Along with the Dunn Howell Mountain and Chateau Montelena 1985s, Ridge's Monte Bello is among the most backward wines of the vintage, but it is so promising. I do not intend to touch another bottle before 2005 - it is still that youthful and closed. It offers a good education in what great young wine is all about. The beautiful ruby/purple color exhibits no signs of age. The sweet nose of cassis fruit, lead pencil, flowers, and minerals is followed by a full-bodied, opulent wine with a boatload of tannin. This huge, massive yet well-delineated and focused wine should prove to be uncommonly long-lived. Drink it between 2005-2030?

As it approaches age 33, the 1985 Monte Bello is also at its peak—and at its best, this is capable of challenging the 1984 for the title of vintage of the decade. The wine wafts from the glass with aromas of minty cassis, raspberries, wild plums, loamy soil and sweet cigar box. On the palate, it's fully mature, with melted tannins and a nice girdle of acidity that carries through the long finish. The 1984 is more concentrated and powerful, but the 1985 is an elegant middle-weight with beautifully melting tannins that should hold for a decade in a cold cellar. It's a blend of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Merlot that attained 13.1% natural alcohol.