Ominous Note From Galloni - 2020 Ridge Monte Bello "Approach With Caution""

I didn’t mean it as an accusation. Just a general comment that we are talking about an area that definitely was affected by smoke during the 2020 growing season.

I’ve got a bottle of 2020 Estate Cab in decanter right now that I’m tasting tomorrow.

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What I find interesting is that there’s a 3 bottle purchase limit for ‘20 Estate Cab for members. Can’t recall ever seeing a quantity restriction.

here’s a thought that’s been nagging at me after tasting the utterly fantastic MB: what if 2020 is actually more of a benchmark vintage than anyone thought? What if the smoke just served to limit the supply of wines that everyone is going to wish they had in the years to come?I know that Harlan/Promontory both released 2020’s also, and while I have not popped either of them, I’m wondering if the (rather absurdly grandiose) vintage notes from the wineries are closer to the mark than they seemed at first glance. Anyone else popped a great NorCal bottle from 2020 and had a similar idea?

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Cool. Please let us know what you think.

Am I the only one who thinks sometimes the Estate cab is often less giving than the Montebello young?

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I’ve only been collecting for the short term(since 15?) and haven’t had the stones to open many mb. The estate cab has been tight at times and I don’t have a firm grasp on how long to wait on those. This is why I love this forum in that the information sharing helps greatly in my experience

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My general impression is that the producers who pick on the early side, saw a pretty spectacular growing season in 2020. In other words, the folks producing a more restrained, older world style that dodged the bullet here, so folks like Ridge, Corison, and Spottswoode were just fine (among plenty of others like DiCo) with pick dates in early to mid September before the Glass fire reached Napa on the 27th. It’s the long hangtime, high brix folks who tended to get caught in the fires.

2020 also had one of the most undisturbed, lowest pollution growing seasons in decades with Covid shutting nearly everything down!

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I don’t think you can equate what occurred in Napa with what occurred in the Santa Cruz mountains. IIRC, the CZU complex fires were in mid-August. Cabernet at Ridge was definitely not picked before then.

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Thunderstorms during the night/early morning of August 16. We had a reservation at Monte Bello that day. The host called at 10:00am to cancel, telling us that they had no power and the tasting patio was trashed. Little did we know that more than a thousand homes in the Santa Cruz Mountains would be lost soon.

I forgot about that fire in August… Point taken

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Well not in this case. 2019 was indeed shut down, but 2020 is plummy, somewhat jammy and reminds slightly of a Syrah than a “hold to maturity” Cab.
I haven’t done any real notes yet, I don’t sense any real taint (I’ve had a few 2020’s that were obvious), but it’s not up to their usual quality in my opinion.
Personal opinion: They likely did not pick any obviously tainted fruit, but had much less fruit to choose from, so the overall quality might have been down a little.

Not bad, just not up to the expectation. I might change my mind still after a few more glasses.

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I didn’t much care for the 2019 Estate, but it’s been several months since I tried it. I felt it had way too much new oak. The 2018 had the same percentage, but I thought the wine handled it better. I didn’t purchase any 2019.

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Here is my CT on the Estate. I don’t sense any taint but it’s not that great to me.

2020 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Estate

Very young and opaque ruby/purple. Very viscous in the glass. Nose is ripe with lots of plum, cassis, somewhat jammy blackcurrant and oak. Palate is medium+ bodied, medium- acidity and medium alcohol. Somewhat astringent with ripe but tart dark fruit and some dark chocolate and minty undernotes. Finishes medium, not very complex with very young tannins. This obviously is painfully young and needs more time, but I feel it lacks some structure of previous vintages. Time will tell.

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Definitely underwhelmed with the 2020 Cab, the Chard definitely had smoke taint.

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Not a waste when you have now moved up the ranks to a High Quality Member.
Congratulations.

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Still waiting for someone to teach me the handshake, but thank you.

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Now that you’re saying “High Quality Member”, my membership being listed as MB Optional makes a lot of since given I just joined this year. Sounds like I won’t see MB futures for a long time!

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Trey, it’s a reference to “status” of sorts here at Wineberserkers, not anything to do with Ridge or Monte Bello.

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I think the 2011 Monte Bello may drink well young - which I agree is a rarity for MB

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It does, with a significant decant - so well that when offered the opportunity to snag a magnum of the 2011 I immediately jumped on it.

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