"Odedi"

9.2

#AgedWineTuesday

Celebrating our wedding anniversary, with a Vintage Champagne from the same year.

Light yellow in color with a golden hue.

Strong nose of bread, spices, earth, wet leaves, herbs, yeast, white pepper, lemons, yellow apples and river rocks.

Medium plus in body with medium acidity and soft, small bubbles.

Dry on the palate with light citrus, over ripen apples, spices, yeast, bread, river rocks, herbs and white pepper.

Short finish with limes.

This 28 year old Champagne is still delicious, although probably on its last leg.

Showing great complexity with a nice mouthfeel. Soft and elegant.

Not much fruit is left, but enough to make it tangy and interesting.

Thank you Judy for sharing this with us.

Good by itself or with food. I paired it with caviar and good friends. Very tasty, especially with the caviar.

12% alcohol by volume.

92 points.

$550. — 3 years ago

Neil Valenzuela

9.0

Methuselah (Imperial) bottle! Smooth and delicious. Let’s hope we can get through this one. Cheers to all my Delectable friends! 🍷 — 5 years ago

Saundra Richey

9.3

Dark red color with lots of fruit with medium tannins. Maybe I will share with my 2 friends! — 5 years ago

Ian Pinkham

9.3

A late celebration for a friends son. — 5 years ago

Bloody Amateur

9.6

Received this bottle as an engagement gift in '03; opened it on Thanksgiving to celebrate the engagement of some dear friends. Astonishingly good. Vanilla, caramel, only slight effervescence. One of the most special and delicious and soulful wines I've ever tasted. — 6 years ago

Martin G Rivard

10

What a beautiful person inside and out! I'm blessed beyond measure to be able to call him "Dad". Words can't adequately express how much I Love him. We opened a few bottles last night that I will hold near and dear to my heart forever. We are celebrating his completion of 6 rounds of chemo therapy in his battle against Prostate cancer. This is his 3rd time in the ring against this opponent and it appears that he's won with a unanimous decision by knockout at this time!!!!!! Love you dad!!!!! So proud of your strength through this process. My Father was born in 1940. A difficult year to say the least:
Germans entered Bordeaux in June of 1940. As dictated by Hitler himself, it was the sworn duty of each and every commander to search and seize whatever could be used for the advancement of the German cause. Bedlam broke out. Chateaux' were ransacked, wine cellars were looted if not used for target practice. The Chateauxs were forced to continue producing wines. It's poetic justice that Mother Nature provided the Germans with the worst growing season from 1940 to 1944!!!! The Germans left Bordeaux in 1944 to the cheers of the residents "Au Revoir Les Allemands"!!!! The 1940 bottle that we enjoyed this evening survived World War II. It Survived the ransacking, pillaging & plunder of countless German soldiers. It's outer capsule showed evident signs of its struggle but it's inner beauty was unblemished and glorious. I've had many, many vintages of Latour from 1928 and on but none have ever tasted as perfect as the one we enjoyed tonight. This 1940 was perfect. It was a fighter, it never gave up, it never relinquished in the face of adversity. That's my Father, that my role model. He's a beautiful person inside & out. I think 1940 is the best vintage that I have ever had the privilege to enjoy. Special thanks to my good friends Michael Troise whom provided me with much of the insights in regards to the incredibly difficult vintage and David Page whom gifted this bottle to me for our celebration this evening. I will never forget your generosity. It was a glorious evening to say the least!!! Wine has a way of bringing people together and encapsulating an evening and event. I couldn't think of a better way to rejoice in his victory than to open a Father & Son birth year wine. — 7 years ago

with Ryan, Christine and 1 other

Carter Pelham

9.7

Shared with close friends - everyone’s first Monte Bello, and a great one at that.

Took this bottle out to share at a local fine dining establishment, to pour it blind for our friends. Wrapped neatly in foil. We get seated and explain to our waiter. “The bottle MAY be a little bit older so take care with the cork,” I said, not wanting to give away the age to our friends. He proceeds to break the cork about halfway down, right through. No big deal. He’s a younger guy and I think a little flustered, he goes off to get assistance.

