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Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 2013

Mix 12
£398.00
Mix 6
£400.00
Per Bottle
£404.00
Same Day - cost based on mileage from Islington
Available Thu 30th Nov
Available today: 1 × 75cl
Available Fri 1st Dec: 7 × 75cl
- Time Left to Order
DHL Next Working Day from £9.90
Deliver Fri 1st Dec
Available Fri 1st Dec: 1 × 75cl
Available Mon 4th Dec: 7 × 75cl
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Description & Technical Information
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In 1886, high in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the first Monte Bello vineyards were planted, and winery construction begun. A first vintage from the young vines followed in 1892. During Prohibition (1920-1933), the vineyard was not fully maintained; some vines survived into the late 30’s, but by the 1940s they were effectively abandoned. Eight acres of cabernet sauvignon were replanted in 1949. These were the source of the first Ridge Monte Bello (1962) and subsequent vintages until 1974 when younger blocks replanted in the 1960’s were considered for inclusion. Since then, the historic vineyards on the ridge have gradually been replanted.

Weather in 2013 By late summer, a second drought year had pushed the vines to their limit with water stress. The resulting small berries reduced the crop, which ripened three weeks earlier than any in our fifty-year history. Fermented as whole berries, and pressed at eight days, the wines were transferred to barrel for natural malolactic. Nineteen of twenty-six lots - including only one of merlot - were selected for the 2013. This superb vintage shows Monte Bello’s mineral character and firm acidity. Complex secondary qualities will develop within fifteen years, and the wine will age beautifully for twenty more. Harvest dates: 7 September - 8 October

Technical Information:
Vineyard: Monte Bello
Grape: 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot
Appelation: Santa Cruz Mountains
Alcohol: 13.6 %
Barrels: 100% new air-dried american oak, 98% american oak, 2% french oak
Ageing: Sixteen months in barrel
Production: 5000 Cases

Tasting Note: Opaque ruby color. Ripe mountain briar and cassis fruits; licorice, crushed limestone, sweet toasted oak, violets. Intense blackberry fruit on entry; cola, exotic oak spice. Well-defined full body, rich structure, firm acid, wet stone mineral. Long, intense finish
Expert Reviews
100/100
William Kelley
“The Wine Advocate (May 2018): 100 Points. “The 2013 Monte Bello is a very special vintage for this great wine. Amazingly, it has yet to shut down, unfurling in the glass to reveal a bouquet of black raspberries, cassis, rich espresso roast, cigar wrapper, subtle black truffle and burning embers that has already integrated its 100% new oak remarkably completely. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, powerful and multidimensional, with a lavishly textural attack that segues into a stunningly layered, richly structured mid-palate endowed with incredible depth and concentration underpinned by succulent acids. The finish is long, vibrant and beautifully delineated. The 2013 is a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot, and it attained 13.6% natural alcohol. Analytically, this ranks as one of the most tannic vintages of Monte Bello ever produced, but the tannins are of such high quality and cloaked in such a wealth of fruit that Ridge forwent their habitual egg white fining this year—beginning a trend that has continued since. This profound Monte Bello will begin to blossom as it reaches age ten and should prove practically immortal.”
98+/100
Antonio Galloni
“The 2013 Monte Bello is utterly spellbinding in its beauty. Finely sculpted and chiseled, with super-expressive aromatics and searing tannins, the 2013 is shaping up to be a modern-day classic. The 2013 is remarkably pure and vibrant for such a big wine. It will be years before the 2013 is close to being ready to drink. Even so, it is magnificent today. Where will the 2013 end up? The future seems limitless for now. Quite simply, the 2013 is a must-have wine. In 2013, Monte Bello is very heavy in Cabernet Sauvignon, partly because Merlot suffered in the drought-like conditions. The 2013 has already begun to shut down in bottle. Readers need to be in for the long haul.”
97/100
Jeb Dunnuck
“Showing even better than last year, the 2013 Monte Bello is a tour de force, and a step up over the 2012. Full-bodied, layered, beautifully concentrated and seamless, it knocks it out of the park with its classic bouquet of plums, vanilla bean, cedary spice, scorched earth and cigar. Made from 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Petit Verdot, 7% Cabernet Franc and the rest Merlot, aged in 98% new American oak (there’s 2% new French oak), I wish I had bottles in the cellar. It should be at its best from 2023-204”
95/100
James Molesworth
“The 2013 Monte Bello is starting, slowly, to unwind. It has plush tannins pulling a well of blackberry and plum fruit along, while smoldering toast and a latent mineral edge linger through the superlong finish.”
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Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello
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