his was a magical showing for the 1992 Monte Bello—and the best bottle I've ever encountered. At age 26, the wine is still stunningly vibrant and youthful, bursting from the glass with a classic bouquet of cassis, blackberries, black truffles, gravelly soil and pencil shavings. On the palate, it's full-bodied, multidimensional and utterly complete, with superb concentration and energy, its richly layered mid-palate framed by fine-grained, satiny tannins, concluding with a long, sapid finish. Above all, it stands out for its seamless balance and delineation. While for many years the more flashy and dramatic 1991 stole the limelight, as the dust settles, the deeper, more complex 1992 has emerged as the greater wine and one of Ridge's true classics. The product of an October harvest after extensive crop thinning, it's a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 9% Petit Verdot that attained 13.4% natural alcohol.