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Bt (750ml)
Stock Location: HK
Tasting note
A superb example of this chronically undersung harvest, the 2011 Monte Bello strikes me as a more contemporary version of the 1985, combining a pleasantly herbal profile with a tensile, understated core and just enough streamlined polish. It opens with a distinctly herbal, open-knit bouquet energized by streaks of menthol, underbrush, dried tobacco and chalky overtones, and it concludes with a succulent, gentle and fine-grained finish. While I don't expect this to enjoy the extraordinarily long drinking window of Monte Bello's more structural and assertive renditions—although this example was served from magnum—it is a fantastic example of a modern vintage drinking near its peak, and I suspect it will hold for the better part of a decade. It achieved 12.8% alcohol, and the blend is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc.
Score: 95
Matthew Luczy, The Wine Advocate, April 2026
Bt (750ml)
Stock Location: HK
Tasting note
A superb example of this chronically undersung harvest, the 2011 Monte Bello strikes me as a more contemporary version of the 1985, combining a pleasantly herbal profile with a tensile, understated core and just enough streamlined polish. It opens with a distinctly herbal, open-knit bouquet energized by streaks of menthol, underbrush, dried tobacco and chalky overtones, and it concludes with a succulent, gentle and fine-grained finish. While I don't expect this to enjoy the extraordinarily long drinking window of Monte Bello's more structural and assertive renditions—although this example was served from magnum—it is a fantastic example of a modern vintage drinking near its peak, and I suspect it will hold for the better part of a decade. It achieved 12.8% alcohol, and the blend is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc.
Score: 95
Matthew Luczy, The Wine Advocate, April 2026