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1997 Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA

  • Red
  • Dry
  • Full Bodied
  • Cabernet Sauvignon (85%),Merlot (8%),Petit Verdot (4%),Cabernet Franc (3%)
Ready, but will keep
William Kelley
94/100
Product: 19978005188
1997 Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA

Description

Paul Draper has over 30 years experience in producing one of Californias true greats. This exceptional Bordeaux blend, produced high up on the Monte Bello ridge will drink now to 2025.
Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 1997
Alcohol % 12.5
Maturity Ready, but will keep
Grape List Cabernet Sauvignon (85%),Merlot (8%),Petit Verdot (4%),Cabernet Franc (3%)
Body Full Bodied
Producer Ridge Vineyards

Critics reviews

William Kelley 94/100
The product of a generous crop and a balmy vintage, the 1997 Monte Bello continues to show beautifully, wafting from the glass with an expressive bouquet of cassis, dried cherries, menthol and loamy soil, lavishly framed by new American oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, supple and open-knit, with largely melted tannins and a generous personality, which is all tied together by the bright thread of acidity that's such a signature of this site. Despite being seemingly fully mature, an open bottle held up beautifully over three days. Even after extensive crop thinning, yields in 1997 were around two tons per acrehigh by this bottling's modest standardsand the blend was 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc, attaining 12.9% natural alcohol.William Kelley - 31/05/2018
William Kelley, RobertParker.com (May 2018)

About this wine

Cabernet Sauvignon

The most famous red wine grape in the world and one of the most widely planted.
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Ridge Vineyards

Ridge Vineyards makes wines that compete in terms of quality and desirability with Bordeaux First Growths and Grand Cru White Burgundies. Winemaker Paul Draper has crafted 43 vintages at Ridge and his practical, hands-off approach to winemaking has resulted in an exceptional and highly sought-after range of wines. Although a vineyard was first planted near the top of Monte Bello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1885, it lay abandoned until four Stanford Research Institute engineers bought it in 1959. Ridge Vineyards was formed in 1962 and Paul Draper was appointed as winemaker in 1969. After stunning the world by their triumph in the 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting, Ridge Vineyards shot to fame and gained cult status almost overnight.
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