2016 Ridge Klein Cabernet Sauvignon Santa Cruz
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S$21588
Vintage: 2016
Region: Santa Cruz Mountains
Country: USA
Vineyard : Monte Bello
WinemakerNotes
Saturated/opaque ruby color. Intense aromas of cassis and blackberries, spice box, violets, and black olive. Ripe, dark mountain fruit, rich velvety tannins. firm acid, and sweet oak in a long finish.
About Winery
Ridge Vineyards is a famed Californian wine producer founded in 1962, and based in the Santa Cruz Mountains, but with vineyards in several parts of the state. Its flagship wine, Monte Bello, is a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated Bordeaux blend known for delivering the complexity and elegance of Bordeaux wines, as well as typical California fruit intensity.
It is also well known for its range of Zinfandel wines and Zinfandel-based blends, led by the Geyserville cuvée. Wines made from Petite Sirah, Carignan and a Grenache – Mataro blend have also been longstanding features in the range, and Ridge has made a small amount of Chardonnay each vintage for many decades.
In recent years the portfolio has expanded considerably. Newer additions include a Lytton Estate Rosé, a limited-release Mendocino Falanghina, and a trio of Rhône-variety white wines from Adelaida Vineyard in Paso Robles.
The renowned trio of vineyards, Monte Bello, Geyservillle and Lytton Springs account for the majority of Ridge's production, with the remainder coming from the estate's East Bench site and a number of key contract growers.
Montebello is situated at around 800m (2600ft) above sea level in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a few miles south of San Jose. The history of the Monte Bello vineyard and winery dates back to the 1880s.
All of the Bordeaux varieties are grown on the Monte Bello vineyard. Those plots that have been shown to provide the most ageworthy, complex wines go into the flagship wine, which bears the vineyard's name.
The remaining parcels, which tend to produce relatively approachable, youthful wines, are earmarked for the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Blind tastings confirm the selection and the wines are blended over two sessions in the following February and May.
Klein Cabernet Sauvignon is a barrel selection from a part of the estate planted by the Alsatian Pierre Klein in the late 1880s. The Estate Chardonnay also comes from the Monte Bello Estate vineyards.
Geyserville is an estate (and township) located in the Alexander Valley AVA, Sonoma County. It lies more than 100 miles by car to the north of Monte Bello.
The property is owned by the Trentadue family who, since 1966, have sold grapes to Ridge for the single-site, Zinfandel-based wine of the same name. It is home to the oldest vines farmed by Ridge, with some in the "Old Patch" more than 130 years of age.
Lytton Springs is also known for powerful Zinfandel. It is located in Dry Creek Valley AVA, neighboring Alexander Valley to the west. Ridge first purchased grapes from 1972, then bought the estate outright in 1991.
Winemaking across the portfolio combines old-school techniques with sophisticated laboratory analysis to give early warnings of any problems. Ridge only uses native yeasts, and avoids filtration in favor of settling and racking with occasional egg-white fining.
Paul Draper, who joined Ridge in 1969, is one of the world's most celebrated winemakers. His awards include Decanter Man of the Year (2000), COPIA Award for winemaking (2004) and the James Beard Award (2007). In 2015, a Decanter Magazine poll of his peers voted him in the top five most admired winemakers in the world.
WinemakerNotes
Saturated/opaque ruby color. Intense aromas of cassis and blackberries, spice box, violets, and black olive. Ripe, dark mountain fruit, rich velvety tannins. firm acid, and sweet oak in a long finish.
About Winery
Ridge Vineyards is a famed Californian wine producer founded in 1962, and based in the Santa Cruz Mountains, but with vineyards in several parts of the state. Its flagship wine, Monte Bello, is a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated Bordeaux blend known for delivering the complexity and elegance of Bordeaux wines, as well as typical California fruit intensity.
It is also well known for its range of Zinfandel wines and Zinfandel-based blends, led by the Geyserville cuvée. Wines made from Petite Sirah, Carignan and a Grenache – Mataro blend have also been longstanding features in the range, and Ridge has made a small amount of Chardonnay each vintage for many decades.
