Ridge Monte Bello: Past, Present and Future

Since its first commercial release in 1962, Ridge’s Monte Bello has established itself as one of the most pedigreed wines in the United States, with a track record that stands comfortably next to the very best from around the world. For this tasting, Paul Draper, Ridge’s Head Winemaker, presented ten Monte Bellos; the five most recent vintages followed by one wine per decade going back to the 1960s, with each of the older wines chosen to represent a milestone in the estate’s distinguished history.

One of the original Monte Bello blocks planted in the 1940s

Perched high atop the North Atlantic plate in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Monte Bello property boasts a rich lineage that goes all the way back to the 1880s, when Italian-born doctor Osea Perrone bought 180 acres of land and began developing vineyards on these rugged hillsides. Even today, the drive up the winding roads that lead to the top of Monte Bello is arduous. It’s virtually impossible to imagine what conditions must have been like 130 years ago. Perrone built a winery that still serves as the Ridge production facility and made the first wine with the Monte Bello name in 1892. Sadly, the winery and vineyards fell into a period of disrepair during Prohibition. Theologian William Short bought the property in the 1940s and planted the vineyards that would later inform the early Ridge Monte Bellos, two of which were part of this tasting, before selling the estate.

In 1959 the new owners, four Stanford Research Institute engineers headed by Dave Bennion, made a half-barrel of Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon. The success of that wine and the vintages that followed it inspired the partners to re-bond the winery. The first commercial release of the newly christened Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello was 1962. During this time, the partners began replanting selected parcels on the property. Paul Draper arrived in 1969. That year, he and Dave Bennion shared winemaking duties. By 1970 Draper was fully in charge. Monte Bello gained significant attention in 1976, when the 1971 Monte Bello claimed fifth place in the Judgement of Paris, the blind tasting of California Cabernet Sauvignons and Bordeaux that catapulted California Cabernets onto the global stage for the first time. The 1971 would go onto to claim the top spot in a re-enactment of the 1976 tasting thirty years later. The original partners sold their interests to Japanese pharmaceutical company Otsuka in 1987. From what I have seen current ownership appears to take a hands-off approach. 

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When the modern-day history of California wine is written, a very special place will be reserved for Paul Draper. One of the most influential figures in California wine, Draper has championed what might be called a restrained, Old World style, especially beginning in the mid-1990s, when many estates, especially in Napa Valley, started making more powerful, concentrated wines. In that sense, Ridge has clearly benefited by being located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, far away from the intensely competitive and at times copycat culture of Napa Valley. Through decades of changing fashions, Ridge and Draper have stuck to their guns in making rigorously classic, age worthy wines that have earned them an intensely loyal following, not just in the United States, but around the world. Ridge and Draper have also been instrumental in establishing Zinfandel as an important variety by focusing on the very best heritage sites throughout California.