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Viinin Kuvailu
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: 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot
ALC: 13.2%
VINTAGE 1996 REPORT: The harvest of 1996 supports the idea that low yields result in high-quality wines. The year began with two huge storms, one in mid-January and the other in March, each unleashing over ten inches of rain in a few short days. Rainfall for the year exceeded sixty-four inches, and storm-driven winds in excess of ninety-five miles per hour gusted across Monte Bello Ridge. Such conditions pose no problem when vines are dormant; after bud break and during bloom, they can be devastating. March and April provided warm, beautiful weather for vine development, but an unusual May thunderstorm—bringing with it high winds and cold ocean air—struck just as the vines bloomed. On Monte Bello’s upper and middle vineyards, cabernet sauvignon and merlot yields were reduced by thirty percent; the lower vineyards lost more than forty percent. The storms of winter and early spring were followed by an exceptionally warm summer. On June 3 the thermometer reached 100 ̊—rare for our cool region—and the weather remained warm through harvest, with thirty days over 90 ̊. The heat, plus the short crop, accelerated ripening, resulting in a Monte Bello harvest that began two weeks earlier than usual.
89 tons from 92 acres. An extremely short crop in 1996 was largely attributable to a disruptive storm in mid-May and the two weeks of blustery weather that followed. The Monte Bello vineyard was severely affected. At the upper (2500’-2600’) and middle (2100’-2300’) elevations, yields were down by forty percent; at the lower (1400’-2000’) by a full sixty percent. We determine when to harvest by tasting the grapes. Record-high daytime temperatures could have caused flavors to become overripe, but cool nights maintained firm acidity and well-defined fruit. The first assemblage of Monte Bello—in February following vintag—typically includes eighty-five to ninety-five percent of the parcels that will make up the final wine. This year we made two versions, keeping them separate until August to be sure each was fully stable. Once combined, the whole proved greater than its parts. Sensuous and complex, with layered fruit and beautifully integrated tannins, this is among the loveliest of the ‘90s. Accessible as a young wine, it will develop further with twelve to fifteen years of bottle age.
