Ridge, California Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains

12.9% Same case as the Mayacamas 1984, still super youthful but this bring the level of complexity another notch up. Still has a touch of new oak bringing vanilla profile, but very light and just a hint added to the complexity. Better acidity ans highee lifted, fresh and linear, more about elegance than power. Dark chocolate at the back, with cigar and mint. Love this 👌👌

1984 vintage

Classic Ridge. Fine and fully resolved. Very good for the vintage.

1984 vintage

Thanksgiving Wimps 2025 - Russian Table : Funky old wine smell to this that didn't clear. Coming back to it a while later - i think there was a bit of TCA there. Shame as I think another bottle could have been magic - you could taste the intensity and concentration beneath it all.

1984 vintage

Steak and fries (Chicago, IL) : I very much loved this wine -- it's precisely this kind of style that makes this wine as compelling as it is. Despite the 11.8% alcohol, this wine packs the same amount of punch as many of the younger wines on the table, but in a different way. I love the herbal aromaticity here, with some tart red fruit veering almost towards pomegranate. The palate is light and elegant, with fully resolved tannins. My …

1986 vintage

An outstanding bottle in peak form. So much going on aromatically and on the palate -- mature, cedar-filled fruit, just a hint of American Oak, bell pepper, mint and wet tobacco. Palate is still rich, sweet and bright with resolved tannin that is now melded to the fruit. Delicious.

1986 vintage

Quercus alba (Chicago, IL) : For drinking now, I found this wine very much to my taste. It's a bit of a lighter structure versus what you would expect in Monte Bello, but that's not to say that this is lacking in complexity. The fruit is relatively cool, showing on the tart red side of the spectrum. Fully resolved at this point, with silky tannins that provide a very pleasant texture. 86 Cabernet, Monte Bello Vineyard, bottled June 88. The …

1986 vintage

Trip down memory lane on this one. Original price tag of $26.95 from my big sis who went to UCSC and graduated in 1984. Opened for 2 hours. Color is ruby/brick red with orange/brown rim. On the nose: Cassis, plum, cinnamon and leather. Like an old Bordeaux. On the palate: Plum, cassis, pomegranate and dark chocolate with dusty tannins. This is showing brilliantly. While old there is still plenty of fruit and all that lovely complexity that comes with age.

1984 vintage

So fresh! Concentrated and silky, with bright, vibrant fruit. Really tasty and in a great spot right now.

1984 vintage

Would have blinded as BDX. Beautiful Graves nose. Fruit still there. Great complexity. Lightened by age, but not to cheapness. Cigar box, cassis and leather.

1986 vintage

On the downhill side, but still enjoyable, fill slightly in the shoulder, still a core of blackberry with forward cedar and pencil lead, wish I had consumed this 5 years ago (bought on release, $23.99 price tag)

1981 vintage

One of the best American Cabs I have drunk. Surprising dark color. Floral aroma with cedar and fruit overtones. Cedar, leather and floral on the palate. Only disappointment it faded somewhat toward the end of the evening.

1986 vintage

Second time with this wine (and likely last). Bin stained label, but a relatively youthful cork. Decanted for sediment, with some in the last ~4oz. So fragrant and beautiful off the bat. Fully mature, nothing to wait for here.

1981 vintage

So good. This is the third bottle I've had, the other two were in short succession about 8 years ago, and they were great but rather tight and tense. This one is still showing a lot of potential to improve, but it is also open and gorgeous today: cigar, cassis, black cherry, bay leaf, mint, so many delicate spices... resolved tannins, buried acid line, fresh and still showing a lot of beautiful fresh black fruit. A privilege, this is absolutely …

1984 vintage

Tired bottle. At its peak. Drink up

1984 vintage

The cork on this wine was in pristine condition. I used a Durand to avoid any risks but it probably would have been fine with a regular wine key. While there was some bricking at the edges, it still retained a youthful deep ruby core. The nose offered a beautiful and complex blend of aromatics, balancing between the rich oaky notes typical of California Cabernet such as raspberry, vanilla, baking spices, most notably nutmeg and cloves, as well as telltale …

1984 vintage

good but not as spectacular as the last bottle several years ago

1984 vintage

This was excellent and better than the 1989 Pichon-Longueville Baron the previous night. Highly underrated (self) and impressed it has lasted so long so well. Can’t imagine improving so suggest drinking if you have. But really impressed. Know Napa has it in it to last this long but still. And has to be very, very few and far between that can. Almost 40 years….. wow. No formal notes. Too busy celebrating with family.

