Ridge Monte Bello

I have been hearing raves about Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello for as long as I have been drinking wine. I’ve heard Monte Bello spoken of as “America’s First Growth,” representing the American example of a classic Bordeaux blend in which Cabernet Sauvignon is the primary grape. Year after year Monte Bello receives crazy high scores and is said to be a consistently outstanding wine with great structure, complexity, and balance. And, in terms of ageability, it has been known to lay down for several decades with elegance and ease.

So when I had a chance to get a bottle of 1997 Ridge Monte Bello with friends back in February, I jumped at the chance. We nursed the bottle slowly, over a long dinner and it was almost revelatory. At 19 years old, the initial pour was much like a young Cabernet today, berries, currants, tobacco and tannin were all present, but the nose told me that so much more was going to happen in my glass. Because while the palate was as expected, the aromas were so complex, current, tar, earth, anise, mineral, herbs… every time I sniffed, I smelled more. It kept changing. I sipped slowly and over 2 hours, I witnessed the transition to one of the most complex wines I’ve ever tasted. The concentration and intensity never left, but somehow became more and more soft and round as the wine opened up. The berries became lusher, riper. The tannin and acid were always present, but so well integrated on the palate that you were only aware of them if you focused on them. When I finished my glass, I was hooked. I was a Ridge Monte Bello lover and I knew I wanted to taste more.

Doing my research, I found that Monte Bello, like most great wines, is a wine of place with grapes grown  high atop the Santa Cruz Mountains underlain by decomposing limestone and Franciscan rock. Ridge focuses on very low-yielding vines (less than two tons per acre) and farming practices are about preserving the existing eco-system and using it to make seriously complex and age-worthy wines.

The Monte Bello vineyard ranges in elevation from 1300′ to 2700′ above sea level and  is located only 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean in California’s coolest cabernet producing area. All grape varieties and all parcels are kept separate during winemaking, fermented using only natural yeasts, then transferred  into air-dried American oak barrels. When time comes for the final blend, Ridge is focused on maintaining the intensity and character of the vineyard. Something I tasted first hand when I tracked down my next two bottles.

I drank the 1992 and 2006 side by side with a small group of friends. Learning my lesson with the 1997, we decanted both wines and again, enjoyed them throughout a long meal. While the 2006 was much younger and less integrated than the 1992, they both were shocking in their complexity and balance. And here is where tasting notes fail. If I had to give notes for the wines, they would be roughly the same. The 1992, with an extra 14 years of bottle age, just seemed to have more refinement, more subtlety, less forwardness, than the 2006. It is almost impossible to explain, but that’s the best I can do. This is truly exceptional wine, using exceptional fruit, and exceptional winemaking. I have no idea when I’ll be drinking Ridge Monte Bello again, but I consider myself lucky to have experienced it at all. And sometimes, that’s all I can ask for.