Lot 157
DOMAINE DE LA TERRE ROUGE SYRAH ASCENT 2000 (3)
L'AVENTURE ESTATE CUVÉE 2006 (3)
RIDGE MONTE BELLO 2008 (2) WA 95+
THE HILT PINOT NOIR VANGUARD 2011 (2)
Lot 157 Details
DOMAINE DE LA TERRE ROUGE SYRAH ASCENT 2000 (3)
Sierra Foothills, California.
3 x scuffed labels.
L'AVENTURE ESTATE CUVÉE 2006 (3)
Paso Robles.
RIDGE MONTE BELLO 2008 (2)
Santa Cruz Mountains.
1 x scuffed label
The 2008 Monte Bello is marked by the drought vintage, which not only made a more concentrated crop but also deprived the blend of all supporting varieties, as only Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot handled the dry conditions sufficiently gracefully to make the final cut. At age ten, this muscular Monte Bello is finally beginning to unwind, offering up rich aromas of black cherry, cassis, dried mountain laurel, loamy soil and burning embers. On the palate, it's full-bodied, expansive and powerful, its generous, sweetly fruited attack giving way to a taut, firm mid-palate that doesn't show as much finesse as the 2010 or 2012, concluding with a long, stony finish. Baugher observes that in its youth, the 2008 was "monolithic and more angular—a mouthful of tannin." A decade later, it's beginning to soften, but it still requires another 5 or 6 years of bottle age. May 2018 Drink: 2023-2043 WA 95+
THE HILT PINOT NOIR VANGUARD 2011 (2)
Central Coast, California.
2 x scuffed labels