mouth, delicious, on the edgy/tannic side of well balanced, lengthy cleansing finish. Well cellared bottles offer the opportunity for additional development, no tertiary development at this point for this bottle, I can see this going another 10+ easily. The only problem with this wine on this night was the sublime 1999 Philip Togni that it accompanied.
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1/25/2022 - Papies wrote: 95 Points
Second bottle from the same batch we had 1 month ago and decanting really did the trick here vs last time . A good hour this time and really helped the wine develop and the group found this to be the WOTN.
Soft and well round, effortless wine, elegant and classy. Nice dark fruit, well silky tannin and with proper length. For an off vintage Monte Bello that they struggled and even added pressed wine to bolster it this is a superb result and an arbitrage on the Monte Bello curve. an Easy 95+
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12/28/2021 - kkleg Likes this wine: 94 Points
You can drink upon opening, but give this about 30 minutes in a decanter to open up and you will be rewarded. Nice purple color, with some bricking around the rim.
Lovely, perfumed nose with lots of cherries and a whiff of pencil shavings. The palate has excellent fruit and perfectly smooth tannins. The finish lingers for over a minute. Drinking nicely now, but not a huge hurry. Delicious.
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12/25/2021 - ohne_musik wrote: 95 Points
Drinking beautifully - seems at peak to me. Limpid purple with maybe a mm of bricking at the rim. Classic left bank Bordeaux aromas of freshly sharpened #2 pencils and blackcurrant. Palate is incredibly smooth and seamless, dominated by blackcurrant, with an undercurrent (🙄) of sugared cranberries. A touch of pleasingly integrated American oak (just a tiny bit of pickle), a whiff of eucalyptus, dry earth and dried herbs, and some tertiary library book. Could use a touch more concentration, but it’s an outstanding drop regardless. Long, perfumed finish with just largely resolved tannins.
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12/12/2021 - Papies wrote: 93 Points
A softer yet sweeter Montebello, one that looking at our notes from 2011 when we did a Montebello Tastign was light and they added press wine to make it bolder and add structure.
Nicol who tried this blind struggled to place it and even though it was a bit of a surah , given the sweeter core of fruit. But this is also a great Montebello and albeit not the greatest one of those slightly different ones that add to the variability and randomness of beautiful wines of years past . and for this we loved it. 93-94
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12/9/2021 - Wineisfordrinking wrote: 92 Points
Perfectly mature. Classic Monte Bello although not a great Monte Bello. A little high in acidity, lacking the depth of fruit to balance it which gives it a rough edge. Also comes up short on the finish.
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11/29/2021 - Lipsman wrote: flawed
Mildly corked but acceptable. Still a shame.
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6/18/2021 - christyler wrote:
Oak is fairly resolved but still very prominent. From 375.
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5/30/2021 - JS199 wrote: 94 Points
Excellent Montebello, tannins resolved and this has plenty of time left. This is the best bottle of '99 to date mainly because it had more expressive fruit than the previous ones.
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4/22/2021 - randyjc wrote: 95 Points
A special wine, drank alongside 1998 Chateau Malescot St. Exupery, which made this even more fun. Soft cork that clearly was going to pull apart so used the Durand (a great wine tool!) and extracted the clean cork. The single greatest thing about this wine is the nose - amazing. Scents of bright cherry, dusty cedar and eucalyptus. A gorgeous wine showing beautifully in the Conterno glass. Brilliantly colored, clean. That clean precision carries over in the mouth - spicy red and black fruit (predominantly red) with flavors of cassis, cherry, lead pencil with a spiciness that carries a long finish. My thought was that I should have had this last bottle (bought the half case in 2004) about 3 years ago, because there was just a little bit of tiredness on the tail end of the mid-palate. Regardless, this was a real treat. Restrained and elegant - I wish I had more.
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2/15/2021 - Pinotfanbg Likes this wine: 95 Points
Drank with the online wine group and over three days from a Coravined bottle. What a beautiful, balanced, mature Cab. Garnet in color with a fresh nose of red plum fruit and American oak scents. On opening there is a bit of cedar and vanilla along with good plum fruit, tobacco and a mineral flavor note on the palate. Like drinking cashmere on the long, silky, plummy finish. Should last at least another ten years in a cool cellar.
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2/7/2021 - misco Likes this wine: 91 Points
Super for Super bowl !
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2/7/2021 - wineshaman wrote: 94 Points
Decanted 2 hours, not sure how long I have cellared this MB as it predates me joining CT in 2007. Nonetheless this bottle was a delight to drink, so well balanced, so elegant like an iron fist in a velvet glove, once called the poor mans Latour this bottle certainly could compete with many left bank Bordeaux. A complex assortment of currants, cassis, raspberry, dark cherry , plum, spice and earth. Fully integrated but certainly could hold for a decade or more in a cool environment. Paired exceptionally well with rack of lamb and roasted veggies.
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1/31/2021 - scvrusher Likes this wine: 94 Points
PnP, cork was flaking/falling apart but mostly got it out in one piece.
This was lovely, and really started to sing after about 30 minutes. Aromatic nose that I couldn't stop smelling, primarily red fruit with some floral notes, classic Ridge. Medium body, ruby red at the edges. At 20 years, it was slightly more astringent than I expected and even though it's well within the drinking window and will delight right now, I feel like this still could have sat for a few more years more to mellow out even further.
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1/28/2021 - pkouchu wrote: 94 Points
licorice, blackberries, currant, cassis, cedar, bell pepper, tobacco leaf and crushed minerals
would be amazing if not for the touch of brett. fruit is still youthful, balance and persistence are great.
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12/18/2020 - CamWheeler wrote: flawed
SLDS December 2020: Corked.
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11/26/2020 - foof Likes this wine: 93 Points
Bit of Bret on opening but gone after 30mins. Thanksgiving wine with roast duck (I dined solo). Fabulous color and depth and length. How I love these CA cabs with only 13% alcohol!
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8/11/2020 - DoubleD1969 Likes this wine:
I decided to check on these bottles after grilling a couple of NY strips. I couldn't find an ah-so and ended up using a regular waiter's corkscrew. Cork disintegrated. Strained the liquid through a cheese cloth. Didn't harm the wine. Opaque. Nose was expressive with a warm blackberry/blueberry compote, tar, and cocoa. Palate was full-bodied with delicious dark cherries. Tannins are mostly integrated. Good acidity to keep things fresh and balanced. This is open for business. Agree with the last couple of tasting notes.
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7/25/2020 - Brian of Mull Likes this wine: 95 Points
Time to try the next bottle of my old case of this. Opened 2 hours. On the nose is ripe plum with a bit of cherry. On the palate: wonderful rich concentrated plums, cherry, dark chocolate, mushroom and some funk/smoke at the end. This is delicious, world class and elegant wine. I scored 2 higher than 1.5 years ago. The wine is in great place right now and I am very happy I have the rest of the case to enjoy in the next years.
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4/3/2020 - Lipsman Likes this wine: 96 Points
Just now starting to open up. Incredibly lush, luxurious saturation, this may be the sexiest bottle of “young” Monte Bello I’ve ever tried. It is just ringing with tart black cherry, earthy beets, and dark anise. So deliciously complex. All this from a split. Magnums are going to take a long time.
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3/22/2020 - davidspieker wrote: 90 Points
Bad cork but was able to filter and decant. Very aromatic with warm cedar, dark fruit, and menthol. Oaky dark cherry flavors with lots of acidity on a lengthy cedar and berry finish.
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1/4/2020 - Klugi Wine wrote: flawed
Just started to show it’s great potential when the inevitable TCA spoiled every further comments :-(
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12/31/2019 - Lipsman wrote: 92 Points
Tastes exactly the same as it did 10 years ago, like it needs another five years. A strange vintage. Closed, tight fruit, but smooth. Clearly an abundance of fruit, and well made, just tight knit. I don’t know if this will ever come around but there is no rush. From a magnum.
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12/27/2019 - werlbonn Likes this wine: 94 Points
No formal notes.
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12/19/2019 - SimonG wrote: 93 Points
ChrIstmas WIMPS, Pandemonium table (La Trompette, London): I’ve had some variability with 99 Montebello, but this is one of the better bottles. Similar on the nose to the 2000, but a bit more serious with a cool blackcurrant leaf edge alongside the fruit. Cooler fruited with more verve too. Lots of fine sediment here, but a lovely wine.****
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11/23/2019 - Teeranun Likes this wine: 92 Points
Pop and pour. Nice dark red, though showing somewhat reduced clarity. Subtle nose. Very well balanced. Strangely showing some tougher tannin after an hour or so. Believe at its full potential now.
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8/29/2019 - nywine68 wrote: 94 Points
Graphite on the nose. Still pretty tight with some noticeable tannins, suggesting it will last at least another decade and probably much longer. Beautifully balanced fruit. This is fresh, vibrant and complex. Dark blackberries and licorice.
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8/25/2019 - dpolzien Likes this wine: 92 Points
My first MB ... Decanted for 3 hours in the cellar and noticed what can only be described as a shocking salinity in my first try. Let it evolve in glass for about 30 min, and came around to start tasting as the other notes suggest, very much like a solid vintage Left Bank. Returned half to the bottle, stored in cellar overnight, and enjoyed much more on day 2. Agree with the notes below, drinking well, not sure much upside and will likely finish my last bottle within the next year or so.
