I’m 47 and after 12yrs of buying futures I think I’m out. You can back fill at small premium and I like these wines at 20+yrs, so the ones I own aren’t even in drinking window yet.
And I wasn’t super thrilled with '20s
Still a fan of the wines though
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I’m 55 and have 36 bottles in the cellar, cancelled last year. I figure I’d be lucky to get through that by the time I’m too old to enjoy them anyway.
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Looks like I have 61 bottles. Many are 375s; but same thought.
I can’t think of a CONSISTENTLY better california cab with age, but for me magic doesn’t happen till year 20yo or later.
I am 55 and have 31 bottles. mixed between 750s and mags. I cancelled earlier this year. The need to buy the non-MB bottles was always a pain point (I think I just missed the cut off on that), and added unnecessary costs. That, combined with age, and new difficulties shipping to my annoying state (Maine), made the decision for me.
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Did anyone else go to the first assemblage tasting for the 2025? I was pretty blown away by the components. The CS and merlot in particular were exploding with minerality/crushed rock/florals. Freshness and acidity were great too. The assemblage itself was a bit underwhelming as it was more muted and lacking complexity by comparison.
Not sure if that’s typical for the assemblage at this stage or not. But I’m very intrigued by the vintage given how good those components were.
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I was there on the Sunday. I had a different reaction to the wines. I found the Merlot and CF were a bit muddy and definitely needed time to come together. Both of those components were above 14%abv and lacking acid/freshness. The Cabernet was at 13.6% i believe, and had more of the classic Montebello profile and acidity. I enjoyed the Assemblage the most of all and had a nice chat with John Olney about how the colder vintages always end up becoming the favorites after 20ish years of age.
Side note the 2023 Jimsomare Zin (poured outside at the knoll deck) was outstanding. Way more approachable in its youth than previous bottlings. The longer hang time of the 23 vintage really showed. The wine developed really deep dark black/purple fruit when other vintages I had were all strawberry red fruited.
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Also there Sunday. My take on the Merlot was that it was quite austere, not showing much. The Cab Franc was fabulous, and it sounded like there might be enough for a special separate bottling, which I would definitely buy. The complete assemblage was excellent overall, and still missing (hopefully) at least a touch of Petit Verdot.
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Interesting, I was there Saturday morning so maybe there was some variation in how long the assemblage bottle was open.
Agreed on the 23 Jimsomare zin, it was really great.
@Alan_Rath I think Ridge reported no PV in the final assemblage. Assemblage Update on the 2025 Monte Bello - Ridge Vineyards
Im excited they are brenging back the CF now that the new plantings have matured. We had the 2017 Rousten CF on valentines day with some herb crusted lamb. Even young it was one of the best bottles of ridge i have ever had. Pretty sure they confirmed no PV in the 25 vintage.
I went on Saturday. I talked with Lauren and the plan is to do a separate Cab Franc bottling. I thought this was easily the best of the three components.
Last vintage of MB in my cellar is 2019. Even then, it’ll never be ready in my lifetime. I returned my 2020. From 2021 forward, my small allocation of four 375s has gone to Sean Smith.
I didn’t care for the Jimsomare Zin at all. Too jammy and sweet for my taste. As it is, I’m not buying young Ridge Zins/PSs that are meant to age anymore. I have more than enough older ones in my cellar.
I did buy a bottle of the new Gamay Noir as I love Beaujolais. My favorite recent Ridge? Falanghina. I think Shauna is doing a great job with that variety.
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Ah, had not seen that update, thanks.
I am not a buyer, any more then I will be buying Bordeaux 2025, as I doubt I will be around for the twenty years plus for them to be close to ready. So call me a disinterested party.
Ridge Monte Bello is one of the greatest terroirs not just of California, but of the entire world. I am fortunate enough to have tasted many older vintages going back to the sixties, and they are consistently great, and sometimes extraordinary.
$195 may seem a lot, but quite honestly, I can think of only one great Cabernet based wine that comes close to it in quality at the price, Montrose. Otherwise, nothing, and that includes Napa and Sonoma.
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I love what Shauna is doing with the wines recently. Less oak and more freshness. That gamay noir and the recent frediani valdigues that are stemmy/semi carbonic are just lovely. Had a chat with her last December and she talked about how those wines are kind of a balance between the natural wine profile that has been trendy and the more traditional ridge style.
agree to disagree on the jimsomare!
I love MB but had to quit buying futures a number of years ago because they take so long to mature - I doubt a new vintage will mature in my lifetime. I will very much enjoy the wines I own.
Are the futures still a good deal. Other than the 2013, can’t one buy a 10+ year old version of this for around the same price?
Except for 2017, yes.
Same. I’ve tasted quite a few vintages. (If you count the Picchetti and the “Monte Bello”, which was years they blended the two, back to '64.) Easily the worst vintage. Jammy and hot. Not abdolutely terrible, but easy pass.
Not to be gloomy, but these are the decisions I am making these days and when you get to your 50s, you can’t be sure that any long aging wine is for you or your progeny. I just hope that where I missed the mark, one of my children will be posting Tales from My Crypt in @David_Bu3ker still running post.
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I know that this will always be an issue and I have been on the same side – having to buy other wines to get the one you want. However, I’d like to speak for the other side of the equation and say 1) if they let me buy Monte Bello from the start without having to buy the other wines I would have and 2) I would have missed out on some pretty damn good wines that are better priced by the day relative to the other markups seen. I just had a 2022 Ridge Cab which is outstanding and punches far above it’s price point.
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I completely agree on that. You can’t say $195 is a steal for this wine when in fact you also had to purchase other wines in order for the privilege to MAYBE buy the Monte Bello. The winery may also decide in any given year that they didn’t make enough MB to sell you any on futures, but will then offer it to you on release for a higher price. Plus the whole 2020 debacle.
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When I bought MB futures, I had a good solution to this problem. I have a friend who wanted the other wines. He bought the other wines and the MB and let me buy some MB from him. I would buy the wines I wanted other than MB at retail because I would rather have Geyserville and Lytton Springs than the other Zins they sell as part of the ATP program.
I would participate in the Chateau Montelena futures program and split the amount of Montelena I bought with him. We also split many other wines to make cases from 1982 Bordeauxs to many Burgundy. I have actually known this friend since I was 9.