Ridge Vineyards Santa Cruz Mountains Monte Bello 1964

Entirely Cabernet Sauvignon, palest pink, almost translucent at this point, rose petal and white truffle aromatics that have to be captured swiftly then set free. This is the epitome of crushed rose floral notes, white truffle, gentle redcurrant and raspberry fruits that are barely there, almost a meringue sweetness, beguiling and just out of reach. Clearly there is sediment here, but don’t carafe for any length of time before drinking, just open the bottle, stand it up for an hour to allow the sediment to drop, and then gentle pour it out. Utterly gorgeous and utterly ephemeral, a lifetime wine, impossible to assign a score to, so take any number that you see here with a pinch of salt. This was five years before Paul Draper arrived at Ridge, and was just two years since Dave Bennion, Howard Ziedler, Hew Crane and Charlie Rosen had begun the restoration of this exceptional vineyard site in the Santa Cruz mountains. A true slice of Californina history. Worth saying that of the four bottles of 1964, only one was deemed a true reflection of the vintage, so be careful of bottle variation, and let it stand rather than carafing as clearly it is fragile at this point.