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8/9/2019 - RobertLA Likes this wine: 97 Points
Allowed to breath over an hour and a half. Single decant. Superb colour with just a gentle Hugh of age at the rim. Soft subtle nose. Fully integrated tannins. Has a beautiful length. Hints of lanolin and leather. Fruit forward but gentle. has a wonderful cigar box aftertaste. Long fruit that gently lingered on the palate. Superb wine. Doubt that it will improve from here but if you have some, enjoy!
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7/17/2019 - Rollerball wrote: 93 Points
Outdoorsy and magnanimous, densely woven but relaxed, having entered into a long autumn with initial notes of decay but plenty of late afternoon sun and freshness intact. If too much of those later-stage aromas and flavors aren't your thing, you'll still enjoy this now, drink up! If you're willing to walk that forest path, this will provide still more enjoyment -2022.
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4/4/2019 - porkandsalmon Likes this wine:
Dark and ripe, not overripe. Some green notes and a very very long greenish finish. Fascinating wine
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3/9/2019 - Sgt Pepper Likes this wine: 92 Points
Beautiful MB in its prime. Double decanted 1/2 hr before serving with a pork roast and mushroom sauce. Fine tannins well balanced with cab fruit flavors. Not especially weighty, really balances (I know I said that). Sad that it’s my last.
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2/6/2019 - Brian of Mull Likes this wine: 93 Points
Elegant and long with plum and cherry . It is clearly an older wine with a bit of mushroom and funk. The folks at ridge never disappoint. They were my first great wine experience sitting with my sister in Santa cruz and I still love what they do.
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12/25/2018 - BI81 Likes this wine:
1 hr in decanter. Nose of cherry, cedar and slightly spicy. BlackBerry and plumb on the palette, well balanced with a good amount of freshness for an 18 year old cab. Some spice and cedar on the mid palette and through the finish. A good bit of grippy tannin as well. Very good wine.
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10/16/2018 - SimonG wrote: 90 Points
Ridge Cabs (La Trompette, London): A little less scented. More Rhôney in profile. A touch of prune / stewed fruit here too. Seems atypical and below par cf previous 99s. Somewhat evolved. A little cooked? Still decent but not what it should be. ***1/2. After an hour or so, a touch of bovril
Too.
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7/29/2018 - Richard P Howden Likes this wine: 93 Points
Stunning nose of red fruit, cedar, hint of leather, spice, and yes, cassis. Youthful rich palate with smoky dark berry fruit, very soft tannin, and remarkably long finish of tart cassis. Great balance and acid, fine with dinner (pork shoulder enchiladas). California meets Bordeaux and we smile.
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7/23/2018 - brigcampbell wrote:
Book Club - Grand Finale (FMIII in the OC): Well, if you're lucky enough to have a few of these in the cellar, no worries regarding aging. This was very fresh and vibrant. There's a spicy note that I want to call dill because I know it's aged in American oak but it's definitely something from the barrels and a crazy perfume. I went back a few times because I thought one of the ladies might have put on perfume but nope, it's the wine. Dark fruit, BDX like character and light caramel finish. Hard to believe this is 18 years old.
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7/21/2018 - Frank Murray III wrote:
Some wines with friends (My House In The South OC): The color on this is a reddish-purple and it portends the freshness of the wine. Nose of cedar and a touch of something volatile, maybe a little heat. Stuffed with intense dark fruit and charcoal. At the end of the night, I re-corked the bottle and left it on the counter. Re-tasting now to assess the final ounces from the leftovers. The volatile kind of thing I mentioned is gone and the cedary, herby note is bold and fragrant. Spicy and cedary, with bitter cocoa, dark cherry and supporting acidity that keeps it lively. Finishes with some grippy tannin so in terms of aging curve, and with the data point this has been open for 12 hours, I'd believe this will continue to age for much longer. And given the cedary, cherry quality that really comes through, I also believe this will be a Cab that will continue to put on and express all the older era tasting qualities that many people enjoy. There is a riper quality to the red fruit that also should please those looking for something that adds some of the modernity of the current era Napa cabs, too.
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6/12/2018 - buckeye76 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Still nice deep color, blackberries, black cherries, leather and earthiness in the nose. Black currants and black cherries in the flavor. Definitely claret like, left bank. Elegant wine with nice complexity, well balanced, and a long finish.
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6/1/2018 - vinhonotte Likes this wine: 92 Points
Cellaraid @ Artbox Singapore 2018; 5/27/2018-6/3/2018 (Bayfront Event Space, Marina Bay Sands): deep ruby; fairly acidic, tannic, good intensity and length; blackberry, cherry, earthy, grassy, some leather; very good!
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4/22/2018 - mdvino63 wrote: 93 Points
From .375. This is just fantastic. May deserve a higher score by a point or two. Now, ready to go on the PNP, although there is still some tannin present, and this will, no doubt, go on for many more years, even in 1/2 bottles. See my prior notes, just update to ready-to-drink-now...almost. So glad I have more of this.
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12/27/2017 - hrazdiiv Likes this wine: 93 Points
The cork disintegrated and so I was forced to strain the wine, thus it probably lost a point or so in complexity. But the wine ended up just fine (much to my relief) and true to form, it still showed why this is one of the top 5 cabernets in California. Still displays a medium dark purple red with a terrific nose of earthy elements that have come together well after 18 years - leather, tobacco, are present with a nice backbone of dark forest fruit. Tannins are medium, right around where they should be now. Peak drinking, and I'd say another 5 years left for certain, maybe even 10. I love that Draper makes his own wine in California, the winemaking talents clearly on display here. I had to laugh when I read one previous review - "the best Bordeaux outside of Bordeaux" - so true.
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12/3/2017 - Frank Schneider wrote: 94 Points
This is the best bordeaux outside of bordeaux !!! In a blind tasting it would be very hard to put this to california ! Delicious !! Depth !! Medium + body and a good finish !
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11/29/2017 - jsebiri wrote:
Cork out easy , nice nose , pure California . This wine has been giving , and giving , and giving for many years now. This bottle might be missing a step or 2 from previous bottles , but nonetheless its very very good . 1 of 4 or 5 wines that I feel are pure expressions of California claret .
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11/26/2017 - Wine_lvr wrote: 95 Points
Stunning wine
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11/19/2017 - VinoPKM wrote: 97 Points
Drank with burgers... these were a 50/50 blend of filet and then cold smoked ribeye.
Wine was amazing and I'm probably adding 3pts. as I drank this during my wedding weekend and was from a 3L bottle. Followed over 90-120 minutes with 30 minutes of air.
Well aged CA cab and IMHO showed better than the previous couple reviews. It is in a good sweet spot of still showing fruit and then some good secondary notes or leather and tobacco. Good lean tart cherry fruit and cassis. Yum!
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11/5/2017 - Lipsman wrote: 91 Points
Aroma of boysenberry which follows through as jammy fruit on the palate, along with tart cherry, thin black fruits, licorice. Needs decanting. Still tight. A bit disappointing tasting this Monte Bello over the years. It seems to be stuck in development, not putting on any weight. No reason to open another bottle soon. From a split. Try again in 2022.
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11/4/2017 - MikeATL Likes this wine: 91 Points
Saturday Bordeaux: A little muddy in color, with a bit of mint and oak, nice dark fruit, paired with a 1999 Lynch Bages I preferred the Bordeaux but I wouldn't turn my nose up at the Ridge either.
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11/2/2017 - David J Cooper wrote: 91 Points
Medium red. Medium light intense nose. Earthy cassis, cedar box and herb nose. Dry dark fruit flavours and a balanced medium weight finish.
There was some development in the glass. Just seems a lighter version of this wine.
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10/28/2017 - scvrusher Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark and brooding, but opened up after a 30 minute decant and kept getting better. Structured, complex, and layered. Still has bones left, but drinking well.
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10/14/2017 - Nanda wrote: 94 Points
Ridge Monte Bello Vertical, 1980-1999 (Chez Moll): Double decanted ~3-4 hours prior to dinner. Quite different than the '94 and '97 tasted side-by-side. This is a far lighter, more elegant and Bordeaux-like. Beautiful, lifted aromatics of dried plum with loads of bell pepper and tobacco leaf. A leaner and lighter palate but very flavorful with leafy and bell pepper-filled plum fruit. Lots of fresh acids that extend the length. Suave tannin provides some grip. Should age gracefully for 10+ years.
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10/14/2017 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Ridge Monte Bello, 1980-1999 (Chicago, IL): In its own right, this would be an incredible bottle of wine, but it suffered a little in the context of the older and bolder wines. It's just so stark how young and tannic this is right now. Black fruited, with a clear cabernet green note on the nose, as well as a touch of American oak. The palate is where the relative youth of this wine shows, it's just too dense and tannic right now. Independently, this is an outstanding wine, and I wouldn't worry about drinking it now (I have opened these on several occasions), but as the older wines indicated tonight, there's lots of upside here.
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8/20/2017 - Bakerbd Likes this wine: 94 Points
Cassis, blackberry, cedar, pencil shavings. Resolved and feminine. So nice!
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7/29/2017 - spv Likes this wine: 94 Points
This is great and still going strong. Doubt it gets better so worth drinking over next couple years if you have it!
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7/8/2017 - drwinenut wrote: 94 Points
drank this along side the 1999 both splits, nowhere near 10 years apart in taste both delicious
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5/29/2017 - Burgnick Likes this wine: 91 Points
Tasted this blind. Theres such a merge of napa and bordeaux that I called it a bordeaux. Nose has earth, mineral, new oak and dark fruit. On the palate, its more bordeaux left bank than santa cruz initially, but with more time in the glass, the new world sweetness has emerged. It is drinking well with a 1 hr decant. No need to wait.
