I had a cracking Californian wine over the weekend from a famous producer called "Ridge". It was their Cabernet Sauvignon Estate wine which is made from roughly 80% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and a mixture of a couple of other varieties Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, a classic Bordeaux blend. It was a real treat, lovely acidic balance, overflowing with cassis and plum fruit with an earthy core that just kept giving flavour long after it disappeared down my neck! Drunk over two nights it was noticeably different but still great on Sunday when a thread of mocha (coffee) appeared alongside the still prominent blackcurrant fruit, so moreish. Not a cheap wine at roughly £30 but drinking very well right now with tons of ageing potential, I expect it will be even better in 5-10 years time.
This wine has a bigger brother called "Monte Bello" named after the Santa Cruz mountain the grapes grow on; it's roughly the same blend of grapes but has much more attention lavished on it and the grapes are sourced from superior plots. The downside is that it's 5X the price of the regular estate wine and although I suspect it's not 5X as good, from the quality of it's poorer cousin I would speculate it's pretty special; ho hum, one day!
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