I just noticed that there seems to be a Ridge “Montebello” chardonnay in the retail channel now, whereas the Ridge website no longer lists a “Santa Cruz”:
http://ridgewinery.com/Wines/Our%20Wines
Are they the same wine?
Thanks.
The Chardonnay formally known as “Santa Cruz Mountains” has been renamed to “Estate.”
Ridge continues to make the Monte Bello Chardonnay as its flagship, albeit in small quantities.
Is there any reason for the name change? It seems like a downgrade for the wine - did they lose a vineyard contract?
Or are they mixing the old Santa Cruz grapes into Montebello?
Or new AVA labeling requirements might have caused them to change the name?
The following is directly from the Ridge website. It lays it out pretty plain…
History
Ridge produced its first chardonnay in 1962 from fully-mature vines planted in the late 1940s on the Monte Bello estate vineyard. Production never exceeded ten barrels, and Monte Bello chardonnay was sold principally at the winery. Several great vintages, among them the 1973, ‘74, ‘79, and ‘84, showed that our cool climate and fractured limestone sub-soils were well suited to the varietal. By 1985, the old vines were producing less then a half-ton per acre; the younger ones, planted in the ‘70s, provided the majority of grapes. These newer plantings were on the “lower” vineyard not yet farmed as part of the Monte Bello estate so the wine was called “Santa Cruz Mountains.” The vines are long since included in the estate; and the wine is designated Ridge Estate Chardonnay. In years when differences among lots are sufficient to warrant a separate bottling, we make a limited amount of Monte Bello Chardonnay as well.
“Estate” is a legal term. The “Monte Bello” designation dates back to the early '70s for their top tier from the estate. There were some Monte Bellos Zins and Ruby Cabs, too.
The shift from “SCM” to “Estate” also occurred with the with the Cab and is consistent with what comes from their Lytton property, where the top wine is the “Lytton Springs” and everything else is “Lytton Estate”.
Well let me take a stab at deciphering this:
PREVIOUSLY
“Montebello” - very small quantities made from old vines in “upper vineyard”
“Santa Cruz” - made from newer vines in “lower vineyard”
CURRENTLY
“Montebello” - made from the best grapes from the two vineyards [upper and lower]
“Estate” - everything else that didn’t make it into Montebello
Does that sound right?
I know there can’t be more than a handful of people like me who prefer the chardonnays to the red wines, and who would even care about something so esoteric as this, but if these were wines which had huge followings [such as Montebello Red or Geyersville Zin], then name changes like this would be a marketing disaster.
Nathan, maybe I’m missing something but it appears to me that your characterization is incorrect:
And what people generally don’t know as it’s not really advertised is they don’t own (or didn’t last I checked) all the land near their Monte bello vineyard where they also source grapes from.
More Montebello info here
So what?
Thanks for the information Andy.
Well now, cool your jets there mister. It’s not something scandalous or anything like that, but the perception put out is there. Wouldn’t you like be a bit more knowledgeable about a winery you like? I know I do.
As I read it, prior to the lower plantings going in (in the '70s from the writeup), all of the Chardonnay came from up top and was labeled Monte Bello Chardonnay. Somewhere between the '70’s and 1985 (as I read it), the wine was reclassified Santa Cruz Mountains until more recently when the lower vineyards were annexed into the Estate designation. Monte Bello Chardonnay comes from exceptional lots and is not a guaranteed annual release.
My wife adores Monte Bello, but not Monte Bello Chardonnay. I love them both.
Cheers,
fred
Well I read the Galloni article, and now my best guess is:
PREVIOUSLY
Montebello Chardonnay: only in exception years, only from the upper vineyard, and in very small quantities
Santa Cruz Chardonnay: From the lower vineyard, and the flagship wine in the years that Montebello was not made
So that a vertical of the “best” chardonnays from Ridge would have both Montebello and Santa Cruz in it [with Santa Cruz substituting in the years when there was no Montebello].
CURRENTLY
Montebello Chardonnay: The best grapes and/or the best barrels from the upper and/or the lower vineyard
Estate Chardonnay: Everything else that didn’t make the cut for Montebello.
So that, moving forward, a vertical of the “best” chardonnays from Ridge will now be just Montebello? And Estate will always be the “inferior” wine?
I guess the problem would be whether Montebello and Estate are vinified in the same manner, or whether, say, one might see more oak than the other.