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5/23/2017 - SimonG wrote: 91 Points
Ben's USA @ Brunswick House (Brunswick House): Quite ripe. Dark cassis fruit. A little simple, or at least less evolved cf the others. Very good, but not the wow of previous bottles of this. ****
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4/15/2017 - JS199 wrote: 91 Points
Tight and youthful, wow. Plenty of time. Fab nose. Lower alcohol with sour notes on the finish.
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4/14/2017 - Vinomnivore Likes this wine: 93 Points
Loved it! Juniper/pine, graphite, green pepper, tobacco, leather, cedar, fresh hay, acid (lime?), black berry fruit. Drinking well now.
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3/26/2017 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:
This is fabulous. The nose is stellar with dark fruits, leather, tobacco, hints of vanilla, and cedar. The palate has excellent depth and concentration with still quite noticeable tannins, juicy acidity. Overall delicious and close to peak, but likely to be stellar for the next 10-15 years.
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3/23/2017 - POBlund Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tasted at 12 vintage vertical by Michel Jamais.
Nose balanced black currant/cassis, lavender, black cherries. Little dusty. Some maturity.
Dry elegant body palate of cassis, plum, cedar, mushrooms, structure with high fine-grained tannins. 13,0%
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1/19/2017 - glou.sf Likes this wine: 94 Points
Tar, leather, dark fruit, and blueberries on the nose. Well integrated tannins with black berries, and herbs. Long finish.
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1/1/2017 - jww Likes this wine: 93 Points
Excellent wine fresh fruity nose and taste with a well aged feel on the mouth. tasted chocolate, cassis, kind of earthy.
nice finish.
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12/28/2016 - jsebiri wrote:
same notes as 11/2015 , 1999 was an excellent year
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12/26/2016 - hrazdiiv Likes this wine: 93 Points
One of the undisputed kings of California cabernet, especially for those who prefer some old world elements to their reds. Just judging by the color, you'd think this was a decade younger - still very fresh looking, deep ruby, very little brick. Excellent, restrained nose of cedar, red currant and leather. We drank this undecanted but slowly over a few hours - the backbone of the wine changed just a bit towards the end with some nice mocha coming out to enhance the earthiness. The only thing that prevented a higher score was a slight acidity creeping in toward the end which made me not regret drinking it right out of the bottle. I'd say this has another really good 10 years in it after which it will become "interesting" as opposed to the world class wine it is now.
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12/23/2016 - burlingtonm wrote: 93 Points
Crumbly cork that needed to be carefully extracted. Opened for two hours but not decanted though it might have been beneficial as it opened up after the first glass. Such an interesting wine, with a distinctive style but rich with fine tannins, good concentration, length and balance.
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12/3/2016 - SMHalps Likes this wine: 94 Points
A big hit with my wine group. Decanted in the restaurant. We drank it over 2 hours (along with other wines), it evolved very nicely throughout the night. A very Bordeaux-like CA wine. Long finish. Tastes like it still has years left, if you choose to continue to store it.
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11/5/2016 - David_K wrote: 95 Points
Remarkable wine. So youthful; difficult to believe it's nearly 20 years old. No sign of age in the color, aroma or taste. There is really an effortless elegance to this wine, and the firm acidity and tannic structure - although incredibly fine-grained and in no way intrusive - suggest a long life ahead.
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10/20/2016 - walkerjfw wrote: 92 Points
Wine Spectator, NY Wine Experience Grand Tasting...more wines than time...shorter notes (NY City): Good to get a reasonably aged Monte Bello. A favorite of mine, it needs at least 10 years (IMO) to start to show its true depth.
Rich red color. Bordeaux-like nose of dark fruits, herbs and pencil. Rich plate of dark fruits, blueberry, earth and spice. Nice wine, but I don't think this will be one of the epic long-lived Monte Bello wines. Maybe that they were not open long enough or that I needed to spend more time with it. It drinks well now, don't think it improves much from here
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8/15/2016 - petitblanc wrote: 88 Points
Beautiful deep ruby color. Generous nose with loads of oaky vanilla and coconut, ripe cherry, and a good whiff of alcohol. More oaky coconut on the palate, with cinnamon and other spices. Long, cherry, stemmy finish, with tannins building late. There is enough depth of very ripe fruit to match the heavy oak, but the borderline alcohol shows through as well. This bottle seems more disjointed than the previous one. Still, this will be worth revisiting in 8 to 10 years.
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8/9/2016 - reichken wrote: 91 Points
Deep dark youthful color , black berries on the nose with a touch of forest freshness .well balanced medium weight wine,no rush, a pretty wine
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6/17/2016 - mntebolt wrote:
Very Good
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3/10/2016 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 94 Points
A Ridge Lytton Spring Vertical and a few others (our home): The cork crumbled a bit on opening. This probably could have used some air, but so it goes. Purple in color, slight ruby at the rim. The nose is deep with black cherries, cassis, slight chocolate note. On the palate, this is not as big as some vintages. Good acidity. The fruits are fresh on the palate. It dances more than dominates. Nice finish. Still youthful. Probably getting close to peak but certainly a decade or two left in it. Always a classic wine, this let no one down.
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3/3/2016 - Lipsman wrote: 91 Points
Surprisingly tight after 16 years. Needs about 2 hours in a decanter, but really needs a few more years in the bottle. This is a long haul Monte Bello. Dried fruits, black cherries, minerals, juicy acidity all tightly bound. Try in 2018 or later. From a split.
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3/3/2016 - Lipsman wrote: flawed
Corked. Second corked split, with a crumbly cork.
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1/3/2016 - SMHalps Likes this wine: 95 Points
Had a dinner with the 1994 Tertre Rôteboeuf, 2002 Shafer Hillside Select and 1999 Ridge Monte Bello. Only the Shafer was decanted, the other two were opened and sat in the bottle for about 45 minutes before serving. The WOTN for me was the Ridge, followed by the Shafer. But all three were outstanding.
The Ridge had a long finish, and is in a great place right now. The tannins were smooth, and it wasn't a super heavy CA Cab. Oddly this is one of the few Monte Bellos that WA didn't review.
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1/3/2016 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Dinner at Formento's (Chicago, IL): Quite dark in stature. The nose definitely shows a fair touch of American oak, while there's lovely black fruit and a hint of green pepper as well. Perhaps a bit more barnyard than one would expect from a Californian cabernet. The palate isn't too dense, and shows towards the darker end of the spectrum, but this is not a heavy wine at all. In fact, it's quite light as far as this genre goes, with very bright acids. The tannins are mostly resolved -- good to go now, but will likely hold for a while longer.
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12/3/2015 - floridawinedrkr Likes this wine: 91 Points
Very nice aged Cali wine. The 1999 Chateau Montelena Cab the estate was better as well as the 1999 Beringer Private reserve. The Monte bello was very soft and pleasant but it lacked the depth and flavor profile I would expect for $90+ per bottle. Finish was slightly acidic. Still very nice though.
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11/8/2015 - jsebiri wrote:
Popped and Poured , better then last time , excellent aged cabernet .
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10/18/2015 - jsebiri wrote:
this guy was nice , but i think over the hill at this point , next time i drink this i think maybe a few hours of air time would be best
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10/15/2015 - mntebolt wrote:
Great old wine!!!
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9/19/2015 - coremill wrote: 94 Points
This is awesome. Powerful, rich dark berry and plummy fruit with a slight chocolately edge that shows the Merlot (25%) influence, framed by complex mint, cedar, graphite and gravel notes. The structure is there but in the background and the balance is perfect, especially when paired with a good steak. Perhaps not the most dense or lush MB vintage but also not the most austere, this doesn't lack material or concentration, and with food the extract becomes even more weightless and floats across the palate, with the fruit/chocolate/gravel flavors beautifully integrated and long. Absolutely gorgeous.
I remember tasting this two or three years ago and thinking it was still quite backward, but this bottle was much more relaxed and open. As good as any vintage of MB I've had, I think. Hard to imagine it improving much on this showing with more age, although with the track record here it should last for at least another decade.
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9/14/2015 - Nutty08 Likes this wine: 94 Points
My last 375ml and the best bottle yet. Flamboyant coffee and cedar spice nose. Terrific black fruit palate, with cut and acidity typical of Monte Bello (in comparison to Napa). Lengthy chalky finish. Great length and complexity with expected balance of a wine of this pedigree. Still has plenty of tannin to resolve but can be drunk now.
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9/12/2015 - ID wrote:
Well-balanced, mid-weight wine that went well with lamb loin chops. Good acidity. Nose is restrained. Finish is short.
Update on day two: Approximately 26 hours later, this wine is much, much better. It took a lot to bring out this improvement. When I opened it yesterday, I decanted it for an hour, poured myself a glass, then put the remainder back in the bottle, stopped it, and put the bottle in the refrigerator. Tonight the remainder, after warming back up, is a much more serious wine than it was last night. This has a lovely nose. And there is a decent finish that finds its way from the sides of the tongue towards the tip. Also the acidity is much less pronounced now. This is a great Bordeaux-style wine that would be excellent with any rich, red meat dish. I have just two bottles left and will not open them for a long time.
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3/19/2015 - mwanasheria Likes this wine: 93 Points
Earth, underwood, some thyme, coffee. All elegant and really nice.
