2022 Ridge Vineyards "Monte Bello" Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon

A totally stunning wine from a warm vintage, the 2022 Ridge ‘Monte Bello’ combines nearly all Cabernet Sauvignon (86%) with 10% Merlot and small parts Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot from their estate vineyard high atop the Santa Cruz Mountains. Silky tannins frame a generous core of dark currants, roasted figs, dark chocolate shavings, anise seed and shades of black licorice on the palate. The remarkable power, intensity and minerality leads to a mouth-watering effect on the palate. A dazzling and dense wine that has some great cellaring potential, try to resist this beauty for another year. Drink 2026-2046.

Aged in 100% new oak, the 2022 Monte Bello blends 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc, selected from 18 of 21 lots by blind tasting. After assemblage, the wine spent 21 more months in barrel. The vineyard starts at 1,600 feet and goes up to 2,700 feet at top, and is spread out across 4 different ranches, Klein, Rousten, Torre and Perrone, the wines getting more tightknit and ageable as the vines move up the mountain. By the end of harvest, Monte Bello is split into 55 different blocks, which are then picked and fermented separately. Year after year, this is a “wow” wine, herbal, lightly spiced in oak, with a lovely creamy, velvety texture and a backbone of well-resolved tannin supporting a medium-bodied, balanced spirit of mountain garrigue. These wines typically age 20-25 years or more.