2011 - Ridge California Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains

A superb example of this chronically undersung harvest, the 2011 Monte Bello strikes me as a more contemporary version of the 1985, combining a pleasantly herbal profile with a tensile, understated core and just enough streamlined polish. It opens with a distinctly herbal, open-knit bouquet energized by streaks of menthol, underbrush, dried tobacco and chalky overtones, and it concludes with a succulent, gentle and fine-grained finish. While I don't expect this to enjoy the extraordinarily long drinking window of Monte Bello's more structural and assertive renditions—although this example was served from magnum—it is a fantastic example of a modern vintage drinking near its peak, and I suspect it will hold for the better part of a decade. It achieved 12.8% alcohol, and the blend is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc.

My third encounter with the 2011 Ridge Monte Bello in the last year revealed a wine that seems to be aging in reverse. Though the previous two bottles were beginning to mature aromatically, this one seems frozen in time. Today, it is almost shockingly primary and very sinewy. Black cherry, brambly berry fruit, menthol and mocha unfurl in a dark, brooding package that feels decidedly richer than one might expect from this cool growing season in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Though expressive and totally enjoyable today, this showing indicates that the 2011 may very well have more left in the tank than I initially thought.

88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc. A long winter delayed the growing season. Summer temperatures remained cool as persistent fog covered much of northern California. Monte Bello, whose elevation kept the grapes in full sun, was an exception. Following an October rain, two weeks of warm weather ripened the fruit for harvest before the next storm. Harvest 19 October to 8 November. Grapes destemmed, 100% whole berries. Automated berry sorting followed by hand-sorting. Fermented with indigenous yeasts. Extraction of colour and tannin required extended pumpovers. Pressed at eight days. Natural malolactic (15% in tank, 85% in barrel). 16 months in barrel (99% new air-dried American oak, 1% French oak). Very deep blackish crimson. Already, great beauty on the nose! A clever tactic to show us how the 2019 is likely to develop? Ripe fruit evident on palate entry and dried herbs on the palate. Nothing out of place. Only medium body at most with slightly dry tannins on the end. Super-fresh but lifted and racy. Sinewy. Definitely not one to share with a Napa Cab devotee but possibly to a senior claret enthusiast? Style alert! (JR)