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1/24/2015 - rayq wrote: 94 Points
Deep colour, lovely rich nose, lots of blackcurrant.
On the palate it's velvety with a touch of sweetness/ripeness.
Lovely mix between new and old world.
Lots of life ahead of this.
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1/23/2015 - SimonG wrote: 93 Points
A Ledbury lunch (The Ledbury): Dark and really quite dense. Blackcurrant. Similar on the nose, blackcurrant with a sense of ripeness/sweetness. Cool and refined on the attack with a sweet-fruited mid-palate and a minerally frame. Such a strong family line. This one a little more outgoing and with a slightly brighter personality, but qualitatively there's so little in it. Really lovely. ****
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1/14/2015 - mdvino63 wrote: 92 Points
From .375. Classic and lovely nose, if a bit reticent at first. Spot-on and classically rendered, cool cabernet fruit, cassis, dark fruits. Very intense and deep. The nose began to open with some air and the palate tightened up at the same time. Definite tannins that still need to be resolved. This is very good now, and it is easy to see the potential. However, it is years away from prime time and full development of the complexity I am sure will develop, even in this format. Back to the cellar! (90 - 92 now, but with huge upside potential.)
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1/1/2015 - guitarguy wrote: 83 Points
Something was off in this bottle, a funky, Brett prescience that superseded all other flavors in the bottle. 1999 appears to have been a wasted, flawed year over at Ridge. I think I remember Jimmy Laube reporting on problems in their cellar at around that time and my experience with this wine bears this out.
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12/29/2014 - Lipsman wrote: 93 Points
Aroma and taste of licorice, also tastes of cherries, beets, plums. Juicy, balanced. Need to decant for an hour minimum to open up. This has generous fruit but it is just starting to show. Much better than a couple of years ago, but I wouldn't open another bottle until 2017. Probably best between 2018 - 2023.
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12/29/2014 - Lipsman wrote: flawed
Corked. Cork crumbled like dry putty. Tasted of fungus. Next bottle was fine.
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12/12/2014 - stevenjstein Likes this wine: 96 Points
Decanted and this opened up really well. Still has nice fruit, complex notes of herbs, leather, pencil lead. Subtle acids and tannins. Drinking beautifully now, but probably still has several years left.
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12/4/2014 - guitarguy Likes this wine: 92 Points
Variable year with some TCA problems, this was a really nice, classic Monte Bello. Blue fruits, still some nice oak but back grounded. Maybe the best of mine so far.
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11/16/2014 - jww wrote: 93 Points
wonderful wine, deep ruby red color, nice fruity nose
bright flavor, smooth finish, no tannins drinking really well now
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10/12/2014 - stevenjstein Likes this wine: 94 Points
Bright red/black fruit, with herbal and floral notes. Bordeaux-like, complex and elegant. Has enough fruit and structure to suggest it has several good years left.
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9/20/2014 - wabi47 wrote: 94 Points
From a .375; lovely and silky, big but with some elegance; worked with the salmon
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8/25/2014 - Fosgrove Likes this wine: 94 Points
Beautiful sensual sleek wine. Still has primary fruit even though tannins fully integrated. Would have thought there is still a long way to go but great now
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8/9/2014 - davidspieker wrote: 90 Points
A little funk on opening but it blew off. Smooth with dark fruit, mint, coco and cedar. Nice lengthy finish.
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8/2/2014 - Robert Pavlovich Likes this wine:
Up against a '99 Dunn Howell Mountain, this was a lot more open and giving. The fruit is currant driven with mixed berries, and coffee. In a good place now, this has good integration, and the acidity is tame so no real reason to wait for enjoyment.
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7/23/2014 - gaschief wrote: 92 Points
Exceptional blended ages red. No tannins left. Drink now berries and fruit. Yummy.
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7/18/2014 - buckeye76 wrote: 94 Points
BLACKBERRIES, CURRANTS, AND LICORICE IN THE NOSE WITH BLACK CHERRIES AND CURRANTS IN THE FLAVOR. NICE COMPLEXITY AND A LONG FINISH.
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6/15/2014 - RickyT12 wrote: flawed
Corked unfortunately.
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6/14/2014 - SonnyChiba wrote: flawed
Slightly corked - still had some drinkability, but NR.
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4/23/2014 - patespo1 wrote: 96 Points
Peaking right now, smooth but still a lot of fruit. Mint and eucalyptus, cedar, mocha. Drink now - 2024
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4/15/2014 - RichardP wrote: 92 Points
Pop and pour; the cork fell apart as it came out, but only a few small fragments fell into the wine. On the nose, camphor and black compost/peat -- unusual and distinctive; it's the earthy smell you find in the soil improvement section of a garden store. On the palate, black cherry, dark fruit, and earth, with a light sour note on the medium to long finish. This is silky smooth and perfectly balanced. This bottle may be more advanced than others due to the condition of the cork; the primary fruit is mostly gone. A beautiful wine.
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4/13/2014 - walsh wrote: 96 Points
This wine is First Growth Quality. Outstanding.
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3/28/2014 - affordableCollector wrote: 93 Points
ruby red, in color. blackberry, cherry, spice, coffee, cocoa, cedar, on the nose. mild acid, medium tannins, long finish.
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3/27/2014 - Nutty08 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Some might like this a bit older, but I'm enjoying where these 375's are now. Very expressive nose of smoke, currants, black cherry and cedar. Red and black fruits on the palate, mild tannins, and a nice round sweetness to the fruit typical of california--but has the darker fruit profile and tartness expected from SCM. Moderate to long finish. Should continue to age, though arguable if it will gain complexity or not.
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3/23/2014 - petitblanc wrote: 93 Points
Incredibly dark, all the way to the rim. Nose still showing lots of oak, with notes of coffee and exotic perfume, and cherry fruit. More oak and cherry on the palate, very elegant, nice acidity and ample silky tannins. Alcohol in reasonable balance, well masked by the oak for the time being. Nice wine, to drink or hold to allow the oak to integrate a bit more. I'd drink. 3 hours in decanter. 13% abv
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3/21/2014 - twoamps Likes this wine: 90 Points
A bit of TCA at opening, gone an hour later. Old oak, a little cherry, a lot of cassis and chocolate and earth and espresso. Fruit faded to background after another hour. Lots of acid and decent tannins. Seems younger than it is. My one and only bottle that I didn't dare keep longer.
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2/23/2014 - veniceslug1 wrote: 91 Points
Had a slight green note that I did not love, but was long and complex.
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12/31/2013 - JS199 wrote: 92 Points
One of the best noses I've experienced in some time. Intense fruit, pungent, complex, earthy. The wine itself took a couple hours in the decanter to open. Tasting notes were dry, dusty, earthy, mushrooms, bordeauxish and youthfully tight. The finish was super dry with some sour tones. Bottom line, a good MB that has plenty of time left. I going to try to wait five years until the next one.
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11/29/2013 - moxielady wrote: 92 Points
Smooth, dark fruit, earthy tannins with a bit of "band-aid" on the nose
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11/3/2013 - Nutty08 Likes this wine: 93 Points
From 375ml. Tons of sediment. Followed over several hours. Nose was expressive and typical of MonteBello, with very dark fruit profile--mostly currants and plum, smoke, coffee, and toast. Palate still shows some coarse tannin, with maturing fruit but kinda caught in the middle of primary flavors and adding some mature notes with tobacco leaf. Has some brightness on the palate that gives it a lighter feel than many Cali cabs. Lengthy finish, some mineral grip added to coffee notes. Fans of Monte Bello will not be disappointed. A little more complex, less fleshy, and more structured than '00. Could still use some time but enjoyable now
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11/2/2013 - spv Likes this wine: 94 Points
Fabulous! Very intense nose, dark ruby color, dark fruits, vanilla, spice on the palate. Rich mouthfeel, long finish. Well integrated tannins and 13% alcohol make for a super approachable wine that is really drinking well now.
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10/7/2013 - acyso wrote: 93 Points
Absolutely lovely. Scorched earth and smoke on the nose, with a perfect balance of ripe fruit and leathery secondary characteristics. The palate comes off as quite light, with a lot of minerality, sweet fruit, and emerging secondary notes. A nice hit of leather on the palate as well. Softening tannins. This is in a really nice spot right now.
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9/14/2013 - diggydan wrote: 93 Points
While secondary development is ongoing the palate retains a sweet core of cassis. This is complemented by well-integrated oak, tobacco, and tannin. The striking nose is pure red fruit overlaying greenery. The feel is satin and reminds me of a '95 Palmer: refinement and class put in a bottle.
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8/26/2013 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 91 Points
TN: ZH, Outpost, Ridge, Pride, Bedrock, Prum++: This was nice, but I had really hoped for more. Popped and poured, I am sure some will say it needs more air/time. There was an initial bottle funk that blew off, but I didn't really think it got any better throughout the evening. Purple/ruby in color. The nose has cassis, graphite, minerals and some initial funk. Medium to full bodied. On the palate, this has nice cassis fruit, some complexity, good acidity. An outstanding wine if below expectations.
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8/23/2013 - SimonG wrote: 94 Points
R, B, H, B @ Harwood Arms (Harwood Arms, London): Ripe, quite rich-fruited nose in an elegant and restrained manner. A hint of new world, but fragrant, smooth and long. Refined and elegant but just showing a little bit of leg. Enticing. ****1/2
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8/2/2013 - RaggaMat Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wonderful nose of sweet fruit. Lots of bilberry and blackberry. The oak is there but well integrated. I love the texture of the wine, silky, smooth, understated, but still with bags of primary fruit. Very long finish. I'm sure it will continue to evolve but for me this is drinking beautifully now. 1 down, 5 to go, lets hope the rest are as good or better!
