The Famed Monte Bello Vineyard

Monte Bello Vineyard

First RIDGE
Monte Bello 1962

Location Monte Bello Ridge, in northern California's Santa Cruz Mountains, overlooking the San Francisco 32 miles to the north to the north and the Pacific
15 miles to the west.

Elevation 1300 - 2660'

Soils Decomposing Franciscan green stone mixed with clay, laid over fractured limestone.

Vines Cabernet sauvignon planted 1949 - 1993, 66.4 acres. merlot planted 1970-1997, 12.8 acres. petit verdot planted 1970-1993, 2.2 acres. cabernet franc planted 1972, 1.3 acres.

Training Head-trained. Cane pruned (on vertical trellis).

Irrigation Non-irrigated. (Exception: new vines receive drip irrigation until established.)

Yield 1.5 ton per acre

Monte Bello Vineyard Page & Gallery

judgment of paris

The Original, 1976

In 1976, Steven Spurrier (above, center, between Patricia Gallagher and Odetter Kahn), an Englishman running a wine shop and wine school in Paris, organized a tasting of six top California cabernets and chardonnays to celebrate the American Bicentennial. He added four Bordeaux wines and four white Burgundies to act as markers against which to evaluate the Californians. The judges were among the best tasters in France, and, to everyone's surprise, chose a California wine over the French for both the red and white flights. The tasting became known as the Judgment of Paris, and ended an era in which it was thought that fine wine came only from Europe. The response of the French judges to the results was that the California wines would not age and the French wines would win if tasted again in 30 years.

The Eleven Judges

Pierre Brejoux (French) of the Institute of Appellations of Origin

Claude Dubois-Millot (French) (Substitute to Christian Millau)

Michel Dovaz (French) of the Wine Institute of France

Patricia Gallagher (American) of l'Academie du Vin

Odette Kahn (French) Editor of the La Revue du vin de France

Raymond Oliver (French) of the restaurant Le Grand Vefour

Steven Spurrier (British)

Pierre Tari (French) of Chateau Giscours

Christian Vanneque (French) the sommelier of Tour D'Argent

Aubert de Villaine (French) of the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti

Jean-Claude Vrinat (French) of the Restaurant Taillevent

Odette Kahn, Raymond Oliver, and Jean-Claude Vrinat

Aubert de Villaine

The Re-enactment, 2006

Steven Spurrier and Jasper Morris On May 24, 2006, a 30 year re-enactment of the Judgment of Paris was organized by Steven Spurrier (pictured on left with Jasper Morris of Berry Bros. and Rudd) - this time with simultaneous tastings in London and in Napa at Copia. Paralleling the 1976 event, nine expert tasters at each location judged the original red wines, now over thirty years old. The winning wine in both the US and UK was the Ridge Monte Bello 1971. In the combined results, it was in a class by itself - eighteen points ahead of the second-place wine. We were very proud of this elegant Monte Bello's showing on both sides of the Atlantic - especially given the prestige of the tasters. In the UK these included such well-known experts as Michael Broadbent, Hugh Johnson, Jancis Robinson, and Michel Bettane.

Next, young whites and young reds - including this time several other top Californians - were tasted. Here, France and California were not in competition; though on the table together, French wines were rated against each other, likewise the Californians. To our delight, in the flight of California cabernets, the Ridge 2000 Monte Bello placed first in the expert panels' combined results, but this time with a margin of only one point. It was up against some marvelous wines - among others the 2001 Shafer Hillside Select, the 2002 Phelps Insignia, and the 2001 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23. It was a great day for Ridge, for Monte Bello, and for wines made at a more moderate level of ripeness.

The Nine Judges, in the US and UK

The panel of nine wine experts at COPIA consisted of:

Dan Berger

Anthony Dias Blue

Stephen Brook

Wilfred Jaeger

Peter Marks MW

Paul Roberts MS

Andrea Immer Robinson MS

Jean-Michel Valette MW

Christian Vanneque, one of the original judges from the 1976 tasting

The panel of nine experts at Berry Bros. & Rudd consisted of:

Michel Bettane

Michael Broadbent MW

Michel Dovaz, Hugh Johnson

Matthew Jukes, Jane MacQuitty

Jasper Morris MW

Jancis Robinson OBE MW

Brian St. Pierre

1971 Monte Bello