#12 Top 100 Wines of the USA (2024 edition - 2021 vintage) ~ James Suckling
#46 Top 100 World Wines (2024 edition - 2021 vintage) ~ James Suckling
#45 Top 100 World Wines (2022 edition - 2019 vintage) ~ James Suckling
#6 Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Cellar Selections 2022
#77 Wine Spectator Top 100 (2020 edition - 2017 vintage)
#7 Wine Spectator Top 100 (2016 edition - 2012 vintage)
#94 Wine Spectator Top 100 (2012 edition - 2009 vintage)
#15 Wine Spectator Top 100 (1988 edition - 1985 vintage) ~ 1st edition
 
98-Points by Antonio Galloni.
During blind tastings of the 2019 Monte Bello, a record forty-one separate lots were assembled to create this vintage. This painstaking process is just one of the reasons why this wine is so iconic. Rich and smoky on the nose, this famed estate Cabernet Sauvignon offers aromas of roasted plum, mesquite, sandalwood and frankincense on the nose. Impressively polished tannins consume the palate, where roasted berry, black plum and toasted coffee flavors linger long. Drink now–2039
Blend: 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc.
 
RIDGE's history begins in 1885, when Osea Perrone, a doctor and prominent member of San Francisco's Italian community, bought 180 acres near the top of Monte Bello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He planted vineyards and constructed a winery of redwood and native limestone in time to produce the first vintage of Monte Bello in 1892. The historic building now serves as the RIDGE production facility.
In 1962, Ridge Vineyards made its first Monte Bello, and two years later its first zinfandel. The RIDGE approach is straightforward: find the most intense and flavorful grapes, guide the natural process, draw all the fruit's richness into the wine. Decisions on when to pick, when to press, when to rack, what varietals and what parcels to include and when to bottle, are based on taste. To retain the nuances that increase complexity, Ridge winemakers handle the grapes and wine as gently as possible. There are no recipes, only attention and sensitivity.
In August 2021, Ridge Vineyards joined International Wineries for Climate Action (IWCA), a group of like-minded wineries that are dedicated to decarbonizing the global wine industry. RIDGE is committed to achieving Net Zero by 2050 and completes a biannual greenhouse gas audit utilizing the World Resources Institute Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol methodology and be verified by an internationally accredited, third-party auditor.