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6/25/2013 - Vintomas wrote: 93 Points
Ridge wines with Paul Draper (Stockholm): Medium to deep red colour, slightly lighter at the edge.
Developed nose with barnyard and leather aromas, blackcurrants, rather noticeable tarnotes, spice.
Full-bodied, blackcurrants on the palate, good concentration, spice, rather noticeable medium++ tannins, long and slightly tannic aftertaste.
Good development, can need some more years to peak.
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6/22/2013 - Timbalimba wrote: 91 Points
Ridge Vineyards with Mr. & Mrs. Paul Draper: This is where things started to go wrong during the tasting. Served too cold and although I was the first one served from a full bottle, the pigment and sediment thrown is clearly visible in my glass and confirms my suspicion that this bottle has been brought straight up from the cellar and not given the necessary resting time in an upright position. Poor show from the organiser of the tasting... Garnet colour, paler than the '97 and even the '94. Oaky, hay and manure on the nose. Clearly shocked. Noticeably dirtier than the other two, almost volatile. Cedar and licquorice on the palate, red fruit. Long finish with acidic lift, chewy. The palate oozes quality and doesn't correspond to the nose. Unfair to score it, really, but let's give it a conservative 91. 91-94
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5/27/2013 - ajfret01 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Smooth well integrated tannins. Cedar and tobacco on the nose.
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5/7/2013 - lozatron wrote:
Just outstanding - at the end of an evening of very nice burgundy this shone. Very sad to see it go...
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4/3/2013 - mellison wrote: 94 Points
Second bottle I have drank with NY steak and it was fabulous just like the first one.
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4/1/2013 - Pknut wrote:
From two feet away from the glass, I can smell the pure cassis notes soon after uncorking. Palate follows the nose and is dark, rounded on the sides from some age, but somewhat compact and not as resolved texturally as I would have liked. There are some oak notes, but they are not too overt, and the wine as a whole is integrating nicely, but still I would give this five to ten more years. With air, the blue cassis profile turns red, with cherry and red currants on the palate, along with soft tannin and nice, buoyant acidity. Really nice finish, too. Certainly enjoyable, shows rather youthful. Bought on release. Goodbye, Peanut.
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3/29/2013 - steinbrl12 wrote: 93 Points
next to last of 6 bottles. Finally ready but will will age for another 10 years. Med to full body, good cab nose and length. Great with a steak.
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2/27/2013 - Lipsman wrote: 94 Points
Too young. Tightly bound but saturated in dark fruits and ripe tannins with fresh acidity. Tastes a bit light, needs time in the bottle to put on weight. This is a 20 year wine. Try again in 2019. From a split.
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2/14/2013 - Wine_lvr wrote: flawed
Not a good bottle ;-(
.... Drinkable but with a hint of TCA. Any rating would not do justice. Unfortunately my second to the last bottle...
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12/16/2012 - Sir Long Pour wrote: 99 Points
Superb, bold and beautiful. Would have cellared another 3 to 4 years.
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12/5/2012 - Dapz wrote: 93 Points
Very youthful, still very dark in color. Aromas of cassis, blackberry, leather and pencil shavings. After one hour, menthol notes started to appear. High acid, tannins were high but rond and palatable, could feel the sweet taste of american oak on the palate in a very nice way. Long finish. This wine will still get better but will provide a lot of fun now.
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12/3/2012 - tomherer wrote:
Crash and burn. No fruit whatsoever -- smelled and tasted like black olive juice concentrate. Totally over the hill, and bitterly disappointing, as I've been babying this bottle for years, and opened it for a birthday dinner. Recent TNs suggest that most of these bottles are in great shape, and that my experience was unique, so I don't mean to suggest that the wine is past its prime overall.
A terrible letdown in the moment, but wine collecting wouldn't be nearly as fun if it were predictable, yah?
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10/27/2012 - Loren Sonkin wrote: 94 Points
Still very young but starting to show some development. The nose is awesome. Cassis, saddle leather, moist hay, dust in a complex layering. More tight on the nose, but starting to show some layering. This was pop and pour and I got it after about 20 minutes, so perhaps some air helps it unwind. No problem drinking now, but another 5 to 10 years should be rewarded.
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10/6/2012 - Justin B wrote: 94 Points
Excellent. Love how it is both new world and old world, in a well balanced style. Plenty of life left and it would be great to try again in 10+ years.
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9/29/2012 - Wine_lvr wrote: 94 Points
Ridge Monte Bello Vertical Tasting 1974 - 2008 (Switzerland): Intensive deep red. Nose full of cherry jelly and chocolate. Tannins are a bit dry but the wine has lots of power and is long in the finish. Flavors of coffee, chocolate and cooked cherries. I would decant the wine for at least one hour. I have had this wine several over the past year and it is constantly performing at 94 points. Drink now - 2025
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9/2/2012 - Tight Lines wrote: 91 Points
Battled w/ the cork - all the 99's I've had have very soft corks and fall apart. Oddly (maybe not?) the wine is in very good shape. It came to life after ~1hr in decanter. I do enjoy this wine.
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8/24/2012 - strno wrote: flawed
Corked.
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8/23/2012 - walsh wrote:
Had a bottle of this straight from the cellar 14 degrees. Decanted it and drank it with a friend. Just a fabulous wine. Amazing perfume, lovely balance. Gorgeous fruit with everything from blackberry to raisins. I also got chocolate etc. Left a bit overnight in a covered glass. So tempted to drink it before work it was that good. Points 94.
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8/21/2012 - Clarkmeister wrote: 96 Points
Exceptional
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8/12/2012 - gaschief wrote: 93 Points
A superb wine showing no signs of age and very satisfying and vibrant
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8/5/2012 - mdvino63 wrote:
From 375. Deep ruby with tinge of violet at edge. Beautiful nose of dark fruits, mineral/iron. Palate of plum and black cherry with a nice earthy/smoky quality to it. Delicious. Very bordeaux like. Yum.
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8/4/2012 - lozatron wrote:
Wonderful!
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7/8/2012 - iamandyc wrote: 93 Points
Beautiful bottle. Not a ton of detailed notes. Bordeaux like. Can go many more years.
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6/23/2012 - agnorger wrote: 94 Points
Still has may many years left to go. It was drinking like a very young wine. I liked how light it felt on the palate. Well balanced and no big overripe sweetness. We double decanted it which helped bring out the fruit and subtle earthy flavors. Would pair very well with lighter meat dishes.
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6/20/2012 - gaschief wrote: 92 Points
splendid red--needs an hour of breathing-berries and fruit wondrously balanced--still has many years left --
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6/7/2012 - weissman wrote:
BD 6/7/12 dinner
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5/23/2012 - beezer6 wrote: 93 Points
Deep rich dark cassis, plum, black cherries, lots of black licorice - all day in fact. Coffee, caramel. Brighter tones showed with some air. Nice purple flowers, creamy baked goods and some vanilla qualities eventually opened up.
The palate was thick yet showed nice balance. Masculine in style more purple and black stone fruit and berries - plum, fig, anise, black pepper and fresh leather. Still in its teenage years this wine has a long life ahead. Big and bold. One of the more New World and flashy Monte Bello's I've tasted.
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5/20/2012 - gaschief wrote: 93 Points
Superb well blended red. No tannins left but quite remarkable blend. Drink now.
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4/7/2012 - wpd wrote: 92 Points
Drank 3 bottles this week with different friends and different cellars. Drinking great. Tanins have softened, beautiful fruit. Outstanding wine and alas my last bottle.
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3/18/2012 - BradKNYC wrote:
Occupy Spoof comes to town. (Joe's.): (72% cabernet sauvignon, 25% merlot, 2% cabernet franc, 1% petit verdot, 13.0% alc.) Tasted from magnum.
Surprisingly silky on the palate, especially since it's from a magnum, with sweet black currant, purple plums, cocoa and cedary oak. The fruit is still primary and the oak needs to integrate further, but if you prefer your Monte Bello a little bit more fruit forward, it's drinking quite nicely now. I'd rather wait for some more development, though. Low A-
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2/28/2012 - ID wrote:
The wine traveled through stages upon opening the bottle. First the wine took an hour to open up. Then for the next 30 minutes following that first hour it was a powerful and even a heavy wine. But after those 30 minutes were up it came back down and became a medium-bodied, decently good wine with a nice acidic kick to it.
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2/28/2012 - AlexHop wrote: 90 Points
Smoky and spicy nose, maybe a little cedar. Medium bodied at this point, but really nice balanced flavors. Medium finish.
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1/13/2012 - sdsull wrote: 93 Points
Sublime and perfectly aged. Drink now.
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1/7/2012 - Steve44 wrote: 93 Points
Took 2 hours to fully open up. Excellent bottle.
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12/25/2011 - fredb wrote:
Dark red color, nearly opaque. Shy aromas of cassis, plum, cherry, and a hint of cedar. Palate is very structured and mostly closed with some iron and graphite joining currant, cherry, and plum that lead into a medium finish with a significant tannin grip. This one needs more time. Resample in 2015? Hold.
