Ridge Vineyards - The Rare Monte Bello

Lucien Michel | April 9, 2022

Overlooking the Santa Cruz Mountains in California lies the estate of Ridge Vineyards, crafting elegant single-vineyard wines since 1962. In fact, it is California’s coolest Cabernet Sauvignon producing area, thanks to its cool microclimate being only 25km away from the sea.

Ridge’s iconic Monte Bello vineyard sits at the top of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is one of the rare areas in California to contain a good amount of limestone subsoil.

I am a huge fan of these wines: they retain complexity, great structure and power, finesse and charming elegance. These wines have a marvellous ability to age, and we have some mature vintages on offer just for you.

These cult wines are limited, with an annual production of around 3000 cases. Their consistency is impressive year-to-year, from the mature and complex 1995 to the unique and powerful 2001 and 2006 that are starting to reveal their layered beauty.

To get a sense of the style of Monte Bello without breaking the bank, we also have half bottles of the superb 2010 on hand.