2007 North America

A retaste of the flagship wine, the 2007 Monte Bello (a blend from this famous estate of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc) reveals a dense ruby/purple wine with a floral, blueberry, and earthy cassis nose and elegant mid-weight flavors with impressive purity and classicism. There is good acidity, firm tannin, and modest alcohol (13.1%). This is not the most concentrated or powerful Monte Bello, but one built on finesse and elegance. According to the back label, only 41% of the production made it into this wine from the 103-acre estate vineyard. Give this wine another good 5-7 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 20-25 years.
Robert Parker - Wine Advocate # 193 - Feb 2011

Napanook is made solely from grapes grown at the historic Napanook Vineyard in Yountville, Napa Valley. The wine is blended from blocks in the vineyard that were carefully selected for their lively fruit, soft tannins and early maturing characteristics. The 2007 vintage is vibrant and rich, filled with fresh cranberry, incense and floral aromas, round tannins and exceptional energy. Creamy on the palate, the wine is pure, precise and powerful. This vintage is one of the finest produced to date. Napanook 2007 is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot. This wine is created to be consumed young, and enjoyed with food, but will also age well for more than a decade.

Ridge Lytton Springs is a blend of 71% Zinfandel, 22% Petite Sirah, 7% Carignane. The nose is opulent, reminiscent of super-ripe grapes, with aromas of dried fruit, blackberry pie-and-cream. Real density of fruit on the palate, but not at all overdone, with the Carignane imparting a pleasing wilder, hedgerow element to the silky softness of the Zinfandel. Excellent finish with balancing, correct acidity.

An intense color in the glass, aromas of red and black fruits from a big, powerful wine that is lush and balanced with round tannins. The bouquet and the palate will continue to develop over the next 5-10 years.
www.veritewines.com

Electric zing of ripe and exciting Cabernet at its absolute finest on the nose. Hint of oak but sophisticated and precise rather than brassy and brash. Exotic, plush and plump on the palate with real waves of ripe decadent blackcurrants. Powerful, intoxicating and very serious. Its a real blockbuster and will require patience like the finest Bordeaux. Its really going to be worth the wait.
Simon Staples, Sales and Marketing Director

Like a mini-version of the fabled Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape, this is a blend of 4 major southern Rhone varietals, namely Mourvedre (44%), Grenache (29%) Syrah (21%) and Counoise (6%). The wines were fermented in stainless steel before being aged in 1200-gallon large oak casks, known as foudres, for 18 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The nose displays an array of red and black fruits, especially bramble fruits and plums, with notes of black cherry and fig. On the palate the Grenache provides a round, warm generosity, the Syrah supplies fine tannins and spicy blackberry character, while most of the depth and the core comes from the blackstrap Mourvedre. The finish is huge and while you can drink this now it will improve for a few more years yet and will last comfortably until 2020.

The 2007 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard (100%) is a glass-coating opaque purple color. On the nose espresso, smoked meat, olives, and garrigue-like aromas offer much to contemplate. Intense, balanced, and subtly elegant, it boasts a finish that just won’t quit. It delivers impressive immediate gratification, but those who can wait for 5-7 years will be well rewarded. 
Jay S Miller - Wine Advocate - eRobertParker.com - Aug 2010