The dark ruby/purple-colored 2007 Geyserville Proprietary Red (58% Zinfandel, 22% Carignan, 18% Petite Sirah, and the rest Mourvedre with 14.4% alcohol) offers up attractive aromas of boysenberries, black cherries, earth, pepper, and spice. Medium to full-bodied, elegant, and pure, this classy wine should drink well for 7-8 years. Ridge’s iconic Monte Bello Proprietary Red (no longer called Cabernet Sauvignon) is one of the candidates for the longest-lived Bordeaux blend made in California. Even vintages from the late sixties and early seventies are still vibrant wines. The winery owns just over 100 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon vines, and production varies enormously based on the mountain climate. With respect to this group of wines, the smallest yields were achieved in 2005, and the highest in 2007. The selection process here is relatively severe. For their Monte Bello, the flagship wine, 32% of the production was used in 2003, 38% in 2004, 49% in 2005, 39% in 2006, and 41% in 2007. These wines continue to be anomalies in the sense that the Cabernet Sauvignon component is aged in American oak, a somewhat contrarian procedure since most top producers long ago moved to French oak. The Santa Cruz Mountains cuvees, essentially a second wine culled out from Monte Bello, are also high quality efforts from Ridge. Each of the vintages I tasted reflects the vintage conditions in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Three 2008 barrel samples reveal a consistent, high quality style with slightly more elevated alcohol contents. Tel. (408) 867-3233; Fax (408) 868-1350

Made from Zinfandel, Carignane, Petite Sirah and Mataro (Mourvedre), this hearty wine currently is sweet and full in primary cherry, blackberry, plum and cedar flavors, with a touch of raisins in the finish. It should slowly develop over the next 4–6 years before heading inexorably downhill.——S.H.(12/1/2009)—— 87