**What is it:** Reddit’s favorite winery once more. 72/22/4 Cab/Merlot/Petit Verdot. Somewhat of a weaker vintage due to a cold and rainy start to the season, but not unredeemable. Aged for 19 months in 98/2 American/French oak with all but 1% of the American oak being new
Decanted ~20 minutes mostly to get it off the sediment
**Price Paid:** $275 on Winebid
**Nose:** Dark cherry most prominently, blackberry, potting soil, gravel, bay/sage
**Palate:** Quite high acid, well integrated tannin, and a lot of dark blue/purple fruits that opened up with air. Gravel/leather/tobacco becoming more prominent on the finish
**Takeaway:** This is a good wine, but not a great one. 08 Monte Bello remains one of the greatest wines I’ve ever had and this just falls flat and is much closer to the 06/07 in quality. I’d happily drink this any day, but I wanted a little more tannin and flavor intensity to support the backbone of acid. 4.5/5
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**What is it:** Reddit’s favorite winery once more. 72/22/4 Cab/Merlot/Petit Verdot. Somewhat of a weaker vintage due to a cold and rainy start to the season, but not unredeemable. Aged for 19 months in 98/2 American/French oak with all but 1% of the American oak being new
Decanted ~20 minutes mostly to get it off the sediment
**Price Paid:** $275 on Winebid
**Nose:** Dark cherry most prominently, blackberry, potting soil, gravel, bay/sage
**Palate:** Quite high acid, well integrated tannin, and a lot of dark blue/purple fruits that opened up with air. Gravel/leather/tobacco becoming more prominent on the finish
**Takeaway:** This is a good wine, but not a great one. 08 Monte Bello remains one of the greatest wines I’ve ever had and this just falls flat and is much closer to the 06/07 in quality. I’d happily drink this any day, but I wanted a little more tannin and flavor intensity to support the backbone of acid. 4.5/5
**[Album Background for the Curious](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqxDwm7clCM):** Dvorak’s 9th Symphony as played by the Berlin Philharmonic
My earlier notes on:
[2008](https://www.reddit.com/r/wine/comments/184ft0o/2008_ridge_monte_bello/)
[2007](https://www.reddit.com/r/wine/comments/yxdl20/2007_ridge_monte_bello/)
[2006](https://www.reddit.com/r/wine/comments/quveyt/2006_ridge_monte_bello/)
The 8th symphony is better