Wine Advisor
Ridge, Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon 1997
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at the Fine Wine Experience vertical. The ’97 is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. This has a strikingly deep black/purple colour. The nose is very fine, very well defined with blackberry, bergamot, briary and a touch of dried leaves. Cohesive and gaining intensity with aeration. Although I like the nose, the palate is just a little too sweet on the entry but it does have a redeeming citrus acidity. Quite sharp, lots of black cherries with blueberry and dried orange peel towards the herbaceous finish. I appreciate the style, but I prefer other vintages. There is just a touch of excessive alcohol on the finish. Drink now-2015. Tasted June 2009.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
The 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello exhibits an opaque purple color, as well as an elegant, black currant, mineral, and smoky oak-scented nose. The wine is medium to full-bodied, tannic, and in need of 10 years of cellaring. Not a blockbuster, this offering is more elegant and finesse-styled than usual. However, as with previous Monte Bellos, it will take a long time to come around, yet it will keep for 2-3 decades. Tel. (408) 867-3233; Fax (408) 867-2986
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The product of a generous crop and a balmy vintage, the 1997 Monte Bello continues to show beautifully, wafting from the glass with an expressive bouquet of cassis, dried cherries, menthol and loamy soil, lavishly framed by new American oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, supple and open-knit, with largely melted tannins and a generous personality, which is all tied together by the bright thread of acidity that's such a signature of this site. Despite being seemingly fully mature, an open bottle held up beautifully over three days. Even after extensive crop thinning, yields in 1997 were around two tons per acre—high by this bottling's modest standards—and the blend was 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc, attaining 12.9% natural alcohol.
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
A vintage that had big yields and a hectic harvest, the 1997 Monte Bello is a sexy, supple and layered beauty that's drinking beautifully today. Cassis, toasted spice, cigar and dried herbs all flow nicely to a full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon that has solid textured, good mid-palate depth and still present tannin. I thought the tannin could be cause for concern at first, but they sweetened up with time in the glass; nevertheless, I see no need to delay gratification and would drink while the getting is good.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted at David Pope’s Monte Bello dinner in London. Under-whelming when first encountered in Feb-04, a second bottle at the vertical did nothing to change my mind where it was embarrassed by the 2000. It has a leafy, dried herb, blackberry nose with a touch of black tea. Much more Bordeaux in style (but under-ripe Bordeaux.) The palate is less concentrated, cool, refined but lacking grip and persistency with a touch of black olive on the aftertaste. I expected more to be honest. Drink over the next 4-5 years. Tasted January 2006.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(12.9% alcohol; aged for 18 months in new American oak; a 45% selection for the estate's grand vin): Bright, dark red-ruby. Sexy, lifted aromas of cassis, redcurrant, licorice, tree bark, mint and roasted herbs. Intensely flavored and surprisingly firm and energetic, with sweet plum, currant, tobacco and earth flavors lingering through a persistent finish. Tannins are firm and dusty but fine-grained. There's nothing at all over the top about this midweight, focused, juicy wine. Was it fleshier five years ago? In any event, it's still juicy and lively today.
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
The product of a generous crop and a balmy vintage, the 1997 Monte Bello continues to show beautifully, wafting from the glass with an expressive bouquet of cassis, dried cherries, menthol and loamy soil, lavishly framed by new American oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, supple and open-knit, with largely melted tannins and a generous personality, which is all tied together by the bright thread of acidity that's such a signature of this site. Despite being seemingly fully mature, an open bottle held up beautifully over three days. Even after extensive crop thinning, yields in 1997 were around two tons per acre—high by this bottling's modest standards—and the blend was 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc, attaining 12.9% natural alcohol.
About the Producer
Ridge Vineyards is a California winery specializing in Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay wines. Ridge produces wine at two winery locations in northern California. The original winery facilities are located at an elevation of 2,300 feet (700 metres) on Monte Bello Ridge in unincorporated Santa Clara County in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA, south of Los Altos, California and west of Cupertino, California. The other Ridge winery facilities are at Lytton Springs in the Dry Creek Valley AVA of Sonoma County. Ridge Vineyard's 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon gained prominence for its fifth-place finish in the 1976 "Judgment of Paris" wine tasting. History Although Ridge Vineyards was founded in the early 1960s, wine production at the winery's Monte Bello location has a much longer history. Grapevines were first planted on Monte Bello Ridge by Osea Perrone, a doctor and prominent member of the northern California Italian immigrant community, in 1885. The first Monte Bello wine was produced in 1892. Following Prohibition, the vineyard at Monte Bello passed through the hands of several amateur winemakers until it was purchased in 1959 by David Bennion, Charles Rosen, Hewitt Crane, and Howard Zeidler, all engineers at nearby Stanford Research Institute. Ridge Vineyards was bonded and produced its first commercial wine, a Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon, in 1962. According to a 1987 New York Times article, Ridge Vineyards was acquired by a Japanese company. "The new owner is Otsuka U.S., a subsidiary of the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, a producer of nutritional drinks and other pharmaceutical products. Otsuka operates an experimental wine-making center near Fuji, in Japan." The international reputation of the Monte Bello wine produced by Ridge Vineyards was established when it achieved fifth place in the "Judgment of Paris", against nine other French and California wines. Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon was acclaimed in subsequent competitions, including The Judgment of Paris 30th Anniversary, the 30th anniversary retesting of the same red wines evaluated in the 1976 Paris wine competition. In this blind tasting, held both in the United States and in the United Kingdom, judges in both countries ranked Ridge Monte Bello number one among all the wines judged. Ridge Vineyards produced its first Zinfandel in 1964. Beginning in 1966, the winery began sourcing some grapes for its Geyserville Zinfandel and other wines from vineyards in Sonoma County. In 1991, Ridge Vineyards purchased the Lytton Springs vineyard in the Dry Creek Valley AVA. The winery produces wine at both the Monte Bello and Lytton Springs locations, and operates tasting rooms open to the public at both. Wines Ridge also focuses on single-estate wines where the grapes for a particular label are all grown at the same vineyard. The signature wine of Ridge is its Monte Bello, a field blend of Cabernet Sauvignon mixed with varying percentages of other grapes grown in the same location, usually including Merlot, Petit Verdot, and occasionally Cabernet Franc. Ridge's Zinfandels (or mostly-Zinfandel field blends) constitute the bulk of the winery's production. Using grapes from selected sites from all over the state and bottling them each under their own label, Ridge Zinfandels emphasize the particular characteristics of each growing site and may show different aging characteristics than do other Zinfandels. Among the best known of the Ridge Zinfandels or Zinfandel-blends are those from Geyserville, York Creek, and Lytton Springs.
1985(1)1996(1)
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