Evaluating Monte Bello future offer and wondered what any insiders think of '16. Thanks
Well . . . if you’re evaluating Monte Bello futures, it might be better to ask about areas closer to there, no?!?!? 
I’ll follow to see what folks say, but 2016 in general was a pretty huge, early crop that created some of the same challenges that 2015 did - sugars oftentimes racing ahead of physiological ripeness. The big difference is that with the larger crop, things did take a bit longer, but it was generally a pretty ‘compact’ vintage.
That said, I won’t really assess most of my reds for at least another 6 months . . .
Cheers.
Larry, Monte Bello/Cupertino isn’t Northern California (I assume this is what Nor Cal means) ? What is it then ?
Guessing Larry means that the Santa Cruz mountains are technically part of the Central Coast AVA, which goes as far north as Livermore.
That said, I’m not sure whether SCM weather aligns more closely with North Coast wine regions or the true Central Coast.
Well . . . since I am tired of everyone calling Santa Barbara County ‘Central Coast’ instead of ‘Santa Barbara County’, I am just going to have to call everything that exists within the AVA - from San Pablo Bay down to Ventura - Central Coast.
Likewise, moving forward, I am going to have to call all Napa, Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino County wines ‘North Coast’ and not go into any further details. Cool? Cool.
Cheers
I don’t know how authoritative Wikipedia is when it comes to AVAs, but according to this List of American Viticultural Areas - Wikipedia, the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA is surrounded by, but not part of the Central Coast AVA
OK, any thoughts on '16 vintage in California above Paso?