Ridge Monte Bello has long been a favorite of mine and I opened up a
bottle of the 1997 Monte Bello tonight with dinner. Fairly low
alcohol by California standards at 13.5% the wine was quite tannic on
release but a decade in my cellar has tamed the tannins and the wine
is really drinking well. My dinner guests all guessed Italian when I
first opened and poured. Plenty of black cherry and a nice acidic
streak kept the wine fresh on the palate and was a nice foil to a
roasted capon. The wine has developed some secondary flavors of
tobacco and black coffee but the fruit is still sweet and forward and
shows plenty of black cherry, plum and black currant. Drink now or
hold for another ten years at a minimum. "A"

Bi!! wrote:
> Ridge Monte Bello has long been a favorite of mine and I opened up a
> bottle of the 1997 Monte Bello tonight with dinner. Fairly low
> alcohol by California standards at 13.5% the wine was quite tannic on
> release but a decade in my cellar has tamed the tannins and the wine
> is really drinking well. My dinner guests all guessed Italian when I
> first opened and poured. Plenty of black cherry and a nice acidic
> streak kept the wine fresh on the palate and was a nice foil to a
> roasted capon. The wine has developed some secondary flavors of
> tobacco and black coffee but the fruit is still sweet and forward and
> shows plenty of black cherry, plum and black currant. Drink now or
> hold for another ten years at a minimum. "A"

Thanks, Bill! I have a bottle of this rotting in the cellar, and I have
always taken the position that Monte Bello takes ages to reach full
maturity. I think that I'll be of the ten years at a minimum camp.

Mark Lipton

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

On Apr 19, 10:12�pm, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Bi!! wrote:
> > Ridge Monte Bello has long been a favorite of mine and I opened up a
> > bottle of the 1997 Monte Bello tonight with dinner. �Fairly low
> > alcohol by California standards at 13.5% the wine was quite tannic on
> > release but a decade in my cellar has tamed the tannins and the wine
> > is really drinking well. �My dinner guests all guessed Italian when I
> > first opened and poured. �Plenty of black cherry and a nice acidic
> > streak kept the wine fresh on the palate and was a nice foil to a
> > roasted capon. �The wine has developed some secondary flavors of
> > tobacco and black coffee but the fruit is still sweet and forward and
> > shows plenty of black cherry, plum and black currant. �Drink now or
> > hold for another ten years at a minimum. "A"
>
> Thanks, Bill! �I have a bottle of this rotting in the cellar, and I have
> always taken the position that Monte Bello takes ages to reach full
> maturity. �I think that I'll be of the ten years at a minimum camp.
>
> Mark Lipton
>
> --
> alt.food.wine FAQ: �http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

Just remember that a lot of folks felt that the '97 California Cabs
would never hold up. The conventional wisdom at the time was too much
fruit, not enough acid and tannic structure that was too plush and
soft for long term aging. In this case the tannins are fairly well
resolved, the big fruit is still a big part of the wine's charm and
right now it's quite well balanced. I bought two cases on release and
have stored them at 55F since. I've drank eight of them so far and
will probably drink through the first case in the next year or so.