2010 Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA Women in Wine black cherry and bilberry fruits

black cherry and bilberry fruits penned in by muscular but welcoming tannins

The Brut Impérial is Moët’s bread-and-butter Champagne

leading to a long

Potentially the finest La Mission of the second half of the 1990s

there are 10 grams of residual sugar but it's balanced by tartaric acid expressed both by fresh lemon and tart yellow plum

2010 Ridge Vineyards, Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA Women in Wine black cherry and bilberry fruitsThe just bottled 2010 Monte Bello combines pure structure and power in a rich, full bodied style for this wine. Waves of dark red fruit, crushed rocks, flowers, mint and grilled herbs wrap around the long, insistent finish. Today, the 2010 is slightly more reticent than it was last year, but the wine comes to life the more it sits in the glass. Always classy, the 2010 Monte Bello impresses for its impeccable balance. Count me among those who will be