Freddy R. Troya

9.4

Ridge Vineyards — Estate Chardonnay 2023
Monte Bello Estate, Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA 🇺🇸

Overview
100% Chardonnay from Ridge’s Monte Bello Estate, high in the Santa Cruz Mountains and strongly influenced by the cool Pacific. The exceptionally long, cool 2023 growing season preserved freshness and varietal character, while barrel fermentation followed by nine months on the lees added texture and dimension. At 14.1% ABV, it carries surprising substance without sacrificing its cool-climate identity.

Aromas & Flavors
Fresh lemon, yellow apple, pear, citrus blossom, and subtle stone fruit unfold gradually, joined by mineral notes, gentle vanilla, and restrained barrel nuances. Air brings out additional layers without turning the wine overtly oaky.

Mouthfeel
Beautifully texturized yet remarkably fresh. Bright acidity provides tension while lees aging gives the mid-palate a gentle creaminess and polished weight. It keeps evolving after opening, moving between delicacy, mineral energy, and increasingly expressive fruit.

Food Pairings
Excellent alone, but equally comfortable with scallops, lobster, grilled halibut, roasted chicken, mushroom risotto, or richer seafood preparations. Its combination of acidity and texture lets it pivot effortlessly between sipping and serious cuisine.

Verdict
A fascinating expression of mountain-grown California Chardonnay. Delicate yet substantial, refreshing yet textural, it demonstrates how a cool Pacific-influenced site can deliver ripeness without sacrificing precision or energy.

Did You Know?
Monte Bello sits high above Silicon Valley on the Santa Cruz Mountains ridge, with vineyards exposed to significant Pacific influence. Ridge notes that 2023 was one of its longest and coolest recent growing seasons; the extended harvest helped preserve acidity while allowing slow flavor development—the tension you can genuinely feel in this Chardonnay.

🍷 Personal Pick
This sits comfortably among my favorite coastal-influenced Northern California Chardonnays. What gets me is the evolution: refreshing and delicate at first, then progressively more textural and expressive as it opens. It has enough finesse to enjoy completely on its own and enough structure to sit beside fine cuisine. That versatility, without losing its cool-climate personality, is what makes this one special. — a day ago

Rob Iracane

9.0

Surprisingly refined and restrained expression of Pinot noir. Paired with polenta and chicken not too overly seasoned to hide the subtlety of the wine. — 5 years ago

Brandon T

9.2

Can’t get enough of these chards. Just behind the Zephyr for me. — 6 years ago

Dan Michael

9.3

I have enjoyed every wine I have tasted from Morgan Peterson at Bedrock. His wines are pure, restrained, balanced and delicious. This is from a vineyard in east bay where you never hear anyone talking about, Contra Costa County, Hwy 4, really? Yes, really! It is full of red fruit and spice, nice acidity, no apparent oak but still nicely textured. This is what red blends should be. It was fantastic with a grilled steak. Worth seeking out. — 6 years ago

Briggs Donaldson

9.6

This wine was fabulous to me. My wife gave it a 9.5 and I think it was a 9.8, so we compromised. Its fruity and bold on the front with a multitude of earthflavors experienced to the back. — 8 years ago

Jonas Johansson

9.3

Great on a hot day — 8 years ago

Adam Knoerzer

9.1

This had me thinking it was potentially from the Côte de Beaune. — 9 years ago

Tom Casagrande

9.2

I just love the 100+ yr.-old Zins, Mataros, Carignanes and blends from the pure-sand soils of CCC. And Bedrock does such a great job with this Smithsonian-worthy fruit. This wine has a gorgeous nose of holiday-spiced tangy, oozy dark-red berries. The palate is a bit more reserved than the manic nose, but everything is in perfect balance. The tangy, deep fruit hits first, but there is zero jamminess and, in fact, it’s even a bit lithe and lean. At the back end of the palate it turns savory and there’s some nice minerality. Tannins in check and it’s got pretty nice length for a Carignane, which tends to say its goodbyes on the quicker side. — 16 days ago

David Shaw

9.1

Fine light drinking red with an assortment of heirloom varietals you would see in a Sandlands release. Down the middle table red style with good acid but lighter in alcohol and tannins. — 2 years ago

Perry Atha

9.2

Wonderful Zin- enjoying the 2013 vintage- hint of tobacco - pairing with Salmon - Brisket- will definitely try again — 4 years ago

Sarah McKinsey

8.9

Sweet Nodes, strong scent, Growing on me. — 5 years ago

with Colton

Aaron Rankin

9.4

First glimpses of Fall draw me to elegant Pinots. Rhys me please. — 6 years ago

Ely Cohn

9.4

Michael Cruse’s wines deserve more recognition than they receive. His single vineyard bottlings are spectacular. His style is lean, fruity, and a dedicated employment of whole cluster press.

