Had this at Baccar wine bar and restaraunt.  I believe on their menu it was $270+ for the bottle.  I was very happy to taste this, and I probably had 1.5 glasses of it total.  Great fruit up front, tasted like blackberries and dark cherries, long finish of saddle leather and maybe some earth tones.  This wine was lacking on the mid-pallet.  Aloja J keep in mind that this is all relative.... this wine seamed to go straight from the initial burst of fruit, right to the finish.  I didn't get the "multi array of flavors that danced around your tounge" before the long finish.  I think this wine might balance out after another 5 years in the cellar, but I am not very experienced in the evolution of wine over time (I've rarely had the same wine spread out over a couple years.)  I was not dissapointed, because I tasted wine, that I could not taste for a cheap price - it had a wonderfull nose of ripe fruit, all kinds of fruit mixed into one smell it seemed like - and I could tell the wine was balanced as if it was made by a top wine maker.  Over all I give this wine 92 points.  I've seen others give this wine 94-95 points, I just don't think it brought the complete package that it takes to score that.  Maybe the wine is shut down right now, but I did not get that impression.  I would love to hear somones notes in say 2 years to see how this wine integrated.  Right now this wine explodes off the first sip, and then smooths out into a long dark finish with not much thought provoction in between.

92pts - Matt

I buy a lot of California cabs.  I have concerns about how some of them will age.  I can assure you that if you put that 2004 Ridge MB down for 20 years or so, you will think it the best '04 cab that you bought.  The '84 and 85 Ridge Monte Bellos are just wonderful wines and are still on their ascendency.  I wish that I had bought more.

Monte Bello is a tight wine in it's youth. I had the '01, '02, and 98 earlier this year, IMHO, none were ready (although the '98 may never be ready...).

Also, as of late I've made it a point to taste more Bordeaux - all I can say is that I now have a better understanding for why many people compare Ridge MB to Bordeaux.

Hey now, no need to call me out. ;)

Thank you for the note. It's always great to see new people to the site post them. As was said in your other note, I was only trying to work through your words that I could read and understand them qualitative (or is that quantitative) and not your intentions, knowledge etc. As Dave said, Montebello is definitely one of the few wines that you can count on for sure to be able to age gracefully for quite awhile.

Haha, no worries alohaj not mad at you at all .  Dave - I guess I am not surprised to hear that this wine should age well, it tasted extreamly well made.  I don't think I'll be able to afford buying a bottle when its in its prime - but I think I will start experimenting with trying certain bottles over a 5 year span.  But I can remember this structure and can image it integrating and maybe apply the "age well" guess to other wines I try.  My tasting notes tend to be "different" than most, I talk more about the experience of drinking it rather than a lot of the specifics - and thats just me so I probably wont change.