RIDGE MONTE BELLO, 1980-1999 - Chicago, IL (10/14/2017)
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2013 Peter Jakob Kühn Riesling Landgeflecht - Germany, Rheingau
#06-15, 13% abv. A fairly taut and refreshing dry riesling, with a nice balance of fruit and acidity here. The fruit goes towards a bit of a yellow direction, but there is a nice roundness here that balances out the acidity. However, I did find this getting a little green and astringent on the back end. It’s not so present as to render the wine unpleasant, but it is something that stuck out to me as I tasted it. (93 pts.) -
2000 Pommery Champagne Cuvée Louise Brut Rosé - France, Champagne
I’m not sure if I had ever had a Pommery champagne before, but this was certainly an outstanding introduction to it. This, in my mind, is in the perfect place right now, where the primary and secondary characteristics are in balance. The freshness of the fruit is still there, but that’s overlaid by some yeast notes and some breadiness as well. Medium-bodied, this is certainly a wine that shows a nice richness, without any piercing acidity. (93 pts.) -
1980 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
This was one of the (if not the) most Bordelais of the Monte Bellos we opened tonight. The nose showed a touch of herbaceousness, bell pepper, and plenty of tobacco. The tobacco was fairly prominent on the palate as well. Lots of acidity here, this was definitely in full secondary mode. The fruit isn’t quite as rich and sweet as with the other MBs, which perhaps lent this wine a bit more of an old world feel. (93 pts.) -
1981 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
This was best right when I opened it, and then started to fade as time passed. At first, I thought this showed a great balance of herbal notes and ripe fruit, and that this had a bit more density and richness on the palate than the 1980. But air did not do this wine good, as it got more and more stewy as the evening went on, culminating in a bit of a pruney taste. I’m not sure if this was the victim of poor storage or not; I do note that I opened this same wine (from different provenance) a few months ago and it showed a bit of stewiness then as well. (93 pts.) -
1985 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
This was perhaps a slightly foursquare example of the MB, which means that at the very least, it was a fairly decent wine. I’m not sure that this wine had any features that particularly stood out. It had some nice secondary characteristics, with a bit of herbaceousness and menthol. Not heavy on the palate at all, with resolved tannins and a bright acidity. A textbook claret. (93 pts.) -
1988 Ridge Monte Bello - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
Corked. Sad! (93- pts.) -
1990 Ridge Monte Bello - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
A lot of ripe fruit on the nose and palate here. Mostly veering towards the darker side of the spectrum, but there was still a touch of bright red fruit here as well. The palate is silky and richly textured, but the fruit shows some overt sweetness here. Dense and powerful, but not heavy. The tannins here show a slight amount of chew; I would this this is the vintage where we started seeing wines show much more on the young side. (93 pts.) -
1994 Ridge Monte Bello - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
This and the 1997 were my favourite wines of the MB lineup tonight. Funny how I ended up loving the wines that showed the ripest fruit (as a side remark, I note how Gilman despised this wine and put it in his Road Kill article – I think he’s dead wrong). There’s a really prevalent smell of American oak here, as well as some sweet cherry and vanilla. It’s a fairly hefty wine. The palate is silky and rich, with a sappy, almost sticky quality to the fruit that is so compelling next to the earth tones and hint of green. (93 pts.) -
1995 Ridge Monte Bello - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
How nice it is to retaste this wine non-blind, after my calling this a Rioja at the Heritage Blind Tasting Challenge. Yes, there’s that much American oak. The nose also shows a bit less ripeness (compared to the 1994 and 1997), and a bit more green as well. In that sense, this is more Bordelais and restrained; it’s less obvious that this is a Californian wine. The fruit and tannins here still show fairly young. (93 pts.) -
1997 Ridge Monte Bello - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
Alongside the 1994, this was my favourite wine tonight. I’d be hard-pressed to be able to different the two blind; perhaps this one showed a little more ripe fruit than the others? In any case, this is a monster of a Monte Bello – the fruit here is so dark and dense, but it’s all tamed by a cool 12.9% abv. Can you believe that? I think that’s what makes this wine all the more brilliant – that powerful, extracted black cabernet profile, with that low-octane level. Incredible stuff that is clearly still too young. (93 pts.) -
1999 Ridge Monte Bello - USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains
In its own right, this would be an incredible bottle of wine, but it suffered a little in the context of the older and bolder wines. It’s just so stark how young and tannic this is right now. Black fruited, with a clear cabernet green note on the nose, as well as a touch of American oak. The palate is where the relative youth of this wine shows, it’s just too dense and tannic right now. Independently, this is an outstanding wine, and I wouldn’t worry about drinking it now (I have opened these on several occasions), but as the older wines indicated tonight, there’s lots of upside here. (93 pts.) -
2001 Müller-Catoir Mußbacher Eselshaut Riesling Eiswein - Germany, Pfalz
#18-02, 9% abv. From half-bottle. This is HGS working his magic touch again. At this point none of these wines come as a surprise but they’re always such a treat. The tropical kaleidoscope is out in full force here, with a mesmerizing array of peach, guava, mango, passionfruit… Clean and delineated on the palate, this is super sweet but with really crisp acidity and a clarity where all the flavours are individually discernible. (93 pts.)