Archive for the ‘Monte Bello’ Category

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No Rest For The Weary, It’s Pruning Time!

February 2, 2012

We’ll be talking more about this in the upcoming days, but after a very brief break for all, our vineyards are humming again, and pruning is #1 on the agenda. 

Here at Monte Bello, it’s chardonnay …

Rosendo at work in the lower chardonnay ...

This is a tremendously important and vital part of our overall approach to the land, and decisions made during pruning days have ramifications that stretch well into the future, and impact just about every aspect of the wine-producing process, including quality and taste.

David Gates, talkin' prunin' ...

I have been fortunate to spend time pruning with our vineyard teams before, and there are few ways in which one can truly experience the life-force of a vine than to feel your way through the process of managing, maintaining, and encouraging the long-term patterns of its growth over the years.

Francisco in the middle chardonnay ...

They’re beautiful creatures, vines, and to hold them in your hands, to mold them, to train them, to release and invigorate them, is to truly know them.

 

(thanks to Monte Bello Viticulturist Kyle Theriot for the images!)

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Posted in Chardonnay, Monte Bello, Varietals & Blends, Vineyards and Oenology, Winemaking | 2 Comments »

Monte Bello Rain Poem: The Movie

January 20, 2012

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Posted in Events & Photographs, Monte Bello, Wine & Music, Wine & Poetry | 2 Comments »

Monte Bello Rain Poem

January 20, 2012

Monte Bello Rain Poem

 

Raindrops on my windshield

pop like skaters on white ice,

their sequins catching light

as might a nickel in a fountain.

 

Art Pepper’s mournful horn

plays the mist its own low waltz;

I feel my heart’s rising temperature,

one degree with every mile.

 

I am becoming

what the owl cannot see,

what the hawk cannot catch,

what the mist cannot reveal.

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Posted in Monte Bello, Wine & Poetry | 1 Comment »

Belated Holiday Wine Highlights: My Top 3!

January 14, 2012

Silly, really, that it’s already the 14th of January, 2012, and I’m only just now getting to this post. But as I’m still reasonably certain the concerns of Y2K and Enron were in fact front and center only a few years ago, I guess it’s not too surprising.

Anyhow, I’d like to run down for you my three favorite wines from the various and sundry holiday dining experiences I was fortunate to enjoy.

First on the list? The 2002 Ridge Vineyards Nervo.

We had this during one of the many buffet-style indulgences that were laid out on our myriad holiday tables, and it was absolutely perfect with the various cheeses, spreads, breads, dips, salads, and other such niceties that adorned the counters. It’s got structure, spice, and herbaceousness to spare, and the low-yielding old vines offered a concentration that, while softened with bottle age, was still integral to the flavor profile. It was particularly delightful with a robust beet and goat cheese salad heavily speckled with fresh ground pepper.

Next on the list? A true legend, the 1984 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello.

And yes, that is a water pitcher masquerading as a decanter. Extraordinary times beget extraordinary wines, and extraordinary need begets extraordinary measures. So yes, I did indeed decant this wine into a glass water pitcher. And it was delicious! As to pairing? The only thing this wine paired with was our collective palates. No food, just the ’84. Heaven.

But the real star of the show? The breakout hit? The surprise hero? The dark horse, the miracle, the magician?

That’s right, the 1995 Ridge Vineyards York Creek! It was tremendous! I mean, just look at that cork!

I was under strict instructions not to cook the main holiday dinner this year, but I couldn’t resist making a mushroom gravy, which turned out to be fortunate, as gravy would have been the one thing we would have been short on (my people DIG gravy!), and I have to say, the 95 York Creek with a rich, umami-laden mushroom gravy? Happy Holidays indeed.

And so, what were YOUR top 3 wine tasting experiences from the holidays? Enquiring minds want to know!

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Posted in Cabernet Sauvignon, Events & Photographs, Food & Wine Pairing, Monte Bello, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends, Wine & Food Pairing, Zinfandel | 1 Comment »

A Vineyard In Winter -or- Of Course You Can Go Home Again, But Is There Someone Waiting? -or- Homecomings Of The Wine Gnome

January 10, 2012

The Vineyard in Winter.

It strikes me that a January vine is not unlike an empty-nested parent. The children are gone now. Bouncing from weird relationship to weird relationship. Bouncing checks. Bouncing in beanbags that obscure the growth of mushrooms in the carpets of unsightly crashpads and apartments. Will they come home to do laundry this vacation? I DO make the best grilled cheese still, I do!

The Vineyard in Winter. The children are gone now. Bottled up, distributed, reviewed.

It occurs to me, sipping on this 2006 Monte Bello; when did you see your parents last? You should say hello. They miss you. They want to know how you’re doing. Good sales? Good scores? I know, I know, you’re all about DEVELOPMENT, but can I help, as a parent, if I wonder whether Parker gave you good scores?

