Wow this was a great bottle. I bought two bottles at auction a couple years ago for a great friend's 40th; this bottle was clearly better. Incredible nose with remarkably fresh cherry, cassis, green tobacco, a hint of oak spice, damp earth, and just a hint of herbs. The palate had very good depth with melted tannins and generally was just pleasurable. Not the most intense or deep which at 43 years of age isn't a bad thing. But the balance and the nose are remarkable. An exquisite bottle that reminds me why I cellar cabernet based wines.
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Fairly rustic, but also pretty glorious. We put it in a wide bottomed decanter and it held well for hours, unfurling with its mature dark fruit, wrapped in cedar, tobacco, and plenty of fresh acidity and dry oak. Very worthy of the producer and appropriate for the era, even if not one of their all time bests.
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Opened for a great friends 40th; the nose here is quite dominated by pyrazines; very herbal and cedary initially; with air it gains a little bit of fruit, but mostly stays in the pyrazine zone; the palate shows actually some nice dried currant and plum, humidor, cedar, mushroom, and leaf litter. Paired with a rack of lamb it brings a lovely freshness and still has a little bit of structure. Overall I'd say it was good; the palate was surprisingly better than the nose though with time the nose was pleasant.
Ridge Monte Bello Vertical, 1980-1999 (Chez Moll): Popped and slow-oxed ~3-4 hours before dinner. Full, elegant, complex nose of mature plum fruit, bell pepper, menthol, tobacco. Serious aromatic intensity and lift. The palate shows quite vibrant and fresh, and holds this energy for 2+ hours over dinner. Mature, dried fruit with loads of eucalyptus, tobacco leaf, tar and herbal notes. Long, savory finish. A real testament to the vigor and age worthiness of Monte Bello.
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Ridge Monte Bello, 1980-1999 (Chicago, IL): This was one of the (if not the) most Bordelais of the Monte Bellos we opened tonight. The nose showed a touch of herbaceousness, bell pepper, and plenty of tobacco. The tobacco was fairly prominent on the palate as well. Lots of acidity here, this was definitely in full secondary mode. The fruit isn't quite as rich and sweet as with the other MBs, which perhaps lent this wine a bit more of an old world feel.
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Very special wine, consumed with family, and alongside two outstanding '88 Monte Bellos for MWP's 88th birthday, and swan song to one life chapter as another opens. The 80 was a distinctly more muted affair than the 88s, which remain for me textbook-perfect 100s, running on all cylinders, lithe and almost explosive in their expressiveness (albeit for a more restrained and sophisticated type of wine -- no sloshy fruit bombs here). If the 88s seemed to defy the passage of years, the lone 1980 bore the marks of the decades, with fully resolved tannins and an ethereal quality that was almost timeless. There was a dark undercurrent -- can't describe it -- that at certain moments bordered on unpleasant, but at others -- two seconds and a swirl of the glass later -- felt and tasted profound, approaching the transcendent. I remember most moments of Jimmy Carter's presidency (a devoted Republican then -- but never since -- I cheered his ouster by RWR), but throughout was still a child, only 14 when the grapes in this wine were crushed and Ronny and Nancy headed toward their improbable victory in the '80 elections. I salute those times now with the sap of that vintage still on my palette 37 years later, denying neither the bitterness nor the sunlight of those days as I move along in stolid adulthood, with the brothers (4/5ths), RG and SPG, not forgetting.
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Celebrating Doug's Birthday...; 11/8/2015-11/9/2015: Color: Deep bricked-ruby core...almost young looking with slight bricking at the rim. Smell: Hints of bell pepper, menthol, dusty, leather, Taste: leather, clove, blueberries, blackberries, dusty hints of earth Overall: This is just plain lovely...and showing so young. It's a wine that could last longer with good storage. Medium body, medium acidity, medium fruit, and a long finish. Outstanding!!
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Cork was compromised as it was soaked all the way through so this note is with that in mind. Leather, wet earth, dried out red fruits and more earth. Light/medium bodied wine. Fruit not as pure as a Monte Bello usually is (I'm sure due to the oxidation of the wine. Resolved tannins with some good acidity still left in it. If this was in better shape I have no doubt it would have been a fantastic bottle.