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12/25/2011 - walsh wrote:
Had a bottle of this with the Turkey. It was sensational. Beautiful wine with glorious fruit. Soft in the mouth with a lovely aftertaste. Nothing wrong with the middle palate here either. Just had a sniff of the remains before I go out now and its perfect. I rate this wine 94.
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12/9/2011 - Lord of the Bottles wrote: 92 Points
Wood, fruit and earth bouquet. Syrupy mix of red and dark fruit, more cedar, earth, cinnamon and spice. Moderate finish. Delicious and very much a pleasure to drink, if not the most complex and profound. Very smooth.
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11/21/2011 - Papies wrote: 93 Points
Ridge Monte Bello 1994-2000 Vertical with Eric Baugher (Handford Wines, London): Needed press wine to add structure to the wine. All four grapes used here. Dark red. Very open on the nose, herby , cedary with good fruit like a mid 90s palmer. 99 was a cooler year thus the wine feels more classical Bordeaux. Vibrant with good tannin. 13% alc. Mineral, elegant and very very good. 93+
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11/11/2011 - mlawren1 wrote: 94 Points
Absolutely beautiful wine. Layers of complexity. Starts out with Cherries, plums and currants and then moves into an earthiness. Long finish with a kick of chocolate.
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11/6/2011 - KeithAkers wrote: 92 Points
The Inaugural Butcher&Larder Dinner (Butcher&Larder, Chicago IL): nose: aromatic and balanced nose of cedar, floral tones, dark red cherries, red berries and cassis tones. Nice depth to it and it is wound slightly tight.
taste: very good medium/full feel with polished and balanced feel with tones of cedar, florals, dark red cherries, cassis and some dark red fruits.
overall: This still has some youth to it in the good fruit core. The nose was still a bit tight with the tannins still being fairly firm.
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11/5/2011 - jsebiri wrote:
nice cali cab holding up very well....great nose and leathery , mature cab drink....very much enjoyed.....last one i had 3 months ago wasnt nearly thiis good
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10/24/2011 - davidspieker wrote: 91 Points
Dark ruby color. Cedar, cherry, and leather aromas. Fully body and dry with nice balance and long finish. Wait until 2014 for the next bottle.
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10/16/2011 - salil wrote: 92 Points
Consistent with my last note. Fantastic wine with great depth and balance, but it's still incredibly young and in need of a lot of cellar time.
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10/1/2011 - lozatron wrote: 96 Points
Amazing. Wine of the year maybe. Everything it should be.
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7/12/2011 - Rupert wrote:
Ridge Monte Bello 1981-1999 (Gauthier Soho): Way more assertive than anything in the first flight, earthy, high acid, grippy, altogether more muscular, with greater penetration of flavour. (One or two present detected some TCA at the start, although all agreed that this blew off - I had this experience last time I had the 99)
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7/12/2011 - rayq wrote:
Monte Bello Cabernet Offline (Gauthier London): Deep cherry colour. Wonderful nose.
Restrained and elegant. Lovely cross between Cal Cab and Bordeaux.
Bloody meaty nose with a hint of sweet wafer.
Silky texture. Super wine.
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6/24/2011 - G_H Likes this wine: 90 Points
The 1990's (or any other good wine) at Uncle Jacks Steakhouse NYC (Uncle Jack's Steakhouse, New York): Leather, brown sugar, tar, round eucalyptus. It's always a pleasure to taste a Monte Bello, as these wines are so well made and have their own very distinctive characteristics. Thanks, Dominic for bringing this beauty!
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6/19/2011 - AlexRed wrote: 92 Points
dark ruby with only very slight bricking on edges,
nose of ceder and thyme and smelled tart at the beginning
a little dusty and very enjoyable, earth/ceder and medium tart cherry that rounded out wonderfully with some time in the glass. nice acid focus but still had enough body to come back around to silky.
medium to medium long finish
Very enjoyable
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6/9/2011 - jamieirving wrote: 92 Points
Made from 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1 % Petit Verdot. Deep purple in colour I could see some signs of age at the edges. The nose shows meaty, savoury characters and a touch of berry sweetness. The palate is full bodied and dry with aged animal noted. Acid and tannins have mellowed and this wine seems a little older than it is.
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6/4/2011 - nzinkgraf wrote:
Concentration next to SCM, cocoa, cheery, iron. Fine easing tannin. If I had more time!!
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6/3/2011 - Diane (LI) wrote:
A nose that exhibits an elegance with notes of Chambord. The palate had a thinness that was surprising and the finish was a tad short. In spite of these negatives, it was suave.
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5/13/2011 - salil wrote: 92 Points
Starts out rather woody and four-square. Three hours in a decanter transform it completely as the wood integrates and this unravels to show layers of ripe red and dark fruited flavours seasoned with spices, cocoa and cedar. The flavours are still very primary but there's a sense of polish and purity here that makes it very enjoyable to drink, and the structure isn't overbearing with fine-grained tannins and impressive acidity. Very impressive right now, but this has the stuffing, balance and structure to be really great with time.
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3/28/2011 - mactheknife wrote: 88 Points
Decanted for an hour and served; a little green edge to it; very pleasant, low in alcohol. It softened after another hour but still a bit disappointed in the overall experience. Probably needs more time to evolve. Would wait 5 years and see where it is.
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3/26/2011 - Khamen wrote: 89 Points
Tasted alongside the 1995-2000 vintages. Backwards and tightly ound this needs time, and was the least aproachable of the 6 vintages tasted. Rather straight-laced and fiercely tannic at the moment, although a pleasant minty not shones through on the nose after much swilling. Iron fist in a velvet glove. Revisit in a couple of years maybe?
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3/22/2011 - pjaines wrote:
Ridge Montebello Tasting & subsequent drinks; 3/22/2011-3/24/2011 (Berry Brothers, London): Really just a pup at the moment - packed in tight and needs to stretch its legs a little an unwind. Sweet fruit, opulent but firm. Good but hold for now.
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2/6/2011 - mlawren1 wrote: 95 Points
Wow, what an amazing wine. layers of currants and plums. Bit of nuttiness on the nose but finishes with some cedar and tobacco.
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1/17/2011 - mclancy10006 wrote: 91 Points
After an hour in a decanter the first impression was it was smooth and mellow almost to much, but later into the bottle some additional flavors surfaced and it just had a lot more depth. Notes of tobacco, cherry the strongest, but a few others I just could not quite describe.
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1/13/2011 - Wine_lvr wrote: 92 Points
Great Monte Bello. Drink - 2025
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1/1/2011 - peterseville wrote:
Extremely good. Smooth but loads of fruit still present. Perhaps slightly overpriced at £90 ~5 years ago.
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12/30/2010 - boreddoughboy wrote: 93 Points
Aromas of chocolate and espresso. Well structured tannins suggest longevity. Bold fruit still resonates. Me like-e
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12/28/2010 - AlexHop wrote: 93 Points
Deep and rich, with nice tannins. Leather and pencil lead like a nice St Estiphe. Medium finish.
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11/25/2010 - sooper65 wrote:
Sold - CLARET-E, £550, 25-nov-10
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11/19/2010 - 2loyal wrote: 90 Points
Wonderful color, classic nose and smoothe mouth-feel, but the fruit was still thin, and the soft-tannins a bit drying.
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11/6/2010 - xcblazer10 wrote: 91 Points
Oaky nose. Pear and raspberry on the palate. Mild tanins and well balanced. Got better as we drank.
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10/9/2010 - Cantina Hill's wrote: 90 Points
Good but not what I expected for all the hype read about this wine.
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9/25/2010 - Miceri wrote: 97 Points
Dark red; very good nose, dark red fruit, leather, mocca, powerful; sweet on the attack, lean, slightly tannic, structure, lots of deep dark fruit; very long full-bodied dense lush aftertaste; excellent
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8/22/2010 - guitarguy wrote: 90 Points
A little tight at this point, nose of dirt and cocoa. Flavors are lean, with moderate to strong tannin. Raspberry, earth, smoke and hints of wood. Still very drying and I wonder how much this has left to give. Probably best to drink in the next year or two.
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8/20/2010 - jkoenen wrote: 92 Points
Hedonistic Diner, Part 2 (Restaurant Le Défi, Sprang-Capelle): Strangely enough this is the wine with the more traditional feel (when compared to the preceding Togni 1999). Cedar, ripe cherry fruit, cigars, earthy and friendly. Good stuff! 18/20
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8/20/2010 - Zweder wrote: 92 Points
A soft and lovely wine with red and black fruits, some spiciness and beautiful and friendly tannin and a little pleasant sweetness. Very long finish. Lovely now, no hurry.
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8/8/2010 - quagland wrote:
This bottle was slightly oxidized. Besides that, the wine was well made and had great length. All of the varietal components we there in harmony. It is a shame that the slight hint of oxidation would not go away. Great wine that paired very well with red meat and potatoes au gratin
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6/19/2010 - jbaron wrote: 92 Points
Graphite nose, nice but somewhat raw mouth of black cherries, and moderately long length of sharp carbon and sharp fruit. Nice.
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6/10/2010 - guitarguy wrote: 92 Points
Much better than a year ago, the skunk was not on this bottle. Nose of raspberry, well-integrated oak. Flavors are good but a tad lean. Ash, oak, blackberry, moderate, caressing tannins. A good bottle, decent length (45 seconds +) on the finish.
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5/22/2010 - Life At Your Leisure 🍷 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Dark purple hues with a nose of sweet black cherry, plum, cassis. Full-bodied, firm structure, silky texture, mild tannins, and long finish. Palate has hints of black cherry, oak, vanilla, tobacco. This is thoroughly enjoyable, the best from Ridge that I've tasted. Very delicious and supple. Drink now until 2014.
