One of the best-loved names (and most distinctive labels) in wine, Ridge has achieved the rare distinction of iconic status not just domestically, in the US, but around the world wherever fine wine is consumed. This is thanks to the thoughtful and consistent application of simple principles: carefully chosen, mature vineyards farmed with great care; minimum-intervention winemaking; production decisions guided by continual blind tasting; and total transparency through ingredient labelling. The result is a range of spectacular and distinctive wines that have made certain vineyards into household names: Geyserville, Lytton Springs and of course Monte Bello. Through pursuit of quality on its own unwavering terms, Ridge has become immune to the whims of fashion, and joined the ranks of the timeless classics.In 1886 the first blocks of the Monte Bello vineyard were planted and construction on the winery begun. The first vintage was the 1892. In the early 1940s, the last of the old vineyard was abandoned; in the late forties a few blocks were replanted. Those cabernet vinesnow over sixty-five years oldproduced the first Ridge Monte Bello (1962) and subsequent vintages until 1974. By then other abandoned blocks had been replanted and their fruit considered for use in the Monte Bello. A number of those consistently produced a more accessible wine that developed its full complexity earlier and these were combined as the Santa Cruz Mountains. With the 2008 vintage the name of this stylistically distinct wine became the Ridge Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, stressing the principal varietal and the Monte Bello Estate vineyard as its source.Saturated purple color with black cherry, plum, black tea, cedar and sweet toasted oak on the nose. Bramble fruit, vanilla, and mint on the palate with well-coated tannins and a long finish.