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Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $43.84 $46.00
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon is the wine to focus on in this range in 2018. Dark and brooding, the 2018 is such a...
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VM
94
WE
94
Rapid Ship
Red
750ml
Bottle: $99.90
12 bottles: $97.90
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate is a prime example of the transparency provided by this vintage throughout...
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WA
95
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94
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Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $60.08
The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon is fabulous. A rush of floral and spice notes leads into a core of racy purplish fruit....
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94
WE
93
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Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $127.73
#52 in Top 100, 2022. A brilliant, youthful, unevolved wine that will give Ridge's Monte Bello a run for its money,...
VM
97
JD
97
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Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $94.26
Ridge’s 2017 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is a fabulous choice for readers who want a Monte Bello fix now, without...
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94
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93
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Red
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $93.14
Case only
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Red
1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle: $1004.85
Expansive black-fruit aromas, plus some mulberry and bitter chocolate, make this mature Californian red hard to...
JS
98
WA
97
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Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $322.97
This has a wonderful balance of full, silky tannins and creamy ripeness, but with a degree of delicacy that...
JS
94
VM
92
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Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $353.71
The 2008 Monte Bello is in a gorgeous spot right now, as the aromatics are just starting to show the complex nuances...
WA
95
VM
95
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Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $289.94
The 2009 Monte Bello ,72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot is simply magnificent. Layers of dark...
WA
98
JS
98
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Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $301.70
A highlight of the tasting, with rocking energy, dense black currant and black berry fruit and loads of singed wood...
WS
98
JS
97
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Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $243.73
The 2012 Monte Bello is one of the most harmonious young Monte Bellos I can remember tasting. Seamless and voluptuous...
VM
98
WA
96
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Red
1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle: $591.81
Pure perfection, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello is a sensational effort from this estate that should be...
JD
100
JS
99
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $263.37
Pure perfection, the 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello is a sensational effort from this estate that should be...
JD
100
JS
99
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle: $462.62
A bright and beautiful Monte Bello with dark and black fruit, such as blackcurrants, as well as walnuts and hints of...
WA
97
WS
97
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Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $209.17
A bright and beautiful Monte Bello with dark and black fruit, such as blackcurrants, as well as walnuts and hints of...
WA
97
WS
97
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Red
1.5Ltr - Case of 3
Bottle: $613.78
#45 Wine of the World 2022. This is a very powerful Monte Bello with currants and blackberry, black licorice and...
JS
99
DC
98
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Red
375ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $134.57
#45 Wine of the World 2022. This is a very powerful Monte Bello with currants and blackberry, black licorice and...
JS
99
DC
98
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
750ml - Case of 3
Bottle: $229.81
#45 Wine of the World 2022. This is a very powerful Monte Bello with currants and blackberry, black licorice and...
JS
99
DC
98
Case only
Long-term Pre-Arrival
Red
750ml - Case of 6
Bottle: $192.93
#45 Wine of the World 2022. This is a very powerful Monte Bello with currants and blackberry, black licorice and...
JS
99
DC
98

Cabernet Sauvignon Lemberger Melon de Bourgogne United States California Santa Cruz County

One of the more unusual French grape varietals, Melon de Bourgogne has been grown in and around the Loire Valley for several hundred years. In fact, this grape was first planted in the Loire region of Pays Nantais back in the mid 17th century, after a devastating frost decimated most of the red grapes which were typical in the area. The winemakers of Pays Nantais were keen to cultivate vines which were hardy, high yielding, and capable of surviving another such frost, and so turned their attention to Melon de Bourgogne for this very reason. The native home of the varietal is actually in Burgundy, where it is still grown to a lesser extent.


Because Melon de Bourgogne produces naturally heavy yields, the vintners of Pays Nantais go to great lengths to reduce the amount of fruit the vines bear. This allows the finest characteristics of the grape to come forward, and also opens up the opportunity for it to express the wonderful granite and schist soils in which the vines are grown. Melon de Bourgogne is a minerally white wine grape varietal, with a very subtle set of fruit flavors. It is prized for its freshness and brightness, and is seeing a revival in the twenty first century as an excellent wine for pairing with a wide range of foods.

Of all the New World wine countries, perhaps the one which has demonstrated the most flair for producing high quality wines - using a combination of traditional and forward-thinking contemporary methods - has been the United States of America. For the past couple of centuries, the United States has set about transforming much of its suitable land into vast vineyards, capable of supporting a wide variety of world-class grape varietals which thrive on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coastlines. Of course, we immediately think of sun-drenched California in regards to American wines, with its enormous vineyards responsible for the New World's finest examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot based wines, but many other states have taken to viticulture in a big way, with impressive results. Oregon, Washington State and New York have all developed sophisticated and technologically advanced wine cultures of their own, and the output of U.S wineries is increasing each year as more and more people are converted to their produce.

California as a wine producing region has grown in size and importance considerably over the past couple of centuries, and today is the proud producer of more than ninety percent of the United States' wines. Indeed, if California was a country, it would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world, with a vast range of vineyards covering almost half a million acres. The secret to California's success as a wine region has a lot to do with the high quality of its soils, and the fact that it has an extensive Pacific coastline which perfectly tempers the blazing sunshine it experiences all year round. The winds coming off the ocean cool the vines, and the natural valleys and mountainsides which make up most of the state's wine regions make for ideal areas in which to cultivate a variety of high quality grapes.