Comes back with another server. As the guy walks back up, I say “Thanks for helping us with our mystery bottle”, clueing him in on the idea that there’s a reason that we have it wrapped in foil. “Would have been nice to know it was an older vintage wine,” he replied brusquely. Ok… Server 2 digs around for a bit with an ah-so before punching the cork into the drink. Oh well. None of us are really phased by this, it happens.

They grab a strainer from the bar. Server 2 starts pouring at a decanter and immediately the first glass or so just goes everywhere on the table. I start to die inside. He remains silent. Gets on target with the rest of the bottle, finishing pouring, and says “Your 2004 Ridge Cabernet”, purposefully ruining the blind tasting, I guess. Walks away without another word, leaving his mortified coworker to clean up his mess and apologize.

This actually happened. On to the wine:

Beautiful medium opacity ruby with no browning.

Smells like a Pauillac on the nose. Blackcurrants, blackberry, black licorice, slight graphite, and damp tobacco. As the night goes on it reveals dill, vanilla, buttered toast, and slight dry woodsy notes.

The wine is surprisingly light in body, very much a claret. The tannins are silky, finely woven, and extremely integrated. The main thing we notice on the palate is that the wine is so perfectly integrated it is a little difficult to pull individual notes out of it. Expansive over the palate without being weighty. The finish is forever.

A memorable evening. — 3 years ago

with Linh and Sarah

Ryan Vento

9.5

BYOB wine night with friends & various industry acquaintances celebrating the recent induction of a couple of them into the ranks of CMS Certified.
.
Beautiful. Overripe pineapple, creme brûlée, honeysuckle. Loads of power. See you in another decade at least. — 5 years ago

with Krystal

E & K G

9.3

Need to give it some air for it to really open up and unleash all the flavors it packs. Lucky enough to have great friends that share such greatness with us! — 5 years ago

Joyce Tompsett

9.0

Rather liked this one. Drake it at the bar at the Wine Steward and brought a bottle home. — 6 years ago

James Forsyth

9.3

Our friends shared anecdotes about hanging out with Paul Draper in the 1970s, so it had to be a Ridge night. What a stunner with masses of tannins and acidity, rich with black cherries. It could do with a few years but fun to try now. — 7 years ago

Leslie Matheson

9.4

Drunk on a special occasion with good friends. Delicious, smooth tannins, herbal palate, Berry nose. — 7 years ago

David Rein

9.9

I had the 2012 last night with a tasty Italian meal with friends. I don’t say this lightly... it’s Perhaps the finest wine I have ever had the pleasure of indulging. Wonderfully complex, huge fruit bouquet, perfect amount of oak, big but refined. A real treat and memorable bottle. — 4 years ago

Dennis Gastineau

9.6

2001 in Nov 2019 with old friends. Lovely full, deep texture, had it before a salmon dinner and really served as an appetizer, so complete and satisfying. Slight cinnamon with absolutely no edge. — 5 years ago

Shawn R

9.2

Such a fun bottle to enjoy with friends. While 77 is not the prized vintage this really shined. Fruit stills shines, touch of acid. Drink now. — 5 years ago

with David and Ron

Ryan Vento

9.1

What was meant to be a casual dinner with friends over homemade BLTs ended up turning into a full-blown wine dinner.
.
Eager to see how this develops over the years. As it stands now it’s syrupy with cloves, figs, molasses, and is pretty extracted. I think the potential is there but it’s going to take some time for it to mature and formulate. — 5 years ago

with Becca, Taryne and 1 other

Brett Bullington

9.0

I gave this to friends for their 30th anniversary! — 6 years ago

Fausto Matta

8.9

Last night in Belfast with the new good friends! #belfast — 7 years ago

Michael Mathews

9.2

Orin Swift, Papillon. Fire pit, sun setting...chilling with friends. Heavy, dirty (in a good way) nose...dark and mysterious. One of my top 10 favs — 7 years ago

with Brad, Mike and 2 others

Skip Smyser

9.3

Another great vintage from our friends at Phelps 🍷Cab heavy with trace amounts of Petite Verdot, Merlot,Malbec&Cab Franc. Will be wonderful for another 20+ years 🍷🍷🍷🍷 — 7 years ago