The 1974 Monte Bello is a spectacular wine that's in its prime today, soaring from the glass with an exuberant bouquet of ripe cherries, plums, cigar box, black truffle and petroleum jelly. On the palate, it's full-bodied, broad and powerful, with a dramatically lavish attack, considerable mid-palate amplitude and a deep core of ripe, succulent fruit framed by melting tannins and juicy acids. There's still some chalky grip on the long, savory finish, and I'd expect this to drink well for another decade or two. 1974 was a great vintage for California Cabernet Sauvignon, and Ridge's Monte Bello is right up there with the likes of Heitz's Martha's Vineyard and Phelps's Insignia as one of the year's qualitative pinnacles.

Last Tasted 6/94Like a true thoroughbred, this wine has become more impressive each time I taste it. Among the youngest wines of the vintage, it is reminiscent of a barrel sample, with a saturated purple color and a wonderfully rich, pure nose of cassis, minerals, licorice, and wood. It is completely unevolved aromatically. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, with spectacular concentration, layers of jammy, admirably extracted fruit, good underlying acidity, and plenty of tannin in the long finish. If anything, this wine needs another 5-8 years of cellaring. It possesses remarkable balance, with the fruit still outweighing the tannin.