Good deep red. Raw currant, leather, cedar and tobacco on the nose. Dry and savory in the mouth, with penetrating, leanish flavors of redcurrant, tobacco, dill and exotic spices. Very much in the English style but with plenty of flavor interest. Finishes with slightly dry tannins and subtle persistence. If my memory serves me, Paul Draper told me this wine has just 11.7% alcohol, which would probably make it at least a degree lower than just about every other wine at the horizontal tasting.

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The 1987 Monte Bello is exceptionally backward, even by Ridge's standards, and I would not dare contemplate drinking a bottle prior to 1997-1998. However, this is one of those profound mountain Cabernets that should last for 20-25 years. There is not much of it available as quantities produced from the Monte Bello Vineyard in 1987 were tiny. However, should you have the requisite patience to wait for up to a decade for this wine to shed its considerable tannic clout, then move quickly, as this will be one of the rarest of the Ridge Monte Bellos. Dark black/ruby, with a rich, ripe yet reticent bouquet of minerals, blackcurrants, and toasted oak, this wine is exceptionally concentrated, full-bodied, and extremely firm and closed. With airing, some blossoming flavors of licorice, blackcurrants, and vanillin emerge. The finish is long, but forbiddingly tannic. This is a large-scaled yet impeccably balanced wine for drinking during the first two decades of the next century.

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Powerful and complex but marked by earth, mushroom and leather overtones to the deep, concentrated currant flavor. A good wine for those who like the funkier flavors of Bordeaux. 1,117 cases made.

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