2019 Ridge Chardonnay Monte Bello

The 2019 Chardonnay Monte Bello is a very pretty, impeccably balanced wine in a vintage in which the reds off the estate are so opulent, the 2019 comes across as pretty restrained. Hints of apricot, dried flowers, chamomile and lemon confit all take shape in the glass. I would prefer to give the 2019 a year or two in bottle, as it is in a transitional phase as it passes from being a young wine to showing the complexity and nuance that starts to develop in bottle. Most of this fruit is from Perrone, at the highest part of the ranch.