by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

 

Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon
Paul Draper did a seminar ystrday in Taos on Monte Bello Cabs:
Ridge Monte Bello Cab '78: Med.color w/ some bricking; strong cigar box/cedary slight leathery/horsecollar/bretty rather fragrant/ perfumed bit smokey/toasty/complex old Cab nose; soft bit dried-out/ complex/cigar box/cedary some smokey/toasty flavor; long delicate bit dried out/cedary/cigar box finish w/ light tannins; beautiful/complex old Cab nose but drying out a bit on the palate; ready to drink.
Ridge Monte Bello Cab '93: Very dark color; strong oaked/buttery spicy/peppery/smokey some toasty/pungent complex nose; tart rich rather tannic some oaked/buttery spicy/peppery/smokey pungent flavor; very long some hard/tannic/lean rich smokey/pungent some oaked/buttery blackcurranty/dusty finish w/ fair tannins; needs more age; a bit hard & lean right now.
Ridge Monte Bello Cab '94: Black color; very strong toasty/pungent/ smokey/dusty/complex/licorice/Lynch-Bages/bit menthol nose; big huge rich licorice/peppery/toasty/pungent/blackcurranty Cab tannic flavor; very long huge tannic rich intense licorice/pungent/peppery dusty/complex finish w/ ample tannins; great Cab & needs age.
Ridge Monte Bello Cab '95: Black color; intense fruit/blackcurranty/ Cab/Dr.Pepper rather smokey/pungent/toasty complex nose; tart very rich/intense pungent/toasty/very spicy/cinammon&cloves tannic/hard bit closed flavor; very long intense smokey/pungent/toasty complex rather blackcurranty finish w/ ample tannins; big huge incredible concentrated Cab; killer stuff; my favorite.
Ridge Monte Bello Cab '96: Very dark color; bit closed strong pungent/ smokey/ dusty/oaked licorice/meaty/gamey/butterd popcorn complex nose; rich softer strong pungent/smokey/toasty some blackcurranty/ Cab tannic flavor; very long intense blackcurranty/Cab/toasty/ pungent/smokey finish w/ ample tannins; needs much age; killer.
Ridge Monte Bello Cab '97: Black color; intense smokey/pungent/oaked/ chocolaty/ spicy/cinammon/ meaty dusty/complex bit less oaked nose; very rich/chocolaty/licorice dusty/pungent/spicy almost Alicante- like earthy/dusty flavor; very long very intense tannic ripe black- curranty/Cab/licorice/chocolaty dusty/complex smokey/pungent finish w/ ample tannins; another killer; even for such a young/ intense/extracted Cab this is wonderful to drink.

And tossing out another bloody pulpit:
Complexity in Wine: This was a really tough tasting to do; not because my palate was shot or anything (it wasn't; it was fresh & in good form.. at least as good as it ever gets!); but I'd smell & taste down the line of wines, write down some notes, and go back & do it again and find more & different things in the wines. I felt like my wine vocabulary simple was the equal of these wines. And the wines seemed to keep changing in the glass. Paul Draper always likes to state that he seeks to make the most complex wine he possibly can from the grapes he receives. I always seem to associate "complexity" with mature wines w/ bottle bouquet. But these wines are truly "complex" wines, even though they are young Cabs; "complex" in every sense of the word. They're tough to describe and they keep changing. It's sort of like trying to describe a kinetic sculpture to someone. The wines can by big & intense, yet still have a lot of complexity, even though they're young. It's interesting to contrast these MonetBellos to, say, the Caymus Special Selection Cab. That's sort of a bi-polar wine; lots of pencilly Caymus oak on one end, and lots of intense blackcurranty/Cab fruit, with no interesting, complex notes in between. Simple (though very good) Cabernet. Paul works w/ some 30+ different blocks of grapes off the Monte Bello Vnyd (must be an accountant's ... or production manager's.. nightmare), makes each block into the best possible wine that can be made, and then blends the lots to achieve the unique MonteBello style he seeks. Blending all these lots together could very well yield nothing but a "grey" wine, white noise in the Cabernet world. But that is certainly NOT the case w/ MonteBello Cab; probably each component brings some component to the blend that still retains much of its individuality and is not lost to the other components. I feel it's not just the unique growing conditions up on the Ridge, but also the very skillful blending that goes into it that makes MonteBello Cabernet one of the world's great wines. IMHO. I'm planning to attend a 30+ vertical of MonteBello Cabernets in a few weeks. Methinks I'm in big trouble and may not be up to the task of adequately describing all the wines.
This was an extraordinary seminar. Not only were the wines incredibly good, but the knowledge & information Paul Draper shared w/ us was also extraordinary. He has been winemaker at Ridge for almost 30 yrs. Yet when Paul gets wound up & talking about Ridge wines, he shows exactly the same passion & enthusiasm & excitement for what he's doing as when I first met him in '74; which is pretty incredible. I can think of a lot of other winemakers in a similar venue who just get up there and go thru the motions, who it's clear that they would much rather be somewhere else doing something else; who clearly have little idea what's going on out there in their wnry (don't ask me to name names, though). Not so w/ Paul Draper. It was rather funny; Paul was so engrossed in sharing his thoughts & opinions that his wife, Maureen, sitting in the audience, had to rein him in & get him moving on thru the rest of the wines. If you ever have a chance to attend a Paul Draper seminar, it's not one to miss.
Also tasted that night at dinner (at Joseph's Table in Taos; w/ one of the best meals I've ever had in Taos) the La Mission Haut Brion '89 and the Ridge MonteBello Cab '91. No detailed notes, was just in the enjoyment mode, enjoying good food, great wine, and the most special of friends; which is what it's all about. The LaMission was pretty strong/smokey/pungent and hard; needed much age. The MonteBello was.... well.... MonteBello. Terrific, classic MonteBello, and needing of age.
Tannins: Although these wines were huge extracted Cabs w/ loads of tannins; they did not, to me, have the harshness & hardness on the palate that many such tannic wines have. They were a genuine pleasure to drink even in their youth here. Paul Draper is probably one of the best people around when it comes tannin management in wines and producing tannic wines that are lacking that hard/harsh character. It would be fun to have him do a seminar sometime on his thought on the subject. Strictly for the oeno-geek types, though.
I get a lot of Rhone/Hermitage character in these MonteBello Cabs. I would sure be neat to see what Syrah would do grown up on Monte Bello Ridge. As if there's any doubt!!