Name: Ridge Monte Bello 2022
Brand: The Wine Rack
Price: 210.00 GBP
Availability: InStock

Red wine bottle with 'Ridge Monte Bello' label on a black background

Ridge Monte Bello 2022

Wine at a glance:

Red

California

Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Franc

Medium Bodied

13.8

Oak flavour noticable

The wine that made Bordeaux cry in 1976, perfected by decades of California sunshine and just a little bit of mountain magic.

£210.00

£210.00 £240.00

Perched high in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Ridge Vineyards has been humbling prestigious French estates since 1886. Though the original vines survived a rough breakup with reality during Prohibition, they bounced back in 1949 with a replanting of premium Cabernet Sauvignon that eventually birthed the first official Ridge Monte Bello vintage in 1962. The winery catapulted to global fame at the legendary 1976 Judgment of Paris blind tasting, where this underdog California Cabernet stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Europe's elite. Proving that fine wine only gets better with age (and a bit of validation), a 2006 re-match crowned Monte Bello the undisputed first-place champion. Today, the estate honors the legacy of iconic winemaker Paul Draper, combining rich history with organic farming to craft some of the most collectible Californian wines on the market.

This particular vintage is a masterclass in low-intervention, terroir-driven winemaking, blending 86% Cabernet Sauvignon with 10% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc. Hand-harvested across eighteen organically grown Monte Bello parcels, the grapes were meticulously sorted, de-stemmed, and allowed to undergo 100% whole-berry fermentation using only native yeasts. After a entirely natural malolactic fermentation, the wine spent twenty-one months luxuriating in 100% new oak barrels—dominated by 95% premium American oak with a sophisticated 5% kiss of French oak. Bottled with minimal sulfur and a gentle depth filtration, this exceptional red blend represents the absolute pinnacle of Santa Cruz Mountains viticulture.

On the palate, this iconic California red blend delivers a beautifully balanced performance that leaves mass-produced wines in the dust. Anchored by a vibrant acidity, it strikes the perfect chord between intense mountain fruit and structured complexity. Expect a commanding core of ripe blackcurrant, dark plum, and structural tannins, seamlessly integrated with hints of vanilla, sweet tobacco, and toasted spice from the extensive American oak aging. It is bold enough to command attention tonight, yet structured with the kind of staying power that will reward collectors in the cellar for decades to come.