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Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains Viticultural Area extends roughly from Highway
92 in the north to the town of Aptos in the south. When Ridge uses the
term "Santa Cruz Mountains" on a front label, a narrower definition
is intended. The so-designated Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet all come
from vineyards on Monte Bello Ridge, whose cool climate and limestone
sub-soils are particularly well-suited to cultivation of those varietals.
CHARDONNAY
People seem unaware than Ridge makes a chardonnay. But chardonnay planted
in the forties was growing on the "middle" vineyard when
the founders bought the land in 1959. The first (legal) vintage was
1962.
So it's nothing new, though the original vines were pulled in the eighties,
and supplanted by those on the "lower" vineyard, Jimsomare.
Style and technique have changed a bit over time, consistency has improved,
but Ridge chardonnay remains — as ever — complex, delightful,
and eminently suitable for cellaring. (Recent tastings of the '76 and
'79 confirm the longevity factor.) Current vinification practice involves
long, slow fermentation on naturally-occurring yeast, natural malolactic,
natural clarification through settling (no fining or filtration.) In
general: apple, pear, and pineapple fruit predominate. (Some years
are more tropical than others.) A nicely flinty mineral element is
present.
There are subtle undertones of butter, baked bread, caramel. These
are complex wines. The '96 is lovely now, the '97 just coming into
its own.
Either could do with some aging.
MERLOT
Ridge first planted merlot in the late sixties, and made "merlots" with
significant amounts of cabernet sauvignon in 1974 and 1976. Whenever
tastings indicate, it is included in the Monte Bello. The first 100%
varietal bottlings were the '92 and '93. Small amounts of petit verdot
and cabernet were blended into the 1994, the '95 has twenty percent cabernet,
the '96, four percent. In 1997, a rich, complex vintage, it's 100% merlot
again. Counter to what many expect of merlot, the Ridge versions are
forceful and intense, requiring time in bottle to develop their potential.
Some recurring characteristics: distinctive varietal character, rich
black fruit, notes of fennel, cardamom, peat, earth, tar, briar.
CABERNET
The three Monte Bello vineyards where bordeaux varietals are grown range
in elevation from 1300' to 2660'. The three are divided (roughly, things
change) into three dozen parcels, or blocks, each of which is harvested
and fermented separately. Of these, the tougher, more structured lots
become the Monte Bello, while the softer and more forward become Santa
Cruz Mountains Cabernet. Though these wines are capable of aging for
ten-plus years, they are neither as long-lived (nor as expensive) as
the Monte Bellos. And it's not such a crime to drink them young; the
'94 and '96 are tasting awfully good right now, but will continue to
improve for some time. As a rule, they show red or black currant, sometimes
a hint of berry or cherry, cedar, cocoa, and toasty oak. This cabernet
clearly reflects its Monte Bello origins, and is a boon to the impatient.
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