Ridge 2017 Monte Bello En Primeur
BY ANTONIO GALLONI |
“Selling Monte Bello en primeur came about totally by accident,” Paul Draper told me recently. “In 1984, Bordeaux had a very weak harvest. The London merchants told us the vintage did not look all that promising and asked us if we would be interested in selling Monte Bello futures. And that is how en primeur started for Monte Bello.” I recently had a chance to taste the 2017 Monte Bello in component lots and in a core base blend with Draper and current Ridge Winemaker Eric Baugher, who worked alongside Draper for more than twenty years before taking over the helm when Draper retired from day to day operations in 2016. For more historical perspective on Ridge and Monte Bello, readers may want to refer to my articles Ridge Monte Bello: Past, Present and Future, published in July 2015 and its companion piece, Ridge Monte Bello Revisited: 1968 – 2012, published in July 2016.
The Monte Bello cellar at Ridge
The 2017 Growing Season
“Selling Monte Bello en primeur came about totally by accident,” Paul Draper told me recently. “In 1984, Bordeaux had a very weak harvest. The London merchants told us the vintage did not look all that promising and asked us if we would be interested in selling Monte Bello futures." I recently had a chance to taste the 2017 Monte Bello in component lots and in a core base blend with Draper and current Ridge Winemaker Eric Baugher, who worked alongside Draper for more than twenty years before taking over the helm when Draper retired from day to day operations in 2016.