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5/13/2010 - FLI wrote: 89 Points
This was an elegant, well balanced wine, with little to distinguish it but its good manners. Nose was subtle, acids and tannins smoothed out. A nice food wine, but not into the "delicious" realm by any means.
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5/3/2010 - PC73 wrote: 90 Points
Very deep red in appearance. Mentol, olive on nose plus hints of beef stock. Very rich fruit, notes of green olive - not really to my taste. Clear classy wine,well balanced.
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4/8/2010 - al-Zabba wrote:
Some of everything; animal, vegetable, mineral. Tannins on this thing like the bones of a skyscraper...solidly held together, but with enough 'give' to bend with the wind a bit. Not rigid at all. Glad I had the opportunity to taste the '99 so I could finally start to 'get' Montebello (the '03 was a bit hard to grasp).
Notes: (72% Cab, 25% Merlot, 2% Franc, 1% Verdot)
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2/19/2010 - jakearoe wrote:
Our first crack of the 99 MB, with another 6 left. Will be holding those other bottles for quite a while after this showing, which did not leave me convinced this was in a drinking window. After decant and opened for about four hours, it did show many classic MB attributes (perfumed nose, pencil lead, beautiful fruits, etc). I did think it was showing some wood as well as tannic strength. Don't get me wrong, excellent wine to be sure, but far away from drinking window. Will be interested to taste this when it presents in a 'softer' profile.
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2/16/2010 - DRod wrote: 93 Points
Ridge wine tastings at Chelsea Wine Vault (Chelsea Wine Vault, NY): Dark red color with faint bricking at the rim. Old-world nose of green olives and red fruit. Just showing its age beautifully and I could literally smell this for days. Very similar on the palate with the same green olives, surrounded by still-vibrant fruit. Tasted like a meal onto itself. Just a phenomenal first experience with the Monte Bello.
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12/11/2009 - Zweder wrote: 92 Points
Beautiful, but not extremely complex bouquet with some sweetness and good red and black fruits; mainly cherries and also little cassis and good oak. On the palate also a fair amount of sweetness which is well balanced with acidity. Lush. Good tannin and a long finish. A beautiful wine now, but this will last for several years, although I don't think it will substantially improve.
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11/27/2009 - elbosco wrote: 91 Points
Slightly wooden nose obscuring generous fruits. Rich and soft. Drink now.
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11/14/2009 - WildeMeeuw wrote: 90 Points
Paris Tasting in Zwolle (De Librije - Zwolle): 1999 Ridge Monte Bello (USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains) Kleur: Diep donkerrood, opvallend veel concentratie. Aroma / bouquet: Interessante neus, snuffelwijn. Boordevol rood en vooral donker (kersen) fruit, in alles 'Nieuwe Werelds': veel van alles: fruit, kruidigheid, hout (wel mooi geintegreerd), Smaak / Afdronk: Ook in de mond presenteert deze wijn zich als iets zwoel en 'veel van alles'. Iets zoetige aanzet, direct gevolgd door zuren en krachtige maar mooi ronde tanines. Indrukwekkende lengte. Algemeen / potentieel: Net iets teveel alcohol. 50 + Kleur: 5 + Aroma / bouquet: 13 + Smaak / Afdronk: 16 + Algemeen / potentieel: 6 = 90/100
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11/1/2009 - Grinner wrote: 92 Points
13th Annual Lyon 10 year Retrospective (Eugene, Oregon): Mineral/stone tinged currant, blackberry, and coffee. Serious tannins still but very pleasant overall. Lots of time.
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10/14/2009 - cos82 wrote: 91 Points
Dark purple plum with no sign of maturity. When swirled in the glass, a beautiful floral nose with cassis and cherry. Interesting palate of primarily charcoal, crushed rocks, and cedar. Subtle fruity elements as well, but not a lot. Similar to a Graves. No tannin, smooth and ready to drink. A bit of alcohol emerged from time to time. At sale price of $65.00 in 2007, I liked it a lot. Not sure what my reaction would be at full retail. Very nice with braised rabbit.
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10/6/2009 - Burgundy Al wrote: 88 Points
Ridge Monte Bello Vertical 1972-2003 (Chez Kailin - Northbrook IL): Tasted single blind in 1993-2003 flight. Lots of oak, chocolate, vanilla and ripe fruit coming through on nose. started seeming more "modern" styled than the older vintages, making it easier for some people to enjoy, less interesting to me. black fruit and oak are very nice and enjoyable, providing easy pleasure, but little nuance or depth tonight.
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10/6/2009 - KeithAkers wrote: 92 Points
Ridge Monte Bello Vertical 72-03 (Ken's house, northbrook IL): nose: very pretty and elegant nose filled with tones of cedar, herbs, dark red cherries, cranberries and bits of menthol and chocolate. Has a st julien sense to it on the nose while still being discernibly californian. Excellent depth and expression on the nose, there is a very classy edge to it
taste: silky and rich tannins show off the youth of the wine with an elegant medium/full feel and medium+ acidity. Well balanced tones of dark berries, cedar, herbs, dark red cherries and a touch of chocolate all meld well together with a real classy sense
overall: my no4, the group's no3. I really like where this is at its young age. A slight bit more plush then the older wines, but that could be due to the age of the older wines. Still comes off as needing a good bit more time as there is a real elegance to the wine that aging will really bring out
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10/2/2009 - nzinkgraf wrote:
shows quite bright cherry across the nose and much more harmonious with it's iron notes than the 1999 pichon-longueville comtesse de lalande. light green notes in the nose. i must say this is quite expressive even at the pop and pour stage that i am tasting this at. the tannin here is so much more integrating than the comtesse de lalande. the acid backbone shows it's presence on the finish. the fruit and acid displayed suggest quite a way to go for this wine, but very much ready to drink.
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10/2/2009 - Beavis77 wrote:
Nose of black fruit, iron, violet and a helping of meatiness.
Showing good integration on the palate, but the fruit is so youthful yet. Fresh black fruit. The meatiness follows through. Nice hint of iron backing. Touch of espresso and violet. Long finish. Amazing structure.
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9/6/2009 - fredb wrote:
Deep red color, nearly opaque. Nose of cassis, cherry, plum, and a hint of pine. On the palate, this is tightly wound, showing primarily red fruit notes that are followed by chalky tannins and a long finish. This seems to be holding much in reserve and will benefit from further cellar time (as opposed to the '98, which appears to be open for business now). From half bottle.
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9/4/2009 - jlgnml wrote: 93 Points
Had this bottle both times at Pine Valley and its nose was fruitful and deep. Color was deep and bright. Flavor was great and lasted on the palate. Very good.
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8/27/2009 - AllRed wrote: 93 Points
Opaque garnet color. Notes of dark fruit herbs, tobacco and spice. Wonderful depth of fruit on the palate. Full-bodied and well-balanced. Long finish dominated by red fruit and spice tones.
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7/22/2009 - Millercg68 wrote: 91 Points
Very nice all around wine.
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6/30/2009 - Rupert wrote: 93 Points
Ridge Monte Bello vertical 1964 - 2002 (Institute of Directors, London): When this was first poured pretty much everyone apart from Linden thought it was corked - obviously so I thought. But returning to it an hour later, the taint had disappeared entirely and what was left was brilliant - compared with the cassis based '01 and '02, this was more floral and red fruited -fantastic complete wine
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5/29/2009 - nzinkgraf wrote:
Waterford slides to Hinterland. (Hinterland Erie Street Gastropub, Milwaukee): Open 4.5 hours. Tasted along side '93 Latour, '96 Mouton, and '92 Monte Bello. Compared to the '92 Monte Bello, consistency with being a wine 7 years younger. A hint more richness of fruit than the '92, with the same anise-as-choir-director on the nose. Hints of waxy cherry fruit tucked into the nose. Here iron on the nose seems tangled with the fruit expression. Espresso immediately on the palate and then it's gone. The nose tingles the senses. Here the tannins form the slightest veil, where as in the '92 they gave the tender touch. still this has it all and given 7 more...damn. fruit, elegant kiss of anise oak, iron, stucture and there's that violet on the finish again.
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5/28/2009 - guitarguy wrote: 89 Points
Skunky at first, consistent with some problems Ridge had wth Brett in the last '90's, this mitigated some with air to reveal an earthy, horse hide and leather nose. Flavors of mint, raspberry, dirt and a bit of brett barnyard, the wine was okay, not great. Pretty tight but not mouth dryingly so, it feels a little down right now. Give six months or a year before retasting.
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5/17/2009 - yhn wrote: 88 Points
Nose - very mature fruit, as in '70s, cedar, tobacco.
Mature, dusty, cedar, dragonfruit, hints of prune, black currant. Drink now.
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5/17/2009 - davetong wrote: 87 Points
72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petite Verdot. 13% ABV
The nose on this seems much older than you might expect; it shows a distinct note of Dijon mustard and a hint of what seemed like oxidation. On the palate it's rounded and quite concentrated, showing brambles, mint, eucalyptus and meat. Though it has good structure it seemed to be significantly more advanced in development of the three (tasted alongside 1997 and 1995); if you hold any of these it would be a good idea to open one to make sure that you're happy with the direction that it's heading. http://scmwine.blogspot.com/2009/05/2008-monte-bello-final-assemblage.html
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5/16/2009 - pawine wrote: 96 Points
Tasted at Ridge and compared to 2008, 2005, 1995, and 1997. On the nose it destroyed these wines. Huge Bordeaux like nose of cigar box, tobacco and blackberry. Acidic on the palate. Long finish. They said this wine need 5+ years to come together and I believe it but when it does it will be a monumental Monte Bello. Drink now with decanting and a greasy steak or leave in the cellar 5+ years. Have to buy some of this.
