1974 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello

Community Tasting Notes (23) Avg Score: 93.8 points

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  5/1/2024 - Cailles wrote: 95 Points

  23x California 1974: Do the legendary 1974s still hold up? The answer is a resounding YES, and not just for one or two top wines, but across the board. These best wines showed incredible complexity, with still vibrant fruit cores perfectly complemented by layers upon layers of tertiary aromas, a fully intact structural frame, stature, poise, and freshness. While many of these wines should continue to age well, I don't expect them to get any better than they are now. The top wines in the tasting were the Mondavi Cabernet and the Phelps Insignia (both 97pts), the Mondavi Reserve and the Mount Eden (both 96pts), and the Ridge Monte Bello (95pts). Many more wines scored in the 90-94 point range. I'm convinced that many wines would have scored even higher in a different tasting setting, where you can follow the wine over the course of an evening. Only 5 of the 24 bottles showed signs of weakness, with 1 of those already oxidized, but given the substance that could be tasted underneath, this is more likely due to weak corks or poor storage than anything nature delivered this year. All the wines had very good fill levels and had been quickly double decanted before tasting to remove the sediment.
  
  TN: This Ridge Monte Bello showcased a bouquet with some impurities, that obscured its otherwise rich dark fruit and mineral profile. However, the palate was much more impressive, displaying intricate layers of cola, truffles, abundant black fruit, and minerals. Over time, complex meaty and bacon fat nuances emerged, enhancing its depth. Despite lacking some refinement compared to the top wines, it was still a standout, showing great potential for further development over many years.

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  2/2/2024 - G_H wrote: 96 Points

  A 1974 Napa Retrospective (Zunfthaus zur Waag Zürich): Beautiful nose that has an intriquing mix of floral notes and an intense dark black fruit with some super ripe black cherries. What a fantastic nose.
  
  The palate backs this up with a dense, velvety body and a long finish.

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  8/13/2023 - Montesquieu Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Have you ever removed the foil cap on a wine only to discover there's no cork underneath? Well, this 1974 Monte Bello had no cork. The hard foil top was pristine. Fill level was lower than ideal, which is why the owner kept the bottle rather than re-selling it. Upon finding no cork below the foil or in the bottle, we expected the worst. Instead, beautiful smell suggesting it wasn't spoiled. The taste was excellent for almost 50 years of life. Given all that, I doubt this bottle is representative, but it definitely gave great drinking pleasure.

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  11/2/2021 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:

  Ridge Monte Bello Retrospective (Porter House): A few weeks ago we were at an auction where this came up and sold for more than >$3k and that was on my mind when I was drinking this wine. This is a great wine - beautiful and elegant and black fruits and floral and almost this nice cutting edge to it that is the acid tying it up at the end. It was very lovely. Hard to say that much more lovely than the other wines we tried which were also super spectacular, but definitely a real treat (esp in the side by side 74 line-up which was killer).

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  10/18/2020 - aquacongas Likes this wine: 96 Points

  TobI's Firework (Berens am Kai 1 star Restaurant): blind
  for me a bit too evolved for a 74 but with great great acidity and tannin structure. Black currant still present and some ethereal notes not that explosive as Marha's vineyard. In same with 1984 I preferred a touch the latter one. At his peak. Other at the table rated 74 with higher points (till 100). 96

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