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1997 Monte Bello Vineyard, bottled May 199985% cabernet sauvignon, 8% merlot, 4% petit verdot, 3% cabernet francVineyard Production: 172 tons from 83.5 acresSelection: 45%
This most unusual year began with torrential winter rains, followed by a long, mild spring. Flowering was early; the amount of fruit formed was unusually large. We dropped nearly twenty percent of the crop, bringing yields down to two tons per acre - and assuring intensity. This was the earliest vintage since 1962. All thirty-three parcels were fermented separately, on their natural yeast; in a return to methods employed in the sixties and seventies, part of the malolactic took place in barrel. The wine was aged for eighteen months, almost entirely in new, air-dried american oak. Ripe and well-structured, this Monte Bello is among the finest of a great decade. It is approachable as a young wine, and will develop fully over the next fifteen years. PD (3/99)
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© 2010, Ridge Vineyards.