1976 vintage

At its debut, this is appealing - the raspberry and black cherry fruit is more serious than winsome, reinforced by ink and loam. What starts off as a little bit of almost-welcome VA at the outset quickly overtakes the other elements. At the outset, about 93 points.

1967 vintage

Piemonte: Truffles instead of Turkey; 11/23/2023-12/2/2023 (Barolo, Barbaresco, Alto Piemonte and of course Alba) : From our collection at home. One of my favorite producers in California and I had a memory that at some point the friends we were dining with had mentioned liking these wines and the difficulty of finding them in Italy. So over the bottle went and I thought it was very good although I did sense just a slight undercurrent of brett (which I got …

1986 vintage

Nose is very good, dimensional, dark fruit, super fresh. Palate is slightly weaker showing thin structure. 92-93

1976 vintage

Unexpected win at fundraiser auction. Decanted 90 mins. March 21, 2021 & paired with lamb shanks: deep complexity & nose, extraordinary balance; drunk after more tannic 1990 Von Strasser Diamond Mountain Cab. Sauvignon; very little sediment; still good one day later.

1984 vintage

This bottle was purchased from a private cellar sale. It had some bin staining, and a slightly elevated cork, which was cause for some doubt as to if the wine itself would be in good shape. The fill was into the neck, though. The cork was only saturated a half inch or so, which was encouraging. Decanted for sediment (not much for a 40+ year old wine), then tasted. The wine had a little bit of bottle funk, which blew …

1981 vintage

This bottle was in great shape, with the fill level well into the neck. The cork was pristine and looked about twenty years old. I wonder if this was a re-conditioned bottle? The color was still a deep red, with minimal bricking. The aromas jumped out and screamed "Bordeaux", with loam, tobacco, leather, herbs and celery seed. Perfectly resolved, melt-in-your-mouth tannins. Spectacular showing.

1981 vintage

Heater week; 3/26/2023-4/3/2023 (Chicago, IL) : Without a doubt modern cabernet drinkers would hate this. So light and ethereal, this dances on the tongue with tart, red berries rather than the traditional cabernet fruit. Fully resolved with lots of leather and graphite notes, resolved tannins, and an acid-driven profile. No clearly discernible notes of American oak. A real treat to try a Monte Bello this old.

1973 vintage

Cork was depressed a bit but otherwise it held in great shape with seepage only about 2/5 of the way up. Bit of funk at the start but after some breath it came to life, well as much life as it had left in it. It was complex with a long finish, nice fruit but lacked the liveliness I was hoping for. I could tell this wine was once great but had seen better days. At any rate, always special …

1984 vintage

An incredible bottle from WT. Not decanted/just Andouzed 8 hours prior, and it even improved for hours after serving. As close as it gets to immortal. A privilege.

1976 vintage

My bottle. Served blind to the rest of the tasting group. Andouzed for 8 hours, no decant. Gorgeous on the nose and on the palate. Black cherries, cassis, cinnamon, truffles and more. Eternal finish. A few sips left in the glass for four hours were even better. It developed a beautiful minty note with air. No only didn't it decline, it improved. It could have used a decant, but was outstanding without it. Ready the other notes on CT illustrated …

1976 vintage

From a nice looking bottle with a high shoulder fill, this wine had a medium red center with puce rims. The medium intensity nose showed cherries, soil, plums and a bit of brett. In the mouth, this wine was medium bodied with substantial rounded tannin and good length. This developed well in the glass but I found the tannin to be a bit dry relative to an ideally balanced wine. Drink up

1973 vintage

Flickinger dinner (Chicago, IL) : Been a while since I opened a bottle of old Monte Bello. The nose was almost slightly Rioja-like (thanks, American oak!) but otherwise there were classic notes of pyrazine and black fruit here. The palate is concentrated, but light (in fact, the wine only has 11.8% abv). There's an elegance from the acidity that I think is absolutely fantastic, and with air, this grew to be a little more herbaceous. Cabernet from a time that …

1986 vintage

Medium reddish garnet in color with slight clearing at the edges. Full, forward & fragrant nose of well developed & mature ripe fruit aromas of cherries, blueberries & cassis with overtones of cedar & floral notes, earthy/dusty, spices, dark cocoa, mint, herbs, bell pepper, tobacco, minerals, smoky with a slight hint of oak/vanilla. Medium-full bodied with a very good concentration of well balanced & smooth textured, well-integrated & mature, ripe fruit flavors of dark cherries, blueberries & plums, dark cocoa, …

1984 vintage

wine is in a great spot - everything you want from a well put together Montebello - fresh lively fruit intermingling with complex earth tones and pepper wrapped together in a velvet texture.