This Evangelho Carignan has a deep purple color in a medium, full body. There is bright blackberry, oak, and sandalwood. Intensely concentrated, on the serious structured side of the spectrum for the Cruse portfolio. — 8 years ago

Kyle Groombridge

9.2

⚡️Man, these wines have so much verve.. they remind me of my 4-yr old - full of freaking energy and absolutely unrelenting... in a good way of course 😇

Nose is so clean with some mineral drive, crisp Granny Smith, and floral aromatics, palate is lively and fresh.. much more crisp and light weight than the Charles Heintz vineyard. The anti-Cali chard. Rombauer lovers, look away! 😆 — 8 years ago

Roberto Carli

9.5

This is a wonderful expression of Santa Cruz Mountain Cab, caught in a state of absolute grace. I might be lucky with the specific bottle but it's really shining through like a mini superstar. Small red and black fruits are still preserved in a dusty state, in harmony with the emerging leather, pipe tobacco, and graphite, strikingat great balance between freshness and complexity. The nose is giving a preview of the palate, where the canines show completely evolved, silkyyet substantial. Again, lucky me, because it's in a state of grace. — 25 days ago

Jerry Raphael

9.1

Very unusual Zin. There were hints of brambles and blackberries, but the real difference was the texture and taste—smooth as silk from the first sip straight through to the end of the finish. — 10 months ago

Jay Kline

9.4

If you’ve been following me on CT or Delectable for while, you’ve probably read some of my tasting notes on the Pinot Noirs from McHenry Vineyard. Few are aware that this special vineyard, way up on Bonny Doon Road, even exists. Fewer probably know that the McHenry family have been quietly producing wine from this vineyard for over 40 years. It has never been easy. Not only are the vines own-rooted, they have also had to deal with some devastating fires over the years. And yet, despite the challenges, the McHenry’s remain committed to growing Pinot Noir and making truly special wine.

As I have mentioned in the past the winery was destroyed by the CZU Lightening Complex Fire in August of 2020. The vines survived but no wine from the vineyard was made that year (obviously). While the winery gets rebuilt, the fruit from the McHenry Vineyard has been made with care by their neighbor, Ryan Beauregard. The McHenry’s are still making a lot of the decisions but they are working around the Beauregard’s schedule. 2021 represents the first year of this collaboration and the results are nothing short of incredible.

Popped and poured; consumed over the course of a week with the help of a “Repour” stopper. A little austere on Day 1 but it was obvious the quality was super high and unmistakably McHenry. As hilarious as this may read, this was best on Day 7. The 2021 Swan Clone pours very pretty ruby with medium viscosity and no staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing with beguiling aromas of the tiniest forest strawberries, dark cherries, anise, some tomato leaf, some beets, a touch of clove, a mix of red and purple flowers, limestone minerals and some beautiful, soft baking spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannins and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish lasts forever and it’s got a lovely savory thing going on. This is a wow wine with a long, bright future ahead. You can drink now with patience but this will drink best after 2026 and probably be stunning through 2040. How will I keep my hands off my remaining bottles? Only 100 cases were produced.
— 3 years ago

Aaron Tan

8.9

Surprisingly, I kinda liked this despite my aversion to overly-hopped beers. The nose is a straight up hop-bomb - floral, citrusy, piney. The palate's also full-on, with heaps of hoppy bitterness, but balanced by malty sweetness and tropical fruit notes (passionfruit and mango for me). Finishes crisp and earthy. Not bad, but not my kind of beer (not an IPA fan basically). — 7 years ago

Steve Medbery

9.6

Excuse me for rating this again but it has improved since my last rating. Cherry, strawberry, cinnamon, and now I'm detecting a bit of hazelnut. — 8 years ago

Shay A

9.2

I’ve started seeing quite a bit of this winery on Delectable as of late, and @Jason Oliver does a great job of being an ambassador for them. He informed me of a killer deal they had going, so I snagged a 3-pack.

Robbie Meyer (of Del Dotto, Pierson Meyer) became the full time winemaker in 2015. The Spur is their red blend and really is an awesome value for Livermore Valley. Bordeaux varietals + petite sirah. Super dark in the glass. Nose is full of herbs, crushed blackberries, graphite. I thought it would be super heavy on the palate due to the color, but it was soft. Easy to pick up the petite sirah in this with the spice and pepper on the finish. Tart and spicy fruit too like rhubarb. Smokiness and cedar wood. Looking forward to the merlot and Malbec I have. — 9 years ago