Wine Advisor
Ridge, Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon 2012
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2012 Monte Bello is a beauty, wafting from the glass with complex aromas of plums, blackberries, bitter chocolate, black truffles, cigar tobacco and hints of crème de cassis. Its new oak is already well integrated. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, richly tannic and very deep, with a layered, concentrated core of fruit framed by chalky, fine-grained tannins. The 2012 is still quite youthfully chewy at this early stage, but there's a certain lavishness to its ripe blackberry fruit that suggests this will be a dramatic, even decadent Monte Bello in the style of the 2002 when it reaches maturity. Late September heat made for a record-setting harvest in only 16 days. The 2012 is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, and it saw a small water addition to finish at 13.8% alcohol.
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
Inky colored, the sensational 2012 Monte Bello comes all from the Santa Cruz Mountains and is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot. It's backwards and tight, with classic black cherry, crushed violets, cassis, espresso roast and crème brulee notes all flowing seamlessly to a full-bodied, concentrated, structured and layered Bordeaux blend that has bright acidity, a stacked mid-palate and firm tannin. It needs 5-6 years of cellaring and will hold for two decades beyond that.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2012 is a racy, voluptuous Monte Bello built on a core of sweet red fruit, with striking perfume, silky tannins and fabulous overall balance. The 2012 is of course an infant, and the new oak is still evident. As Vinous readers know, Monte Bello is a wine that really should not be touched until its tenth birthday, and even that requires an optimistic view. The 2012 has been a consistently brilliant wine. Today, it is once again stellar.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2012 Monte Bello is one of the most harmonious young Monte Bellos I can remember tasting. Seamless and voluptuous through to the finish, the 2012 is showing beautifully today. Raspberry jam, pomegranate, white flowers, mint and spices are some of the many notes that flesh out in the glass. A wine with a distinctly red-hued profile, silky tannins, no hard edges and exceptional overall balance, the 2012 Monte Bello is simply magnificent. The 2012 is racy but also impeccably balanced throughout, with shades of the 2001 that come through from time to time. I won't be surprised if the 2013 and 2014 both eventually surpass it, but there is no denying that the 2012 is simply stunning today. This is one of the best showings yet for the 2012.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Super-ripe red plums, pomegranate, rose petals and cinnamon race out of the glass in the 2012 Monte Bello. Structured, layered and absolutely impeccable, the 2012 appears to have a very bright future. The 2012 is an especially concentrated Monte Bello with so much fruit the tannins - the highest since 1992 - are nearly buried. I expect the 2012 will offer a fairly broad and long drinking window of pure pleasure.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Today, the 2012 Monte Bello comes across as a firmer, more structured version of the 2009. The purity of the fruit is striking. Pomegranate, dark raspberries, cloves, menthol and licorice all wrap around the palate in a Montebello that appears to be built for the long haul. The balance of fruit, acidity and structure is stunning. As appealing as the 2012 is today, readers will have to be patient here. In 2012, the Monte Bello Cabernets were harvested ahead of Zinfandel for the first time ever, as sugars started to race up toward the end of the season. Nineteen out of a possible twenty-four parcels were used in the final blend. The blend is 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot.
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
The 2012 Monte Bello is a beauty, wafting from the glass with complex aromas of plums, blackberries, bitter chocolate, black truffles, cigar tobacco and hints of crème de cassis. Its new oak is already well integrated. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, richly tannic and very deep, with a layered, concentrated core of fruit framed by chalky, fine-grained tannins. The 2012 is still quite youthfully chewy at this early stage, but there's a certain lavishness to its ripe blackberry fruit that suggests this will be a dramatic, even decadent Monte Bello in the style of the 2002 when it reaches maturity. Late September heat made for a record-setting harvest in only 16 days. The 2012 is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, and it saw a small water addition to finish at 13.8% 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.