2022 Ridge - Monte Bello (750ml)

Ridge Vineyards traces its Monte Bello story back to 1885, when Dr. Osea Perrone, a physician and prominent figure in San Francisco's Italian community, bought land near the top of Monte Bello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains and built a winery of redwood and native limestone. The property fell into neglect after Prohibition until a group of Stanford engineers revived it in 1959, releasing the first modern Ridge Monte Bello in 1962. The wine's reputation went global after the 1971 vintage placed among the top wines at the legendary 1976 Judgment of Paris, and it repeated that feat at the thirty year rematch in 2006.

Monte Bello is estate grown across four ranches spanning roughly 1,600 to 2,700 feet in elevation, with limestone soils and cooling proximity to the Pacific shaping fruit unlike almost anywhere else in California. By harvest the vineyard is broken into 55 separate blocks, each picked and fermented individually before a rigorous blind tasting selects the final blend. The 2022 combines 86 percent Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc, aged entirely in new oak for close to two years following a third consecutive drought vintage that produced small, concentrated berries.

The wine opens with dark currant, roasted fig, and cedar, layered with dark chocolate, anise, and dried mountain herbs. On the palate it shows real density and mineral drive, framed by silky tannins and a long, savory finish that speaks to decades of aging potential. Built for patience, it pairs beautifully with a dry aged ribeye, braised lamb shank, or a rich beef Wellington.