TN Ridge 1973 California Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello

The wine was Ridge 1973 California Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello, estate grown, bottled Oct. 1975, 12.8% alcohol by volume. Note the label name for Monte Bello wines is somewhat different for more recent vintages. The wine was bought shortly after release and properly stored by me. The fill was very low neck, and there were no cork or other issues. The cork still sealed well and came out in one piece.

The wine is still very deep in color and you need a bright light to notice a little age showing around the rim. The wine is fully mature, but likely will hold fairly well for at least several more years. The bouquet and taste both are very intense and complex, and the finish is very long. There is enough acid. Both bouquet and taste are a complex mix of cassis and mixed dark stone fruit with hints of spice and herbs. The texture has a velvet-like quality, the sort of thing Broadbent has described as an iron fist in a velvet glove. It reminds me more of a Ch. Petrus than Ch. Latour in this respect, although the taste and bouquet are typical Cabernet Sauvignon. Many of the best mountain CSs in California, including most Ridge, are more Latour like than Petrus like in texture to me. And the alcohol content is only

12.8%, rather unusual for 70s top CSs. Some from that era were 14% and even more.
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Thanks for the fascinating note. '73 was an underrated year in CA, having been eclipsed by '74 in hype, but my experience (and that of a few others I know) is that the '73s have outlived the more flamboyant '74s (not to mention many other years). I am a bit surprised about your comment re the alcohol levels, as my recollection is that 12-13% ABV was more or less the norm back then. 14% was considered OTT (and of course occasioned a higher tax) and normally seen only in things like "late harvest" Zins and the wines of Ken Burnap and Dr. David Bruce.

Mark Lipton

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Mark Lipton

Yes, those days of California winemaking feel these days like the Wild West, with those hoary characters like the Dr. Bruce of old, Martin Ray, Joe Swan and Joe Heitz plying their trade in swing-or-miss fashion. I also have very fond memories of the Monterey Peninsula winery's '78 Zinfandel, which we found on sale in a little store on Manhattan in '87 for a very reasonable price and bought out their stock (some 8 bottles or so) over the course of a winter. The other winery you're thinking of is probably The Monterey Vineyard, with the symbol of a white bird (a seagull?) on the label.

Nostalgically yours, Mark Lipton

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Mark Lipton

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