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5/11/2009 - guile wrote: 93 Points
From 375. Wowza! This wine had an initial explosive nose of boysenberry syrup, the kind you get at IHOP when ordering pancakes. After some air time in the decanter it revealed wonderful aromas of cedar and hints of tabac, a great of example of an aging Bordeaux-style wine. It was sweet on the front, waves of black fruit on the palate. This wine is so smooth with soft round tannins and plenty of acidity left. I even tasted some mint. Excellent. Glad I have one more.
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5/2/2009 - Millercg68 wrote: 91 Points
So very smooth and balanced. Consistent with previous note.
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4/11/2009 - wpd wrote: 92 Points
Upon opening it had a bit of bret and was quite astingent. That blew off in a few minutes. Decanting might of helped. Nose of cedar. Very Bordeaux like. Beautifully aged. Nice balance of fruit, acidity and oak. Not over the hill, but drinking beautifully. Left in the bottle over night and tasted again and it was still great.
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3/12/2009 - Millercg68 wrote: 91 Points
Fantastic nose of cedar and blueberry jam. Great balance and structure. Silky smooth, a bit of sweet oak on the back end. Quite tannic, although nicely integrated. Could last for 5 more years or more. Very nice wine!
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2/28/2009 - milwaukeewino wrote:
Nothing short of amazing. Like classic aged Bordeaux with fruit. In fact, smells more like Bordeaux than most recent Bordeaux.
Showing its age.
Medium bodied and a touch funky.
All Ridge, all day.
Real standout.
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1/15/2009 - Slics wrote: 88 Points
Excellent balance but has peaked. Deep rich fruit with age on the nose, soft tannin. Good but very expensive.
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12/6/2008 - zimmy07 wrote: 92 Points
drank from mag. Really well balanced wine with cedar, dark fruits and some earthy tones. Not mind blowing Monte Bello but enjoyable. Could have gone another decade or two
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12/2/2008 - ruddy wrote: 92 Points
Bit of brett on first opening which mostly blew off after decanting. Cedar and mint/menthol on the nose, along with cassis. Classic would be the best adjective to use. One of my friends called it "boring--the same wine every year", but I found it beautifully structured and a fabulous food wine. Too bad it was all gone before the steaks arrived.
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11/15/2008 - peternelson wrote: 92 Points
Rosso: This was similar in med. bod char like the 04, but with more tertiary notes, more “terroir”, hint spice box-tobacco, but still with bright blue-black fruit driven. Nice indeed. Not heavy, not a bomb, still restrained.
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8/4/2008 - milwaukeewino wrote:
Part of a vertical - full notes to come.
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7/16/2008 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Tasted with Ridge Monte Bello '80, '90, '91, '92, '94, '96 (corked), '99, '00, '01 (in magnum). Quite a lovely night one might say.
My favorites of the night were the '90 and '99. But just barely. Meaning that every vintage seem to show the magnificence of this site, all were worthy of appreciation. All the wines showed dark black fruits, a certain tobacco anise-ness and precise purity of acids and tannins. The younger the wines were the more black fruit, the less tobbacco. All bottles were still viable and drinkable.
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6/29/2008 - slaked wrote:
This is showing very well right now. Opened up after a couple hours: blackberry, cedar, some fancy perfume, very typical of this vineyard. ***
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6/3/2008 - tiggerevnstn wrote: 91 Points
Showing beautifully. Good overall balance, exc. fruit.
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3/9/2008 - 2loyal wrote: 90 Points
Pretty, well balanced wine. Certainly doesn't knock your socks off, but that's not the point here. Perhaps I should have decanted.
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12/20/2007 - markellen.foodies@gmail.com wrote: 91 Points
French Bakery BYO 1990's Cali Cab Sauv dominant wines; 12/19/2007-12/20/2007: Richard's wine. Youngest of the Monte Bello trio. A wondeful flight, Draper makes claret much admired by British and French wine professionals, and accordingly generally requires 10+ years to show itself. I think that was the case here, as one could absolutely see the pedigree, but the 99 still needs a few years to be at its best.
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12/14/2007 - mellison wrote: 94 Points
Very nice bottle. Still a little tight but opened up as time went on. Tasted side by side with a 1996 Woodward Canyon artist series which was noticeably better. The Ridge has several years left. Very well structured wine.
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11/8/2007 - jbaron wrote: 93 Points
Significantly better than the last time I tried this wine, 2 years ago. Might have benefitted from 3 hours of open air. Shows nice balance and a more persistent flavor, if a tiny bit on the tart side. Good nose of tarry, dark berries and earth, nice tastes of tangy, dark berries. Good persistence, with a nice follow-through.
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7/29/2007 - johnphinney8 wrote: 89 Points
Fairly austere with not a lot of obvious fruit presence. Fairly sweet tannins with a good amount of pucker on the finish. I get some of the coffee hints that others have mentioned. Lots of iron and blood flavor as well. Not my favorite effort from this producer but it may prove more accessible in the future.
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6/28/2007 - DukeDrew wrote:
Tannic with moderately strong acid out of the bottle. Decanted for 45 mins prior to serving on advice from Ridge tasting room (ignored the "give it another 5 years" bit of advice, however) Nice fruit on the nose, heavier coffee flavors as the night went on. Finish was not overly exciting. Needs A LOT more time.
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4/22/2007 - vintage72 wrote: 92 Points
Very elegant wine. My first MB. Drank at Little Sugar farm with carrie and Jacob.
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4/12/2007 - JScott wrote: 89 Points
This was no more than 85 on Day 1. Very primary and not that interesting. Forgot to cork it or put it away, left most of the bottle, uncorked, overnight. Day 2 shows significant improvement, though still not otherworldly. Can only conclude this needs quite a bit more time.
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2/24/2007 - obiscoito wrote:
Deep black current nose with overtones of chocolate and coffee. This puppy needs a bit of air. In the mouth right away fine but very firm tannins with a medium acidity. After a couple of hours this wines nose remained dark fruit filled and intriguing. Black-raspberry jam, black cherries, and strong notes of cassias. Tannins never really left this wine and continued to provide a nice firm structure to hang the fruit on. Great roundness in the mouth and finish which lasted for a good minute afterwards, went a long ways to making the bottle last. Real treat. 4/5
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2/24/2007 - gabriella wrote:
Deep, clear maroon color that speaks of its earthy and sexy nature. The nose is filled with pepper, dark forest berries, coffee and a slight bitter sweetness at the end that is incredibly inviting. On the palate, although I find it much more subtle than the nose, I am still star struck by not only its structure and balance, but also the mineral, blackberry and chocolate notes that peek out every so slightly. For me, an amazing and fun wine! 4.5
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11/19/2006 - jamieirving wrote: 79 Points
Made from 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 1 % Petit Verdot this is a chunky young wine. Deep purple in colour I found oak and a slight sweetness on the nose. The The palate is full bodied and very tannic. Dry with lots of acid. Needs some serious cellar time.
Tasted in the Grand Tasting at the 10th Decanter Fine Wine Encounter, Landmark Hotel, London.
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11/19/2006 - TGHaddon wrote:
Dark fruit nose, blackberry/blackcurrant. Less herbaceous than other vintages. Rather green palate but in a nice way for the most part. Big in a controlled elegant manner, very balanced but needs time - all a bit disjointed at present.
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11/10/2006 - boldredmonster wrote:
Not ready? Beautiful nose. Taste not as good as the smell. Not fruit forward. Elegant mouth feel. Finish=oak. Needs time.
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5/29/2006 - TashNYC wrote: 90 Points
From a 1/2 bottle, @ the winery. Blackberries, currant and tannins. This was poured after a dessert zinfandel wine, and a Matero, so it was therefore hard to evaluate. Might have been better than it tasted that day.
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4/13/2006 - phantphant wrote: 94 Points
YES...the full barnyard...the full monty!
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1/29/2006 - jhngo wrote: 91 Points
This was a good full wine... drinking very well right now
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12/26/2005 - jbaron wrote: 87 Points
(Carmel; roasted chicken) Opens quite fruity and primary, with a good dose of tannin, acid, and oak. An hour later, the fruit is a bit more complex but less tasty, the acid is less prominent, and the tannins are a bit more ferocious. I never really warmed up to this wine, even with food, and I'm less than overly optimistic than before about where it might be headed. Right now, it just seems like a bit of a jumbled mess.
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10/9/2004 - Blair Curtis wrote: 93 Points
Delyap's Killer '99 Cabathon (An unnamed, very hospitable restaurant): Strong but elegant cedar nose. Lighter on the palate than on the nose. At first partially closed. After about an hour, started to open. Cassis, blackberries and a foresty taste. Lovely wine with a long life ahead. I think this wine is not for the wood averse, though.
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11/8/2003 - jmcmchi Likes this wine:
Oh yes.
Licorice, firm tannins, all coming together but a ways to go
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8/9/2003 - dbg wrote:
nowhere near ready yet, Al suggests TCA but not detectable on the
nose, I think it's just young
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