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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: 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 10% Petit Verdot
ALC: 12.5%
VINTAGE 1995 REPORT: 83 tons from 62 acres. In the Santa Cruz Mountains, welcome spring rains delayed the start of our growing season. We thinned the already moderate crop, and warm October weather brought the fruit to ideal ripeness. Fifteen of the twenty five parcels were chosen in February as most intense and most typical of the vineyard’s character. They were assembled in three stages over the following months. Tannins are the biggest to date in the nineties, yet the fullness and complexity of the wine render them supple. Aged almost entirely in new, air-dried american oak, this is classic Monte Bello. Though approachable now, the great ’95 vintage will develop fully over the next fifteen to twenty years.
Winter and early spring rains totaling over fifty-six inches swept Monte Bello ridge in 1995. Combined with cold temperatures, the inclement weather delayed bud break at our upper vineyards until mid-April— dangerously late for the 2600′ elevation. The bloom of the vines, already late, was drawn out from mid-June through mid-July, setting the stage for another high-quality harvest. In early September, the grapes turned color. Beautifully warm days and moderate evenings in October steadily ripened the fruit; by harvest, intensity and balance were exceptional. We began harvesting merlot at Monte Bello in the second week of October. By October 18, the cabernet harvest was underway. The weather remained warm and dry as we picked small amounts almost every day through October—over twenty separate lots were fermented separately in small stainless steel tanks. The last of the Monte Bello grapes were picked October 31, only hours before a cloudburst brought fall’s first rains.
