92 points,

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, October 1994

Ridge has released two top-notch Cabernet Sauvignons that are completely different in style. In total contrast to the 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Santa Cruz Mountains, the 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello exhibits the classic austerity found in Bordeaux, with a reserved but highly complex bouquet of licorice, cassis, and lead pencil. It is a rich, almost measured wine in its restraint, but there is considerable intensity, and the wine offers outstanding extraction of flavor, full body, and gobs of tannin. Given the glacial pace at which most Monte Bellos evolve, this wine is not likely to be fully mature for another 10-15 years; it will last for 25-30 years.

97 points,

Stephen Tanzer's IWC, October 2000

Full, youthful red-ruby color. Knockout nose of cassis, maple syrup, game, truffle and spicy oak; sappy and highly complex. Powerful, primary dark berry flavors exude a sweet gamey quality. Dense but sharply delineated. Great flavor intensity without the slightest suggestion of heaviness. Still a baby but already amazingly harmonious wine. Extremely long finish features very fine, suave tannins. A world-class cabernet, certainly among the top dozen made in California during the last 20 years.

93 points,

Wine Spectator, February 2002

Rich, with currant, mineral, spice, sage, leather and black cherry. Supple in texture, graceful in style and long, persistent and focused on the finish. Tannins are fine-grained. Magnificent Monte Bello that defines the complexity, weight, style, flavor and nuance of this vineyard in its best years.--'81/'91 California Cabernet retrospective. Drink now through 2010. 3,000 cases made.

About Winery

Indiana Jones and I have one thing in common - a fear of snakes. That is why every time I see the sign in the Ridge parking lot that reads "Beware of rattlesnakes," I get a little uneasy. So it's quickly into the tasting room for me. Winemaker Eric Baugher and his team have prepared a great tasting covering all of the Ridge classics, plus a few smaller-production bottlings I am tasting for the first time. This is a sublime set of new releases from one of this country's greatest heritage wineries. It's hard to know where to start, but the highlights are the 2009 Monte Bello, followed by the 2010, which will be released this year, plus some of the Zinfandels and Zinfandel-based wines. The 2010 harvest was not an easy one. The summer was very cold, as it was throughout California. Ridge was severely affected by August heat spikes that were crippling for Zinfandel. The wines that were bottled are the result of a severe selection of the best fruit that survived the heat.

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