1996 Ridge Monte Bello

Proprietary Blend - 750ML
Reg: $249.94
$234.94
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REVIEWS

JA 98 JD 97 WA 96 JR 93
JA 98

janeanson.com, October 2022

A stunning wine that delivers juice, balance, precision, grip, power and grace, with bilberry, loganberry and blackberry puree fruits laced with bay, cedar, truffle and smoked vanilla bean, generous but in control at all...
JD 97

jebdunnuck.com, February 2019

As always at visits to Ridge, they like to show older vintages, and I’m always amazed at how well these wines age. The 1996 Cabernet Sauvignon Mont Bello checks in as 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, and the rest Petit...
WA 96

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, June 2018

96+ The most aromatically exotic vintage of the decade, the 1996 Monte Bello is superb, bursting from the glass with an extravagant bouquet of cassis, cigar box, rich soil, roasted meats and decadent oriental spices. On...
JR 93

Jancis Robinson's Purple Pages, April 2016

(18/20) Still very dark crimson - looks much younger than 20 years old. Very rich, ripe nose - sweet and exotic - with a strong blackcurrant pastille and some balsam quality. Then on the palate there is amazing...

WINE DETAILS

Color & Type Red
Varietal Proprietary Blend
Country USA
Region California
Sub-region Central Coast
Appellation Santa Cruz Mountains
Vintage 1996
Size 750ML
Percent alcohol 13.2%
Closure Cork

Ridge Vineyards is a California winery best known for its Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon and its equally famous range of Zinfandel wines and blends. The winery’s history dates back to 1885 when Osea Perrone, a doctor and prominent member of San Francisco’s Italian community, bought 180 acres near the top of Monte Bello Ridge. He planted vineyards on terraced slopes and constructed the Monte Bello Winery, producing the first Monte Bello vintage in 1892.

In 1959, four scientists from Stanford University's Research Institute purchased land adjacent to the Perrone property, the middle vineyard, and created an estate Cabernet. They formed the Ridge Vineyards partnership in 1962 and re-bonded the winery to produce the first official commercial vintage of Monte Bello. The first Zinfandel was made in 1964 from eighty-year-old vines and was followed in 1966 by the first Geyserville Zinfandel from vines that are now one hundred and thirty years old. 1972 marked the first Lytton Springs, from vines planted in 1902.

The old Monte Bello winery and a small part of the Perrone vineyard property was purchased by Ridge in 1968. The old cellar, made of native limestone and built into the mountainside, is Ridge’s production facility today. At 2600 feet above sea level, it is surrounded by the upper vineyard.

Lytton Springs, in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley, became part of the Ridge estate in 1991, completing the lineup of Ridge’s three estate vineyards which provides for 75% of the fruit they use. The winery produces wine at both the original Monte Bello location and Lytton Springs.

Paul Draper joined Ridge Vineyards as winemaker 1969. Draper became one of the world’s most celebrated winemakers, earning awards and accolades for his exceptional work. After nearly 46 years at the helm, Draper retired in 2016. Eric Baugher, COO and director of winemaking at Monte Bello, and John Olney, COO and winemaker at Ridge Lytton Springs, continue Ridge’s style and legacy of quality. Both men have worked with Paul Draper at Ridge for 20+ years.

Ridge relies on nature and tradition rather than technology. The Ridge pre-industrial approach is straightforward: find intense, flavorful grapes; intrude upon the process only when necessary; draw the fruit’s distinctive character and richness into the wine.