2011 Ridge Monte Bello- USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains (7/4/2019)
I am in love with this wine and absolutely stunned at its near perfection! The wine is fairly dark in color, say black/purple, like the old producto fishing worms. As I tasted, the wine was closer to deep, dark red/black in fruit perception. OK, I drank this over a six hour period, all by myself. At first the wine was yummy, but young, and a little firm. I’ll skip through all of the linear changes the wine went through, saying only that it grew, and became nuanced, and became something that the glass could barely contain. Toward the end, the black fruit was light, nimble, floating… it was textured, but fluid. There were myriad nuanced spices, like Christmas, and baking spices. Beautiful earth and soil perceptions. These all combined into a perfect swallow and followthrough. I just couldn’t get enough of this mesmerizing 2011! (98 pts.)
Yup, Charlie… one of my very favorite MB’s as well. This was the on I recall that had a particularly high % of CS. Reminded of the old rustic MB’s of DaveBennion.
Thanks for the note.
Tom
Tasted this on release at Monte Bello and was absolutely floored with it. Definitely felt like a throwback style with secondary notes galore. My note is also in CT, giving it a conservative 95.
Nice thing is I think it was overlooked with '11 being a “weak” vintage. At least here in my market it was discounted 20% from release pricing. So happy to have 4 resting in the cellar. It’s also our wedding year so I’ll be saving them for key anniversaries.
Glad you liked it so much and that it’s holding up well.
I tasted this and the winery (well, the winery at Lytton Springs) when it was first released and really loved it. Glad to see it is doing so well. Now, the question is when to drink mine.
Bring one to our next gathering! Always wanted to try this vintage and regret not buying any. Some others whose palates I equally respect rave about it, too.
Dude. We were crunk. It was like 1 AM. Two bottles each. Fu trying to order chicken wings. Marc drooling like Patrick from SpongeBob. Ilan was a target for humiliation. And even after 2 bottles, Ilan sucked.
Thanks for the descriptive tasting note! I opened a 2011 Ridge Monte Bello and a 2013 Ridge Monte Bello (Chardonnay) for the 4th of July, and found the 2011 to be fantastic! I should have watched it evolve over 6 hours, but it was gone with and after dinner quite quickly. I think it’s drinking better than a 2006 or 2008 currently.
Close to release this was one of the best you CA wines I’ve ever had. Just astonishingly good. Sounds like it remains that way. I will try to pull one soon.
Agree on the 2011, excellent note. 91, 01 and 11 are all great vintages of Monte Bello. I’ve been working on a Monte Bello tasting that will include all 3, flight of 90s, flight of 00s and a flight of 10s.
I just opened a bottle of this after the note and it was tasty but have to admit it was a bit fruity surprisingly, although somehow felt old world somehow? I feel like this can actually go a lot of years and is drinking way better than many 2011 reds in the area…I am hoping to hold the last bottle for close to a decade to see where it develops.
Thanks for the review. I am a member of the Monte Bello futures club but didn’t receive my 1st shipment until the 2016 vintage this past fall. Over the past few years I have sought out older MBs and have built a nice vertical. However, I didn’t have the 2011 in my collection. After reading this post, i sought out the 2011 and found it on Benchmark in their bin sale for $150. Vinous lists the release price at $165 so I thought it was a decent deal and pulled the trigger to purchase. I’m not sure when the bin sale ends but if anyone is interested, there are 3-4 bottles left.
Thanks again for the review and everyone’s comments!
I have the 2011 Klein in addition to some Monte Bello. Has anyone tasted that recently. I really liked it when I tasted it at the winery - better than the Estate by a good bit at the time and only a little more expensive but not as good as the MB.
