Ridge Monte Bello 2016

Professional Ratings

• 97 Jeb Dunnuck
  Bottled in March of 2018 and a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot, and the balance Cabernet Franc, the 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello offers a more streamlined, elegant, and ultra-classic style compared to the 2014 and 2015, which are slightly bigger, richer wines. Boasting a deep purple color and beautiful purity in its crème de cassis, blueberry, white flowers, and vanilla bean, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, silky tannins, and perfect balance. It doesn’t have the sheer depth of fruit of some of the blockbuster years, yet makes up for it with its incredible purity, poise, and balance. Relatively approachable for a Monte Bello, it’s still going to see its 30th birthday in fine form.
• 96 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  The 2016 Monte Bello is savory and delectable, showing early hints of evolution past its youthful primary phase. Fragrant but reserved at first, aromas of black tea, black truffle, turned earth and dried plums appear. Medium-bodied, succulent and sponge-like on the palate, the finish shows off vibrant, scrumptious acidity with slowly integrating but grippy tannins. Easing into a window of early consumption, this has another two decades of power in it, with further evolution beyond that likely. It contains 12% Merlot, 10% Petit Verdot and 6% Cabernet Franc. Rating : 96+

• 96 Wine Spectator

  This is tight as a drum today, with a rigid frame of singed apple wood and cedar around a core of dark currant, fig and blackberry reduction notes. A racy iron streak and riveting acidity drive the finish, which is loaded with bay leaf, violet, sage, charcoal and tobacco details. Expands steadily in the glass with air, but this isn't meant for consumption today. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2025 through 2045

• 96 Wine & Spirits

  A wine destined to evolve for decades, the 2016 is a muscular vintage of Monte Bello. That textural grandeur sets it apart from most contemporary California cabernets; and part of that distinctive texture connects to the way grape-skin tannins mature on vines David Gates farms on this coastal limestone ridge. All of the parcels that contributed to this blend are certified organic, a practice that also sustains the health of the microbial population Eric Baugher relies on for the yeasts that ferment this wine. It is increasingly rare to find cabernet sauvignon produced at commercial quantities anywhere in the world that does not rely on commercial yeasts; and whether or not you believe this is significant to the flavor and complexity of the wine, it is, in a real sense, a reflection of the health of the farming practice. If you are interested in a strapping young cabernet, infused with the kind of energy that health sustains, the 2016 Monte Bello is a wine for your cellar.

• 95 James Suckling

  A refined, creamy red with currant, fresh-mushroom, tree-bark and light dried-tobacco character. Medium body. Firm and lightly chewy. Linear and racy red. Very tight. 72% cabernet sauvignon, 12% merlot, 10% petit verdot and 6% cabernet franc. Drink after 2023.

• 94 Decanter
  Graphite, smokey bonfire as well as brooding black fruit aromas. Elegant on the palate with suave tannins, with an appealing sweet and sour quality to the fruit. Beguiling and long finish. Drinking Window 2020 - 2045