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Reds @ Prime and Beyond - 11/16/10. Nose: Very herbal & full on nose, dill, eucalyptus, a touch green, plummy dark fruit Palate: A little dry - herbal, stemmy, green. Tight, structured finish. Good length. Nose: 5/6, Palate: 4/6, Finish: 4/6, Je ne sais quoi (wild card): 1/2 = 14/20 = 89/100
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Cabernet Smackdown (Steve T's, Vernon Hills IL): nose: mature nose of dill, tobacco, leather, bits of floor dust, red cherries, and cranberries. Very nice balance to it and it certainly sticks out like a sore thumb in this blind lineup
taste: well resolved tannins with a real good medium feel and tones of dill, tobacco, red cherries, and cranberries. Fully mature and has a real nice feel to it too
overall: seems to be on the downside. An enjoyable wine, but was also a polarizing wine as some really hated it, while some enjoyed it. I was more in the enjoyment camp, but right now it is what it is and should be drunk up in the near future
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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.
The '80 was still alive at 28 years of age. Prehaps not to everyone's liking -- sweet cherry but very dry fruit. Harder, clipped finish which was just perfect with the tenderloin and bernaise sauce. Lots of tobacco, anise, and black fruits on the nose. Powerfully expressive nose. The palate was more claret than Napa but isn't Monte Bello always this way? Pure wine. It was also wonderful to note that '80 and '90 were easily of one another, siblings seperated by 10 years but still of the same. The whole line up was nicely of a set -- all the wines tasted of a place and not a fad. This was certainly a nice send off to an old friend -- 1980 Montebello.
For those of you still holding I would drink up within the next two years. Or who knows? Who knows the life of this wine?
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4/23/2023 - jnewman77 Likes this wine:
Wow this was a great bottle. I bought two bottles at auction a couple years ago for a great friend's 40th; this bottle was clearly better. Incredible nose with remarkably fresh cherry, cassis, green tobacco, a hint of oak spice, damp earth, and just a hint of herbs. The palate had very good depth with melted tannins and generally was just pleasurable. Not the most intense or deep which at 43 years of age isn't a bad thing. But the balance and the nose are remarkable. An exquisite bottle that reminds me why I cellar cabernet based wines.
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4/6/2021 - Robert Pavlovich wrote:
Fairly rustic, but also pretty glorious. We put it in a wide bottomed decanter and it held well for hours, unfurling with its mature dark fruit, wrapped in cedar, tobacco, and plenty of fresh acidity and dry oak. Very worthy of the producer and appropriate for the era, even if not one of their all time bests.
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4/28/2020 - jnewman77 wrote:
Opened for a great friends 40th; the nose here is quite dominated by pyrazines; very herbal and cedary initially; with air it gains a little bit of fruit, but mostly stays in the pyrazine zone; the palate shows actually some nice dried currant and plum, humidor, cedar, mushroom, and leaf litter. Paired with a rack of lamb it brings a lovely freshness and still has a little bit of structure. Overall I'd say it was good; the palate was surprisingly better than the nose though with time the nose was pleasant.
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6/24/2018 - doctornoah Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wow, this was on point!
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10/14/2017 - Nanda wrote: 93 Points
Ridge Monte Bello Vertical, 1980-1999 (Chez Moll): Popped and slow-oxed ~3-4 hours before dinner. Full, elegant, complex nose of mature plum fruit, bell pepper, menthol, tobacco. Serious aromatic intensity and lift. The palate shows quite vibrant and fresh, and holds this energy for 2+ hours over dinner. Mature, dried fruit with loads of eucalyptus, tobacco leaf, tar and herbal notes. Long, savory finish. A real testament to the vigor and age worthiness of Monte Bello.
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10/14/2017 - acyso wrote: 95 Points
Ridge Monte Bello, 1980-1999 (Chicago, IL): This was one of the (if not the) most Bordelais of the Monte Bellos we opened tonight. The nose showed a touch of herbaceousness, bell pepper, and plenty of tobacco. The tobacco was fairly prominent on the palate as well. Lots of acidity here, this was definitely in full secondary mode. The fruit isn't quite as rich and sweet as with the other MBs, which perhaps lent this wine a bit more of an old world feel.
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5/6/2017 - Bklyndude Likes this wine: 93 Points
Very special wine, consumed with family, and alongside two outstanding '88 Monte Bellos for MWP's 88th birthday, and swan song to one life chapter as another opens. The 80 was a distinctly more muted affair than the 88s, which remain for me textbook-perfect 100s, running on all cylinders, lithe and almost explosive in their expressiveness (albeit for a more restrained and sophisticated type of wine -- no sloshy fruit bombs here). If the 88s seemed to defy the passage of years, the lone 1980 bore the marks of the decades, with fully resolved tannins and an ethereal quality that was almost timeless. There was a dark undercurrent -- can't describe it -- that at certain moments bordered on unpleasant, but at others -- two seconds and a swirl of the glass later -- felt and tasted profound, approaching the transcendent. I remember most moments of Jimmy Carter's presidency (a devoted Republican then -- but never since -- I cheered his ouster by RWR), but throughout was still a child, only 14 when the grapes in this wine were crushed and Ronny and Nancy headed toward their improbable victory in the '80 elections. I salute those times now with the sap of that vintage still on my palette 37 years later, denying neither the bitterness nor the sunlight of those days as I move along in stolid adulthood, with the brothers (4/5ths), RG and SPG, not forgetting.
