2008 Monte Bello Futures Tasting

After a 72-hour whirlwind weekend trip through San Francisco, north to Knights Valley, south through Napa, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, and Monte Bello, I feel a little like splattered road meat sitting at my desk in Manhattan, a little like Dante, who, upon sitting down to translate his journey through Heaven, Hell, and everything in between, realized just how ill-prepared he was for the task. Upon reaching Paradise, after his tortuous journey upon Mount Purgatory, Dante wrote:

His glory, by whose might all things are mov'd,

Pierces the universe, and in one part

Sheds more resplendence, elsewhere less. In heav'n,

That largeliest of his light partakes, was I,

Witness of things, which to relate again

Surpasseth power of him who comes from thence;

For that, so near approaching its desire
Our intellect is to such depth absorb'd,

That memory cannot follow. Nathless all,

That in my thoughts I of that sacred realm

Could store, shall now be matter of my song.

Similarly, the trip up Monte Bello Road is a wine lover's purgatory: The road is much too narrow, the mountain is much too high, and it is impossible to travel faster than a snail. Wooden crosses line the road, where, I presume, luckless travelers have fallen. This is a white knuckled trip, but I can never wait to just get there.

As is obvious, I have a certain fondness for Ridge Vineyards. Why? There is no short answer. I grew up drinking Kendall Jackson cabernet sauvignon at home and Montepulciano d'Abruzzo out. I always appreciated wine, but it was a 1995 Pagani Ranch Zinfandel that hooked me when I was working as a stock boy in a fancy wine and cheese shop during college. Ridge wines have been a part of my life ever since. Thus, every trip up Monte Bello Road is a lesson and an adventure.

The 2008 Monte Bello *** will (probably) be made from just cabernet sauvignon and merlot for the first time in twenty-five years. The wine is an iridescent purple color with woodsy notes emanating from the glass and mild ripe raspberry, loam and ground dark cocoa in a very elegant package. Difficult to compare to recent vintages (which have all included at least some cabernet franc or petit verdot) this is less flamboyant than the 2006 and 2007, and will benefit from extended cellaring.

We also barrel tasted a 2008 Monte Bello from a Taransaud barrel (there are only three in the chai, purchased each year as an experiment with French oak) which was slightly more muted, as opposed to the Canton (Kentucky) barrels, which were all vanilla and spice.

By contrast the 2005 Monte Bello *** which we tasted from bottle is darker, more profound; a surprisingly succulent wine at this stage, with good viscosity in the mouth and old school verve.

The Monte Bello team was also pouring the 1999, 1997, and 1995 Monte Bellos. All are superb. The 1999 is still edgy with more woodsy notes and succulent strawberry and cream. The bottle of 1997 I tasted was the best I have ever tried. Previously linear, yet elegant, on Saturday, it was perfect. The 1995 still has a long way to go, with mellow dried herb and vegetal notes remaining and tannin to shed for another decade. The 2007 Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay *** (which recently received 93 points from Wine Spectator) is lightly steely with minor tropical fruit and strawberry-bubblegum notes. This chardonnay, like Eric's previous two vintages, is impossible to resist.

From barrel, we also tasted the 2008 Geyserville *** Tightly wound, young, but still elegant, with spice and cedar and tight red fruits. This is a teenage River Phoenix in a bottle. The 2007 Lytton Estate Syrah/Grenache ** is also tight, almost light, almost too searing, with blue fruits and tons of tannin. It needs air and space to let loose and will improve significantly in bottle. This wine is Kevin Bacon in Footloose.

Eric Baugher said Ridge may be phasing out its syrah and grenache programs from the Lytton Estate. The rationale is that Ridge wants to focus exclusively on cabernet, chardonnay, and zinfandel. This is terribly disappointing news. These Rhone wines need time to evolve. True: they may never develop the sweet, blueberry and vanilla notes which trade critics laud. But these are distinctive, mineral driven wines which, in the best years, have fully integrated, svelte tannins and polished floral notes, and even in poor years, produce nicely quaffable wines. I would hate to see the end of Ridge's syrah and grenache program.

At the end of a long day, Eric Baugher opened a bottle from a barrel experiment of the 1991 Monte Bello ***** vintage, aged exclusively in new (mixed) French cooperage. An opaque purple color, with violets on the nose gave rise to a concentrated, broad wine, with succulent blueberry and fully integrated oak notes. Without question, this was a once in a lifetime event, and a once in a lifetime wine.