Always good to see the boys and always good to enjoy great wines usually not on my radar.
1983 Ridge Santa Cruz Mountains Estate- USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
Up against a tough crowd of '85 & '96 Ridge Monte Bello, this sure held its own while easily showing its under-card position.
A nose of pretty red fruits and spring flowers, palate shows red currants and plum. Perfectly matured and maybe just a nitch below on the lively fruit especially againstthe '85 Monte Bello, this was no slouch. More feminine and along on its apparent road of maturity. Fully resolved tannins and very nice balance with some notes of cedar, mushroom and earth present. While not as ‘wow’, quite admirable in its own right. (91 pts.)
1985 Ridge Monte Bello- USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
there have been moments in my life when a wine has commanded my attention and respect and truly shows how little I actually know about wine itself, this is such a wine.
A pretty nose of black cassis, black plum and black berries. Palate shows a deftness that only the most greatest of wines can show, and not being well versed in Ridge myself, I can only go on what I was told for many years, this one lives up to that esteemed reputation. Purity squared with densely pack lively fruits, this has it all: class, structure, balance, verve, texture, elegance, life. I loved it. Served alongside the 1985, this outclassed it by barely an inch. Fully resolved and no cliffs in sight, this can only be described and incredible. Long, focused and in control of your senses and won’t let got. Alongside my Steak au poivre with its hot mustard, this just rocked. (96 pts.)
1996 Ridge Monte Bello- USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
From a perfect bottle. Initially had a slight greenness on nose with a tiny dose of eucalyptus. I figure that’s the PV showing up (9%). As it sat it became cohesive and textured with some pretty white flowers, black currants and cardamom.
So pretty and so pure, this sang from the glass at about 30 minutes and never faltered. Notes of leather and gravel and lead pencil, this is dense and fragrant with wonderful balance and verve, it defied its age. Finish long and exact. Such a wonderful gem stored well and it shows the true greatness of the Ridge Monte Bello fame. (95 pts.)
Thanks to Steve for sharing these. Posted from CellarTracker
In 1983, Ridge declassified the Monte Bello and relabeled virtually all of it Santa Cruz Mountains.
The main elements of the label on your '83 are virtually identical, except for the “CP” denoting your wine was released as part of the Cabernet Program. The wine’s details - vineyard sources, grape varieties, alcohol - are of course different. Interestingly, there is just a single CellerTracker entry, even though they are not the same wines …
i haven’t focused much on domestic cab/merlots, so right now I’m actually sipping on a 2013 Ridge Estate Merlot, and if this is typical of the style and quality, I’m a convert.
Ridge actually released a 1983 Monte Bello to those who bought futures before they decided to declassify the vintage and re-label it as Santa Cruz Mountains. As you can see in Scott’s picture the label does indicate Monte Bello Estate. You can also tell the re-labeled Monte Bello by the bottle having a punt, at that time all other Ridge wines came in bottles with flat bottom I believe. Ridge did “recall” the 1983 Monte Bello from those who bought futures by offering them two bottles of Santa Cruz Mountains for every bottle of Monte Bello they returned.
The 1983 CP wine is 10% Jimsomare and 90% Mt. Madonna vineyards, although the full “Mt. Madonna” name is a little out of frame. I was really happy with how the wines showed. The markings on the label are paint from a Wine Enthusiast rack.
The back label of the declassified '83 Monte Bello is pretty explicit about the tannic nature of the wine. One of my children was born in '83, so we bought MB futures pretty heavily. After the exchange that Sean mentioned, we ended up with a lot of the SCM-labeled wine, and I was able to talk Ridge out of a 5 liter bottle (which weren’t usually sold in those days). We opened a few bottles 3 years ago and the wine was still drinking fine. The tannins had mostly dissipated, but the fruit had faded a bit. It’s not going to get any better, but I think it’s on a long plateau, and I’m confident it will still be good at a 40th birthday party.
There are “real” '83 Monte Bellos, as well as the relabeled bottles. I kept a couple bottles labeled Monte Bello when Ridge offered the 2 for 1 swap/recall. I opened them when we did a Monte Bello vertical tasting a few years ago. I also recall seeing a few Monte Bellos on winebid earlier this year. I still have some of the relabeled bottles, and ironically, I was visiting NYC this past week. It would have been fun to include one in your tasting …
After drinking more than 20 bottles of it over the years, there was no evidence of taint or other defects, other than the dominant tannins. Here’s a shot of the back of the label …