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6/2/2016 - EGoethals wrote: 91 Points
Wow
Mildly fruity with a nice pepper follow through. SMOOTH from the first 5 min to about 90min when I stopped drinking.
The last 1/8th of the cork crumbled but very workable.
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11/8/2015 - Kirk Grant wrote:
Celebrating Doug's Birthday...; 11/8/2015-11/9/2015: Color: Deep bricked-ruby core...almost young looking with slight bricking at the rim.
Smell: Hints of bell pepper, menthol, dusty, leather,
Taste: leather, clove, blueberries, blackberries, dusty hints of earth
Overall: This is just plain lovely...and showing so young. It's a wine that could last longer with good storage. Medium body, medium acidity, medium fruit, and a long finish. Outstanding!!
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2/2/2015 - BradE wrote:
A lone bottle that's been in the cellar for many years. This was FANTASTIC. Opened up beautifully over 90 minutes.
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7/25/2013 - aagrawal wrote: 95 Points
Bonham's and Butterfield Pre-auction tasting (San Francisco, CA): Absolutely lovely. Nose with mint, basil, cherry, very strong bell pepper; smooth, balanced, full palate, good fruit. Superb. Drink now. 94-95.
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12/1/2012 - RicardoLevy Likes this wine:
Still had much to give. Good balance but a little on the light side at first. Openes up after 30 minutes. Then "exploded" with Brie!
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4/2/2011 - yonster24 wrote:
Cork was compromised as it was soaked all the way through so this note is with that in mind. Leather, wet earth, dried out red fruits and more earth. Light/medium bodied wine. Fruit not as pure as a Monte Bello usually is (I'm sure due to the oxidation of the wine. Resolved tannins with some good acidity still left in it. If this was in better shape I have no doubt it would have been a fantastic bottle.
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12/16/2010 - Seth Rosenberg wrote: 89 Points
Reds @ Prime and Beyond - 11/16/10. Nose: Very herbal & full on nose, dill, eucalyptus, a touch green, plummy dark fruit Palate: A little dry - herbal, stemmy, green. Tight, structured finish. Good length. Nose: 5/6, Palate: 4/6, Finish: 4/6, Je ne sais quoi (wild card): 1/2 = 14/20 = 89/100
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4/8/2010 - yhn wrote: 88 Points
Nose - green olive and pimento juice, jalapeno pizza.
Spicy cherry, jalapeno, touch of cedar, hint of mint.
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11/6/2009 - KeithAkers wrote: 89 Points
Cabernet Smackdown (Steve T's, Vernon Hills IL): nose: mature nose of dill, tobacco, leather, bits of floor dust, red cherries, and cranberries. Very nice balance to it and it certainly sticks out like a sore thumb in this blind lineup
taste: well resolved tannins with a real good medium feel and tones of dill, tobacco, red cherries, and cranberries. Fully mature and has a real nice feel to it too
overall: seems to be on the downside. An enjoyable wine, but was also a polarizing wine as some really hated it, while some enjoyed it. I was more in the enjoyment camp, but right now it is what it is and should be drunk up in the near future
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8/4/2008 - milwaukeewino wrote:
vertical
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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.
The '80 was still alive at 28 years of age. Prehaps not to everyone's liking -- sweet cherry but very dry fruit. Harder, clipped finish which was just perfect with the tenderloin and bernaise sauce. Lots of tobacco, anise, and black fruits on the nose. Powerfully expressive nose. The palate was more claret than Napa but isn't Monte Bello always this way? Pure wine. It was also wonderful to note that '80 and '90 were easily of one another, siblings seperated by 10 years but still of the same. The whole line up was nicely of a set -- all the wines tasted of a place and not a fad. This was certainly a nice send off to an old friend -- 1980 Montebello.
For those of you still holding I would drink up within the next two years. Or who knows? Who knows the life of this wine?
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1/5/1992 - MicklethePickle Likes this wine: 85 Points
With Brett, Diane, Halina, Lorraine and Dan at Halina's 1980 cab tasting. Good nose. Rich and fruity. Good flavor. But NOT great. 5-10-14-6: 85/100.
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