In recent years the portfolio has expanded considerably. Newer additions include a Lytton Estate Rosé, a limited-release Mendocino Falanghina, and a trio of Rhône-variety white wines from Adelaida Vineyard in Paso Robles.
The renowned trio of vineyards, Monte Bello, Geyservillle and Lytton Springs account for the majority of Ridge's production, with the remainder coming from the estate's East Bench site and a number of key contract growers.
Montebello is situated at around 800m (2600ft) above sea level in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a few miles south of San Jose. The history of the Monte Bello vineyard and winery dates back to the 1880s.
All of the Bordeaux varieties are grown on the Monte Bello vineyard. Those plots that have been shown to provide the most ageworthy, complex wines go into the flagship wine, which bears the vineyard's name.
The remaining parcels, which tend to produce relatively approachable, youthful wines, are earmarked for the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Blind tastings confirm the selection and the wines are blended over two sessions in the following February and May.
Klein Cabernet Sauvignon is a barrel selection from a part of the estate planted by the Alsatian Pierre Klein in the late 1880s. The Estate Chardonnay also comes from the Monte Bello Estate vineyards.
Geyserville is an estate (and township) located in the Alexander Valley AVA, Sonoma County. It lies more than 100 miles by car to the north of Monte Bello.
The property is owned by the Trentadue family who, since 1966, have sold grapes to Ridge for the single-site, Zinfandel-based wine of the same name. It is home to the oldest vines farmed by Ridge, with some in the "Old Patch" more than 130 years of age.
Lytton Springs is also known for powerful Zinfandel. It is located in Dry Creek Valley AVA, neighboring Alexander Valley to the west. Ridge first purchased grapes from 1972, then bought the estate outright in 1991.
Winemaking across the portfolio combines old-school techniques with sophisticated laboratory analysis to give early warnings of any problems. Ridge only uses native yeasts, and avoids filtration in favor of settling and racking with occasional egg-white fining.
Paul Draper, who joined Ridge in 1969, is one of the world's most celebrated winemakers. His awards include Decanter Man of the Year (2000), COPIA Award for winemaking (2004) and the James Beard Award (2007). In 2015, a Decanter Magazine poll of his peers voted him in the top five most admired winemakers in the world.
Wine Advocate: 94 Points "The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Klein Monte Bello Vineyard is another special bottling from Ridge. part of their Historic Vineyard Series. This vintage. the wine is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged 18 months in 100% new American oak barrels. Medium to deep ruby-purple. it gives aromas of sage brush, bay leaf iron, dried herbs pencil shavings, cedar and crushed stone- there's so much here before you even get to the fruit-with warm red and black cherries plums and currants. It's medium to full- bodled and minerally to begin. fleshing out to spicy fruits, with firm. pixelated tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and nuanced. This merits at least another few years in bottle and should age beautifully over the next 10 to 15+ years." - Erin Brooks (February 2020)
Vinous Media: 92-95 Points The 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon Klein is the most complete of the three wines I tasted in Ridge's collection of Historic Vineyard series wines. Structured, dense and super- expressive the 2016 is simply superb Graphite sage lavender and menthol add layers of nuance but the potent tannins suggest the 2016 is going to need at least a few years to be at its most expressive." - Antonio Galloni (August 2018)
Wine & Spirits: 90 Points "Ridge collectors may remember the Jimsomare cabernets that Raul Draper made until 1997. They came from a property on Monte bello Road that Pierre Klein had originally planted to cabemet in the late 19th century and was replanted in the 1970s. When Ridge signed a long-term lease on the vineyard in 1996, the fruit became part of the Monte Bello blend. The 2016 is the first separate bottling from the site in two decades. The site is lower in elevation than others in the Monte Bello collection with wider shifts between day and nighttime temperatures, generating a red-fruited cabernet with an oceanic freshness and an acidity that feels pithy (October 2019)
