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Wine Description
The Story
In 1886, high in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the first Monte Bello vineyards were planted, and winery construction begun. A first vintage from the young vines followed in 1892. During Prohibition (1920-1933), the vineyard was not fully maintained; some vines survived into the late 30s, but by the 1940s they were effectively abandoned. Eight acres of cabernet sauvignon were replanted in 1949. These were the source of the first Ridge Monte Bello (1962) and subsequent vintages until 1974 when younger blocks replanted in the 1960s were considered for inclusion. Since then, the historic vineyards on the ridge have gradually been replanted.
The Monte Bello (originally Monte Bello Cabernet; until 1975, 100% cabernet) is the wine that introduced Ridge to the world, and the world to Ridge. Today it is a blend of bordeaux varietals in which cabernet sauvignon still predominates. Exhaustive tasting of test blends during assemblage determines how much — if any — merlot, petit verdot, or cabernet franc will be included in the finished wine. Almost every vintage (an unbroken chain from '62 on) has something substantive to recommend it. Each decade has its high points, but year after year Monte Bello proves to be a consistently outstanding wine. There's structure, there's complexity, there's balance. And it develops for a long, long time.
The vineyards are grown organically.
Wine Information
BLEND: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot
ALC: 12.9%
VINTAGE 1993 REPORT: 103 tons from 50 acres. The late start gave us no “hang time” in which to lose acid, which was the highest to date of our thirty-two-year history. A full malolactic fermentation brought these acidic wines into balance. In mid-December, as we began assemblage tastings, we found that, for the first time in years, we were holding some wines out because they seemed too tannic. To ensure balanced structure, we did the most rigorous selection of our history, keeping sixty percent of the Monte Bello wines out of the final assemblage. This will benefit the ’93 Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet, however, as more of the estate wine than usual will be available for inclusion. The Monte Bello was aged for sixteen months in new oak cooperage. Approximately three quarters was in air-dried american oak—from four american and two french coopers. The remainder was done experimentally—a yearly exercise—in french-crafted european oak from two different regions—the Vosges, and the Center of France. In June of the first year, we fined with fresh egg whites. Because the merlot was so tannic, less was included than in most recent vintages. The petit verdot was well balanced, and added richness and depth. This beautifully-structured wine is among the finest of the last ten years. Quantities are limited, but quality is superb.
Late—but benign—spring rains delayed the start of the growing season at Monte Bello. In anticipation of a equally delayed harvest date, we thinned the crop heavily. Nights were cool throughout the summer, but late October’s warm weather pushed the fruit to full maturity. The merlot on South Slope was picked October 1st, but the cabernet did not ripen fully until the 18th. The twenty different vineyard sections are picked more by taste than by sugar and acid readings
