Ridge Monte Bello (3 Liter Bottle) 2017

Professional Ratings

• 99 James Suckling

  This shows incredible intensity and depth of blackberries, pine needles, blackcurrants and black olives. Conifer, too. Love the nose. Full-bodied with so many layers of fruit and very fine, creamy tannins. It goes on for minutes. Impressive density with such weightlessness. Superb wine. Drink in 2026 and onwards.

• 98 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  The 2017 Monte Bello is ultra powerful and concentrated, unfurling over the several days it was open to reveal rich cassis, roast plums, tar, aniseed and exotic spices. What sets the palate apart is its purity: though incredibly layered, it offers a kaleidoscopic journey from blackcurrant to tobacco and dried flowers, offering continual sparks of flavor long after the wine has been swallowed. Structurally, it has the firm but ripe tannins and seamless freshness to dictate a very long life in the cellar. This vintage is a blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc.

• 98 Wine & Spirits

  Everything about this wine is a seamless pleasure, particularly the way it incorporates the freshness of cabernet grown in limestone into pure black-cherry flavors, saturated yet weightless. Nothing distracts from the fragrance of roses and black raspberries over that cherry core, the fruit tannins reading as depths of umami earthiness integrated into the silken texture. This wine advanced for several days after opening, retreated, then returned on the fifth day as a dark, seductive beauty: a Monte Bello that will live for decades.

• 94 Connoisseurs' Guide

  15% Merlot; 8% Petit Verdot; 4% Cabernet Franc. One of California’s most iconic Cabernets since its inaugural release some fifty years back, the Ridge Monte Bello bottling justly remains so to this day. Never one that dazzles with opulence or that flaunts high ripeness and overly conspicuous oak at the expense of precise fruit and fitting its winery’s classic, very elegant form to a “tee” in 2017, this wine is about structure and depth and claret-like composure that is years away from reaching its sophisticated best. Hide it away for a decade or more and please be sure not to make the mistake of pulling its cork too soon.