1974 Monte Bello

The 1974 Monte Bello is a spectacular wine that's in its prime today, soaring from the glass with an exuberant bouquet of ripe cherries, plums, cigar box, black truffle and petroleum jelly. On the palate, it's full-bodied, broad and powerful, with a dramatically lavish attack, considerable mid-palate amplitude and a deep core of ripe, succulent fruit framed by melting tannins and juicy acids. There's still some chalky grip on the long, savory finish, and I'd expect this to drink well for another decade or two. 1974 was a great vintage for California Cabernet Sauvignon, and Ridge's Monte Bello is right up there with the likes of Heitz's Martha's Vineyard and Phelps's Insignia as one of the year's qualitative pinnacles.

I have been fortunate to drink the 1974 Monte Bello three times in the last year. I served this bottle, from my cellar, blind to a group of hard-core Francophiles at the end of a dinner that showcased the best of Burgundy and Bordeaux. Every person in the room thought the wine was Bordeaux. No one came close to guessing California, much less identifying the age of the wine or the vintage. When the 1974 Monte Bello was revealed, there was only silence at the table. Tasted from a perfect bottle, the 1974 remains almost unnaturally deep, powerful and intense. It is an eternal wine whose life will only be determined by how well corks hold up. Put simply, the 1974 Monte Bello is one of the greatest and most singular wines I have ever tasted from any region in the world.

Remarkably dark and vivid, especially for a wine of its age, the 1974 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello is a reference point for what California Cabernet Sauvignon can be. The 1974 is sweet, perfumed and impeccably balanced, with remarkable depth and exceptional harmony. All the elements are in the right place. The 1974 is an utterly moving, transcendental wine that takes me back to the handful of greatest California Cabernet Sauvignons I have ever tasted. Quite simply, this is as good as it gets. Interestingly, Paul Draper adds that the 1974 took 20-25 years to show the full breadth of its potential. The 1974 was made entirely from the original 1940s plantings, including a parcel believed to be one of the three oldest surviving Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards in California. It goes without saying, but readers who still own the 1974 should be thrilled. To be honest, it is hard to move on after tasting the 1974.