In which case, if, say, Montebello were over-oaked, then many AFWE’s might prefer Estate?
Sure, but then again, given same technique, maybe one might like the Estate better anyway!
Yeah, I guess a devotee will just have to try both wines and learn the difference between the two.
Hopefully this new Montebello will bear a lot of similarity to the old “Santa Cruz” that we used to see around here.
Monte Bello is their estate. It is a series of vineyards (not two) up the Montebello ridge. Estate is a legal term relating to proximity and control, so all of their vineyards on the ridge are technically estates, regardless of ownership. Since they adopted the “Monte Bello” designation, it is to differentiate the top tier, determined by the assemblage process, for lots that exhibit the proper character and ageability.
The “lower vineyard” is the Jimsomare Vineyard. Various lots from there can make the cut for Monte Bello, can go into the Estate or, as has happened recently, be bottled as a stand alone wine. What goes where is determined by blind tasting of barrel samples.
They also have newer plantings of Chard in the upper vineyards. So what? There’s no issues here, just vines that are now mature enough that some of them now have the quality to make the Monte Bello.
The issue is that they have definitely changed the names of the wines, and they have probably changed what goes in the bottles.
Hopefully it will be largely similar to what we’re familiar with.
The regular Monte Bello has changed dramatically over the years. It started out as 100% Cab from a single vineyard (ten year old vines when they bought it), then they bought another vineyard, then sourced more (like Jimsomare and Picchetti) and started buying and contracting more land to plant on. Then they started experimenting with other Bdx varieties, beginning with Merlot, and started sometimes including them. That’s a wine that’s always been stellar, but I’d argue the average quality is better than ever.
Pierre Klein planted what we know as the Jimsomare site in the 1880s and won international acclaim for his Cab. When Ridge started sourcing the fruit in the '60s it was old vine Cab and Zin and garnered a good fan base. Cab from there regularly makes the cut for Monte Bello (as well as some going to the SCM/Estate and some to the Jimsomare/Klein). They chose to plant some Chard there instead of more Cab (or whatever) for a reason. Now that the vines are mature, some of the lots from there, as determined by blind tasting, are good enough and have the right character to make a positive contribution to the Monte Bello Chard. If not, they aren’t included. If no Chard meets the quality standard in a given year, they simply wouldn’t make an MB Chard.
So, the Monte Bello Chard isn’t a new wine. There is a reason for the name change from SCM to Estate. There’s no downgrade. They didn’t lose a contract. The Monte Bello does not have any non-estate fruit, it’s a selection of the best lots with a certain typicity for that wine. AVA requirements are irrelevant. The name change is consistent across the wines from both estates. (They also change the name of the Jimsomare Cab to the Klein Cab). The “previously” making either MB or SCM is not correct - it was sometimes both. Currently there are a lot more vines over a larger array of blocks, so it’s a lot more likely there’s enough quality to make the MB cut.
The lots are all vinified the same way, since the selection process comes later, but the lots that make the MB are bottled later. There is a difference in character between the SCM/Estate and the MB, consistent back to the '90s (haven’t had pre-'90s Chards from them, so can’t comment). Personally, I prefer the SCM/Estate without exception over 3 decades of wines. They greatly reward 10-15 years aging. I wouldn’t say the Estate is inferior, but it is less intense in a way I find “just right”. If you taste the two side-by-side you should get a sense of the difference, which is consistent, so you can decide which you like better. Oh, and of course there’s a quality standard for the Estate, too, so it’s not just all the fruit that doesn’t make the MB.
Hopefully this new Montebello will bear a lot of similarity to the old “Santa Cruz” that we used to see around here.
Well, no. There is nothing new about the Monte Bello. It is consistent in character for 3 decades. If you want the SCM it is what is now called the Estate.
The issue is that they have definitely changed the names of the wines, and they have probably changed what goes in the bottles.
Hopefully it will be largely similar to what we’re familiar with.
They changed the name of one, not the other. Change has been gradual - there’s no sudden change in character. Maybe a little less obnoxiously oaky on release.
Ridge also occasionally makes a Mikulaco Chard as well. I’ve typically preferred it to the MonteBello or the Estate
because it seems a bit leaner and more mineral. They’re not very precise on their WebSite where Mikulaco is located but I gather
it’s lower down on MB Ridge towards Jimsomare.
Tom