1984 vintage

Alive and delicious - the best Cali cab I've ever had and one of the best wines period. Truly a great bottle! (This was our backup when we discovered that our 1979 Hermitage la Chappelle was DOA.)

1981 vintage

Beautiful wine with years of life ahead. Excellent color, fruit and finish.

1984 vintage

An amazing wine! Notes of bay leaves, peppercorns and blackberry! It has aged wonderfully and paired nicely with a slow cooked beef. A lingering finish that fades into a wonderful memory! 5.0 Stars!

1984 vintage

Ridge Monte Bello Retrospective (Porter House) : One of the best birth year wines I've ever had. This is definitely more in the vegetal/briar patch/spicy style. Lower on fruit, but drinking really well and very bright in style. Surprised me and for many was the favorite of the flight which is really saying something.

1981 vintage

Ridge Monte Bello Retrospective (Porter House) : My favorite of this flight in what was a pretty tough run competition because the 80's of these are just spectacular. Really vibrant. I get rosemary early on. Black fruits. There's a loveliness and a power to this wine that makes it clear it's nowhere near it's 'real' drinking window.

1986 vintage

Opening night at Ridge weekend! Super good wine. Very smokey but great fresh fruit flavors and great balanced length!

1984 vintage

Amazing nose. Solid fruit. Shocking how lively and fresh this was. Wish I had morw

1984 vintage

cedar, cassis, tobacco, savory herbs, mint, tart blackberry, mushrooms, loam, leather, red berries, red plum secondary notes slowly becoming more dominant. Still delightful though

1981 vintage

This was incredible. Opened for New Years 2021 after a long year. Dark ruby core with medium bricking at the edges. Color was much darker than expected. Decanted and had strong earthy notes. After an hour it really opened up and evolved over the course of three hours. Tannins fully resolved but still had fruit left. Earthy notes with red fruit on the palate. Stunning and could go another few years.

1973 vintage

So so good. Rich, smooth, lost some of its complexity but still super enjoyable. Plenty of depth and finish.

1984 vintage

Easily the best California Cab I’ve had with age. So lithe and elegant. Slight peppery and cedar notes along with fresh red and black fruits. Soft tannins and refreshing acid. So few signs of oxidation. Have had open for five hours and it’s only improved! Incredible wine at 34 years and 11.8% alcohol...

1986 vintage

Smooth and elegant. Some Brett on the nose which mostly dissipated with air. Berry, cherry, leather, wood, dark fruits. Fantastic with NY strip, butternut squash puree, and sautéed mushrooms.

1986 vintage

Old Napa Wines Dinner (Joseph's Place, Wong Chung Hang, Hong Kong) : Drank blind in a long line of older Napa reds. Slightly dusty but clean-jeweled transparent ruby colour. Nose is immediately "oh, this is special"...very light but ethereal, hints of smoke in a pork ribs on a barbecue kind of way. Palate is rounded, fully resolved tannins, medium weight and quite feminine. But....it came with an impressive explosion of resonant power and length on the finish. I upped it …

1976 vintage

TobI's Firework (Berens am Kai 1 star Restaurant) : blind I guessed California but has no hint to producer or vintage. I preferred it against the famous 74 in the same flight. It is fresher with more primary notes and a great balance. Doesn't reach his peak. 97

1984 vintage

Unbelievable bottle of aged californian wine, a perfect tribute to what Ridge Monte Bello can achieve in terms of quality and longevity. Ridiculously young colour, very dark, it comes across as a ten to fifteen year old wine. The first whiff after decanting, we knew we were in for a treat. Dark berry fruit, leather, cigar ash, beef stock, a touch of caramel, this was just so complex. Same on the palate with nice acidity giving the wine freshness. It …

1984 vintage

I’m just absolutely in awe of this wine. Had it twice (first time 10 years ago) and I remember how wonderful it was. Now it’s my second time and it was everything I remember plus more age. Lots of earth, pine, and dust on the nose. Some light floral hints, graphite and silk on the palette. Very long finish with that him you hope for.

1984 vintage

Tasted blind, this wine was very impressive. It has incredible balance, mineral extract, and great length. While not as classy as some bottles, this was shockingly good.

1981 vintage

tasted blind. I guessed it was a 2014 Chinon... huge green pepper upfront. Couldn't get past it

1984 vintage

My bottle was way past prime.

1984 vintage

Are you sure?

Ridge, California Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains

Vintages

No vintages

Community Reviews