A Tasting at Monte Bello (Ridge Vineyards)

The Fall Release tasting of Ridge Wines was an excellent opportunity to taste new wines from Ridge. Unfortunately, some of the wines are not up to the wineries standards at this point. The first wine on the tasting list was the 2006 Monte Bello Chardonnay ($60). This wine had a nice light olive oil color with nice mouthfeel. The wine lacked any significant structure, even though it had spent time in American Oak, both young (1-2 years old) and old (4-5 years old). I believe this wine is at it's peak right now and cellaring may actually extract flavor rather than enhance it. The flavors of this wine are very characteristic of chardonnay. Nice citrus undertones and a clean smell of sweettarts. Overall, this wine rates as a pretty average Chardonnay in my book, definitely not worth the $60 list price.

The next wine on the tasting list was the 2007 Lytton Springs ($35). Here, Ridge returns to it's roots and produces an excellent quality wine with definite cellaring capability. With a whopping 22% Petite Sirah, this wine has beautiful velvety structure and definite cellar strength. I thoroughly enjoyed this wine and believe the purchase price of $35 is merited if you intend to cellar. The tasting exuded the standard petite sirah flavors when blended with zinfandel. Nice dark fruity flavors with a touch of dark chocolate and vanilla top off this wine. Overall, an excellent red.

The 2007 Pagani Ranch ($35) appeared to be a fan-favorite in the tasting room. This may have been due to the wine pourer indicating her preference for the Pagani Ranch wines over time. I find that when I'm in a tasting room, the opinions of the wine pourer should not be readily given, as it directly influences the perception and flavors perceived by wine tasters. Nonetheless, the dramatic difference in sweetness from the Lytton Springs wine to the Pagani Ranch were notable. At 92% Zin, it is no surprise that this wine consisted of the stereotypical "jammy" flavors intrinsic to zinfandel. Having tasted many vintages of Pagani Ranch from Ridge, I do believe this vintage is drinkable now and may have a year or two in cellar prior to reaching it's maximum. Overall, a quaffable wine at this point in time but may enhance with time in the bottle.

The 2007 York Creek ($30) was one of my favorites. The beautiful blend of dark chocolate, pipe tobacco and vanilla made this wine an excellent, drinkable wine right now. This wine has the cellaring capability of some great cabs, but it seems irresistible right now. An elegant pour, with a bit of oxygen to break the wine, led to a fantastic tasting wine. I was quite fortunate though, as during my visit, the other York Creek bottle being poured from was half gone and "corked". Nonetheless, if you can get your hands on a bottle of the 2007 York Creek, I highly suggest it. Again, another wine blended with 22% Petite Sirah shines and display excellent strength but velvety elegance. My favorite wine of the day!

We diverged from the tasting list at this point, and tasted the 2007 East Bench ($30). The East Bench was also a fan-favorite in the tasting room. To me, this wine lacked in cellar strength and overall had poor flavor structure. I'd pass on this wine.

The 2007 Paso Robles ($30) is an interesting wine. Of all of the wines being tasted at Ridge today, this is the only real hot temperatured wine. As such, the flavor structure is significantly different (especially after tasting the East Bench). I've tasted a few vintages of Paso Robles and the flavors of very stereotypical. A taste of dry, woodiness blended with jammy, big dark fruits leads to an appealing flavor. Ovreall, an ok wine with suitable drinkability today and perhaps in the future.

Prior to tasting the Monte Bello Cab, we were permitted to try the 50/50 2005 Syrah/Grenache ($35). I'm a lover of these blends and was very excited to try Ridge's take on the wine. However, I was disappointed as this wine lacked the normal tones present in these types of wine blends. My first take through smell was that of Mac & Cheese with deli ham, not the most appealing smell. Then the taste lacked in complexity normally inherent to wine blends. I'd focus my energies on Syrah/Grenache blends from the Santa Barabara wine country, an area well-known to produce excellent Rhone Varietals.

Ah, the 2006 Monte Bello Cabernet ($145). This wine blew my mind. I had never tasted a Monte Bello at this young age and was incredibly surprised to find it incredibly drinkable today. An overall excellent blend of a wide variety of grapes will allow this wine to be drinkable today but can definitely be laid down for 10-20 years or more and still retain excellent flavors. This wine begs for a nice juicy steak (cooked medium) and some nice garlic accents. Overall, an excellent wine!