I’m taking you home. To see your parents. You’ve been in bottle long enough. They’ll be proud of you. You’re delicious. Let’s go see them.

It’s good to be home.

Wait a second, where’d you go???

Posted in Bordeaux varietals, Events & Photographs, Monte Bello, Ridge Memorabilia, Varietals & Blends, Vineyards and Oenology, Viticultural Salmagundi | 2 Comments »

In Praise Of A First Friday Past: Oh, What A Time We Had!

January 7, 2012

It’s 2012 now.

Twelve months, twelve First Fridays.

One done, eleven to go.

It was a beautiful evening on the mountain …

And First Friday was nearly afoot …

The nibbles were nigh …

Including my 2006 Lytton Estate Grenache-infused Marinated Mushrooms and Mixed Olive Tapenade …

And the line-up …

…of wine …

… was ready.

All we needed, was you.

And then suddenly, there you were!

And we were very, very happy to see you!

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Posted in Events & Photographs, Food & Wine Pairing, Grenache, Monte Bello, Special Offerings, Tasting Flights, Tasting Rooms, Varietals & Blends, Wine & Food Pairing, Wine Clubs | 2 Comments »

I Spy With My Little Eye … A 2006 Monte Bello!

December 30, 2011

I have been thinking about the 2006 Monte Bello lately. I remember it as a really fine and intense wine, but it’s been a while since I last tasted it. I need to fix that …

2006 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello

The wine looks younger than young in the glass — a dazzlingly youthful presentation — with deep, rich purples and magentas plaited together in a luxuriant braid of viscously ambrosial succulence that atunes perfectly to the hearty berries and piquant umaminess of the bouquet. It must be said again, the youthful presentation is dazzling in its come-on. With some years of bottle age now at its disposal, the wine is still shy upon arrival, and takes a bit of coaxing to be drawn out. But as it emerges, a tremendous incrassation is enacted; oxygen working on wine, poetry working on life.

Mouthfeel is ever so slightly taut by comparison; architectural and tannin-driven, though the tannins themselves manage to be snowflake tender. The fruit is blacker at point-of-entry, near tenebrous in its intensity, yet with an eyebrow cocked. As the wine lands on the fat of the tongue, the viscidity spreads like ripples in a pond, laying lavish and opulent across the four-posts of the palate. There is the beginning of an herb and spice layer in development towards the middle of the journey southward, with an adumbration of clove, chicory, and pipe tobacco ghosting its silhouette upon the walls as the wine glissades onwards towards its finish.

The finish itself is the wine’s truest display of youthful circumspection; a demurement of coy promise sealed in a locked journal of poetic and impassionate angst. The hints are there, but the mystery is sealed. The wine closes off and leaves one with the tautness evident at first taste, though a shift from tannin to acid has upended the flavor paradigm somewhat. At first taste, I wanted a hard cheese —- high in salt, chalky in texture — to absorb the fruit, control and subdue the intensity, corral the plainsong wildness. Now, at final taste, I wish for Mt. Tam. Cowgirl Creamery, bless you your Monte-Bello-taming heart.

Cowgirl Creamery, Mt. Tam

 

And bless you, 2006 Monte Bello, it’s so very nice to see you again …
 
 

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Posted in Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Food & Wine Pairing, Merlot, Monte Bello, Petit Verdot, Tasting Notes, Varietals & Blends | 4 Comments »

Fog. Fog On The Mountain.

December 30, 2011

 

The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,                              
And seeing that it was a soft October night
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.

 

(poetry excerpt above from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” by T.S. Eliot

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Posted in Events & Photographs, Monte Bello, Video, Wine & Poetry | Leave a Comment »

Monte Bello Sunset: A Fire In The Sky/Fire On The Mountain

December 29, 2011

…There’s a dragon with matches that’s loose on the town…

… A fire in the sky …

 

 

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Posted in Events & Photographs, Monte Bello | Leave a Comment »

For Those About To Type, Part II

December 29, 2011

For those of you who may have read about (or attended!) our recent Wine Bloggers Tasting, you’ll know that part of the experience involved our guest Wine Bloggers having a go at crafting tasting notes on one or more of four different vintage manual typewriters.

(You can read about the tasting, and see pictures of the typewriters and those who used them, here)

While their efforts were certainly valiant in this regard, it might also possibly be slightly safe to say that (borrowing a phrase from JeffIsRad at the Stay Rad Wine Blog) there was perhaps in evidence the occasional lack of “pinky strength” …

You be the judge!

(click on any image below, and you’ll be taken to an attachments page, where you can then scroll left or right to see all the images)

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Posted in Events & Photographs, History, Monte Bello, Press Reviews, Ridge Memorabilia, Social Media, Tasting Notes, Wine Blogs | 1 Comment »

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