The wine was Ridge 1973 California Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello,
estate grown, bottled Oct. 1975, 12.8% alcohol by volume. Note the
label name for Monte Bello wines is somewhat different for more recent
vintages. The wine was bought shortly after release and properly
stored by me. The fill was very low neck, and there were no cork or
other issues. The cork still sealed well and came out in one piece.

The wine is still very deep in color and you need a bright light to
notice a little age showing around the rim. The wine is fully mature,
but likely will hold fairly well for at least several more years. The
bouquet and taste both are very intense and complex, and the finish is
very long. There is enough acid. Both bouquet and taste are a complex
mix of cassis and mixed dark stone fruit with hints of spice and
herbs. The texture has a velvet-like quality, the sort of thing
Broadbent has described as an iron fist in a velvet glove. It reminds
me more of a Ch. Petrus than Ch. Latour in this respect, although the
taste and bouquet are typical Cabernet Sauvignon. Many of the best
mountain CSs in California, including most Ridge, are more Latour like
than Petrus like in texture to me. And the alcohol content is only
12.8%, rather unusual for 70s top CSs. Some from that era were 14% and
even more.

cwdjrxyz wrote:
> The wine was Ridge 1973 California Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello,
> estate grown, bottled Oct. 1975, 12.8% alcohol by volume. Note the
> label name for Monte Bello wines is somewhat different for more recent
> vintages. The wine was bought shortly after release and properly
> stored by me. The fill was very low neck, and there were no cork or
> other issues. The cork still sealed well and came out in one piece.
>
> The wine is still very deep in color and you need a bright light to
> notice a little age showing around the rim. The wine is fully mature,
> but likely will hold fairly well for at least several more years. The
> bouquet and taste both are very intense and complex, and the finish is
> very long. There is enough acid. Both bouquet and taste are a complex
> mix of cassis and mixed dark stone fruit with hints of spice and
> herbs. The texture has a velvet-like quality, the sort of thing
> Broadbent has described as an iron fist in a velvet glove. It reminds
> me more of a Ch. Petrus than Ch. Latour in this respect, although the
> taste and bouquet are typical Cabernet Sauvignon. Many of the best
> mountain CSs in California, including most Ridge, are more Latour like
> than Petrus like in texture to me. And the alcohol content is only
> 12.8%, rather unusual for 70s top CSs. Some from that era were 14% and
> even more.
>

Thanks for the fascinating note. '73 was an underrated year in CA,
having been eclipsed by '74 in hype, but my experience (and that of a
few others I know) is that the '73s have outlived the more flamboyant
'74s (not to mention many other years). I am a bit surprised about your
comment re the alcohol levels, as my recollection is that 12-13% ABV was
more or less the norm back then. 14% was considered OTT (and of course
occasioned a higher tax) and normally seen only in things like "late
harvest" Zins and the wines of Ken Burnap and Dr. David Bruce.

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

On Feb 9, 3:15*pm, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> cwdjrxyz wrote:
> > The wine was Ridge 1973 California Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello,
> > estate grown, bottled Oct. 1975, 12.8% alcohol by volume. Note the
> > label name for Monte Bello wines is somewhat different for more recent
> > vintages. The wine was bought shortly after release and properly
> > stored by me. The fill was very low neck, and there were no cork or
> > other issues. The cork still sealed well and came out in one piece.
>
> > The wine is still very deep in color and you need a bright light to
> > notice a little age showing around the rim. The wine is fully mature,
> > but likely will hold fairly well for at least several more years. The
> > bouquet and taste both are very intense and complex, and the finish is
> > very long. There is enough acid. Both bouquet and taste are a complex
> > mix of cassis and mixed dark stone fruit with hints of spice and
> > herbs. The texture has a velvet-like quality, the sort of thing
> > Broadbent has described as an iron fist in a velvet glove. It reminds
> > me more of a Ch. Petrus than Ch. Latour in this respect, although the
> > taste and bouquet are typical Cabernet Sauvignon. Many of the best
> > mountain CSs in California, including most Ridge, are more Latour like
> > than Petrus like in texture to me. And the alcohol content is only
> > 12.8%, rather unusual for 70s top CSs. Some from that era were 14% and
> > even more.
>
> Thanks for the fascinating note. *'73 was an underrated year in CA,
> having been eclipsed by '74 in hype, but my experience (and that of a
> few others I know) is that the '73s have outlived the more flamboyant
> '74s (not to mention many other years). *I am a bit surprised about your
> comment re the alcohol levels, as my recollection is that 12-13% ABV was
> more or less the norm back then. *14% was considered OTT (and of course
> occasioned a higher tax) and normally seen only in things like "late
> harvest" Zins and the wines of Ken Burnap and Dr. David Bruce.

I had especially Dr David Bruce's CS in mind. One monster he made in
the 70s (was it 74) had a review suggesting it was perfect for serving
with mastedon steak! But it paled compared with some dry Rieslings he
made that well exceeded 16% alcohol by volume. I tasted one example
that nearly burned your mouth and throat with both extremely high
alcohol and acid. Monterey Peninsula Winery( there was another winery
with a very similar name) made some CS that was extremely strong in
every way, but their late harvest Zinfandel could compete even with
the likes of David Bruce in alcohol content. Martin Ray made some very
big CSs, but the 1968 has only 13% alcohol by volume. However it had a
huge amount of extract, tannin, and acid and did not come around for
many years. Of course the quality of Martin Ray's wines varied greatly
from bad to outstanding( I am speaking of the man Martin Ray and not a
winery with his name that appeared after his death).

Ridge also made a 1973 Monte Bello estate Zinfandel. I still have one
bottle. It has only 12.6 alcohol by volume and is a better match for
many foods than are many Zinfandels. However Ridge has made their
share of very powerful Zinfandel from other locations. The 1972 Lodi
Essence was very sweet and port-like. I still have a bottle. A
detailed description by P.D. is given on the back label. This wine is
not fortified. It has 14.4% plus or minus 0.2% alcohol by volume. The
total acidity is 0.78% as tartaric. Reducing sugar is 6.7% (4.9%
fructose, 1.8% glucose). It is described as being made from vine-
shriveled grapes from Buena Vista Vineyard. It still was drinking well
several years ago, and it would not surprise me if it still is holding
fairly well.