Have they had the assemblage tasting yet? Does anyone know what the vintage looks like?
I just bought some pig-in-a-poke style. Curious.
The final Monte Bello assemblage tasting is in late April.
Curious as to what you mean by “I just bought some pig-in-a-poke style.”
Planning on living to 100 counselor? 
OK, I got the note from Ridge too. Time to pony up for the '16 Monte Bello Futures.
I will say that I’ve been buying futures for a few decades now, and the safest bests I’ve ever made were Ridge Monte Bello. Certainly in comparison to Bordeaux.
This is my first vintage as a Ridge member. I’ve pruned away some of my mailing list purchases so I could add Ridge. From what I’ve tasted from retail purchases of past vintages, I probably won’t be touching the monte bellos for many many years.
I just paid in excess of $100/btl for wine not only that I have never had, but that no one has ever had so far as I can tell. Indeed, the wine hasn’t even been assembled. That, to my way of thinking, is buying a pig in a poke
That’s the way this futures program works, but I’ve never heard Ridge Monte Bello referred to as a “pig in a poke.”
The first futures tasting is the Components Tasting March 11 & 12, for members and guests. The April Assemblage Tasting is available to the general public via limited tickets. The Final Assemblage is in May, for members and guests. So, we’ll see notes soon.
It’s an excellent vintage for CA. Not aware of any problems in the area, and the Saratoga fruit I got was great.
I live to bring you new experiences
And I treasure those experiences!
Hear a date Wes?
Not Wes, but … May 13-14
As Wes said, the first component tasting (and a sample blend) is in just a couple weeks. I’ll be there that Saturday, and will try to post notes. I’m quite looking forward to the 16, as it was a very smooth, relatively moderate summer, with few heat spikes and no really horrible heat, and good harvest conditions, at least down here in the south Bay where Ridge is located. Bauer likens the 2016 to 99, which was an outstanding wine, and still very young at this point.
The March and April tastings are sold out, but there are still tickets available for the Final Assemblage tastings in May. I’ll be attending on Saturday ! My first time making one of these tastings since Ridge formalized them.